There doesn't seem to be much of a downside for Booking.com getting into cruises. As with flights, which it launched in 2019, we can only say — what took you so long?
Carnival's North America market continues to be a star performer, and Europe is doing very well. Still, that won't be enough to return Carnival to full health post-pandemic. It needs to speed up growth in Asia and Australia.
Cruise lines will continue to debut new ships in the near term through a balancing act between refinancing debt and improving profit margins. The high cost of debt will not stop vessels from sailing. The three major cruise lines remain optimistic for demand recovery.
The major thing new in online travel companies holding onto customer cash and investing it is that interest rates are a lot higher, and they are taking advantage. The rich get richer.