The early days of the pandemic were brutal for the cruise line industry. The CDC issued a no-sail order for the ships. That brought a lot of negative publicity, said Assia Georgieva, who focuses on the cruise industry as principal of Infinity Research. 

“People were calling cruise ships ‘petri dishes,'” Georgieva said.

And who wants to vacation in a petri dish? With the CDC ban lifted and vaccines widely available, she said cruise loyalists have been returning. “There seems to be so much pent-up demand.”

But the recovery is coming in fits and starts, according to Rob Kwortnik, a professor of marketing at Cornell. For example, 2021 holiday cruise bookings were strong. 

“Consumer demand was there, and then omicron just crushed that,” he said.

Cruises are typically booked farther out than other types of travel, he added. “Three, six, nine months in advance. And the unpredictability with the pandemic makes that more challenging for consumers.”

Cruise ships will continue to fill up, but he said a full financial recovery for the industry is a longer haul.