Gen Z and millennials are buoying the cruise industry

Millennials and Gen Z may be more like their parents than they care to admit. The cruise industry, a longtime haven for old people, is increasingly attracting younger consumers, according to a new Bloomberg report.

• At Royal Caribbean, the largest cruise company by market cap, half of its passengers are millennials or Gen Z, according to CEO Jason Liberty. They’re also the fastest growing portion of its customer base.
• Other cruise lines are seeing similar growth among young people, with the average age of cruise passengers falling for two straight years after being largely stagnant since at least 2016, according to the Cruise Lines International Association.

The main reason behind the trend is simple, per analysts: cruises are typically cheaper than other travel options.

The price of booking a cruise was 40% below a comparable land-based vacation in 2023, according to Norwegian Cruise Line. Now, that figure is ~20% – which is still above historical averages.

Big picture: ~31.7 million people took ocean cruises last year, 7% more than in 2019 – while international tourism fell 12% over the same period, Bloomberg reports. This trend seems to be continuing; this year, 7.2% of US travel expenses have been allocated to cruises, up from 5.8% in 2019.

🛳️ Big Three financial snapshot: Royal Caribbean’s stock price has risen ~600% since March 2020, while Carnival Corporation is up 88% and Norwegian Cruise Line has gained 142% (for context: the S&P grew ~129% over the same stretch).