Will Strong Booking Momentum Support RCL's 2025 Revenue Visibility?

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. RCL is being driven by strong tailwinds, supported by sustained momentum in bookings and onboard revenues, reinforcing its 2025 revenue visibility. In the second quarter of 2025, RCL reported a robust booking environment, driven by strong consumer demand across all brands and itineraries. The company saw acceleration in bookings compared with the prior quarter, particularly for close-in sailings. 

Royal Caribbean highlighted that booked load factors for 2025 and 2026 remain consistent with historical trends, but at higher rates. Pricing strength continues to reflect strong demand across all core products and markets.

Guest spending onboard and pre-cruise purchases continued to exceed prior years. Strong engagement, combined with higher participation and pricing, contributed to yield performance. Commercial channels, especially digital, remained effective for both bookings and pre-cruise sales.

The strength in bookings also extends to recently introduced offerings. Star of the Seas and Celebrity Xcel, both of which debuted in 2025, are performing well. Additionally, early demand for Royal Beach Club Paradise Island has been very strong since becoming available for sale. These trends reflect growing interest in premium experiences and destination-led offerings.

Based on the strong first-half performance and visibility into upcoming quarters, the company raised its full-year 2025 adjusted EPS guidance to $15.41-$15.55. With strong traction across new builds, destination experiences and key booking channels, RCL’s positioning remains solid. Demand trends, combined with evolving consumer behavior that favors closer-in planning and premium travel, continue to support long-term revenue visibility through 2025 and beyond.

Competitive Positioning in the Cruise Industry

Carnival Corporation & plc CCL is benefiting from sustained demand strength, increased booking volumes, higher onboard revenues and continued cost discipline. The company has maintained a strong cumulative advanced booking position for the remainder of 2025, supported by high occupancy rates and record pricing across all quarters on a constant currency basis. The disciplined yield management strategy is helping deliver record-setting advance bookings. Bookings for 2026 are currently tracking in line with 2025’s record levels, also at historically increased pricing. With an extended booking window and improved operational execution, Carnival appears well-positioned to support long-term growth momentum.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. NCLH is seeing strong booking trends across all three brands, with May through July marking a record period. July alone was the highest booking month in the company’s history. This momentum helped drive advance ticket sales to an all-time high of $4 billion at the end of the second quarter. The rebound in demand, particularly after early softness for extended European sailings, has contributed to booking levels exceeding historical averages. Norwegian Cruise remains within its optimal range for the forward 12-month booked position, reinforcing earnings visibility.

RCL’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of Royal Caribbean have gained 33.7% in the past three months compared with the industry’s growth of 16.2%.

From a valuation standpoint, Royal Caribbean trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 4.49x, significantly up from the industry’s average of 2.37x.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RCL’s 2025 and 2026 earnings implies a year-over-year uptick of 31.7% and 17.3%, respectively. The EPS estimates for 2025 have increased in the past 30 days.

RCL currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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