Cruise Deals: Early Booking Trends & Growth

Cruise lines promote summer/winter deals early. New cruisers, especially millennials/Gen Z, drive growth. Exploration cruises surge. Record numbers expected. Book early for best deals!

In line with the ever-closing void between summertime and the holiday season (Mariah Carey’s “All I Desired For Christmas” is currently trending!), the cruise sector has started promoting its summer and winter offers months beforehand.

Early Cruise Promotions

Plus, individuals are searching for brand-new chances in the new year and around the holidays, family members have a tendency to plan getaways when they’re completely– so it’s a great time for cruise ship lines to make use of that.

The concept is to motivate people to reserve a cruise either for later that exact same year, in addition to days for as away as 2 years in the future– and you may even have the ability to grab a final journey for a bargain.

New cruisers are a substantial component of the sector’s growth, with 31% of guests– including an enhancing variety of millennials and Gen Zs– in the last 2 years being brand-new to cruising, according to the 2025 State of the Cruise Sector Record.

Growth of New Cruisers

In recent years, it’s not uncommon to see cruise ship lines advertise following year’s bargains on Black Friday and Cyber Monday in November and simply proceed them right into the new year, rebranding them as offers for wave period.

And the market remains to evolve with tourists’ rate of interests as well. Exploration and expedition cruise ships– which provide extra quits to remote places with even more cultural engagement and experts who lead excursions– are the fastest-growing sections, with 22% even more passengers selecting these voyages in 2024 over 2023.

Exploration Cruise Popularity

The American Automobile Association estimates that 20.7 million Americans will go on sea cruises this year, a greater number than initially predicted. In 2026, the company forecasts a record-setting year with 21.7 million Americans diving in.

“It resembles a Black Friday, however, for cruise ships!” stated Elena Ollick, a travel agency consultant, in an article. “It comes with insane bargains, added benefits and the exact same incredible onboard experience you ‘d get all year.”