Are cruise prices going up or down right now?
Last updated · figures from the Monday load of · published 2026-10-03
Cruise prices were roughly flat in the week to 2026-09-28. The Cruise Price Index, which compares the same 52,048 sailings from one Monday to the next, rose 0.01% to 100.49, so fares sit 0.49% above their 2026-09-06 level. 9.6% of fares were cut and 12.0% raised.
Cruise fares are roughly flat right now: across 43 cruise lines, the index moved +0.01% between the loads of 2026-09-21 and 2026-09-28. Cruise Itinerary captures every future sailing's fares each Monday and has kept every snapshot since 2026-09-06. Because the index follows identical sailings, a new and expensive ship entering the market cannot push it up. The fares are lead-in fares from weekly snapshots, not live bookable prices.
How much did cruise fares change this week?
The Cruise Price Index rose 0.01% in the week to 2026-09-28 and now reads 100.49, against a base of 100 on 2026-09-06. It compares 52,048 sailings priced in both weekly loads. Of those sailings, 9.6% had their lowest fare cut and 12.0% had it raised; the rest held still.
Most cruise fares do not move in a given week, which is why the index uses the mean of each sailing's change rather than the median: with four in five fares unchanged, a median would read zero every week. The full series so far:
- : 100.00 (base)
- : 99.90 (-0.10% on the previous load, 54,299 matched sailings)
- : 100.38 (+0.48% on the previous load, 50,204 matched sailings)
- : 100.48 (+0.10% on the previous load, 50,723 matched sailings)
- : 100.49 (+0.01% on the previous load, 52,048 matched sailings)
The series is 4 weekly changes old. Cruise pricing is seasonal, with booking surges after the winter holidays that travel sellers call wave season, and a few weeks of data cannot separate a trend from that cycle. Read single weeks as weather, not climate.
Which cruise lines raised or cut fares this week?
Among the 32 cruise lines with at least 300 sailings priced in both loads, Celebrity Cruises moved most upward this week (+2.44%) and P&O Cruises cut hardest (-1.49%). The figures compare the same sailings on 2026-09-21 and 2026-09-28, so a line adding new departures does not change its own number.
The share of fares cut and raised tells you how broad a move was. A line can post a small net change while cutting a third of its fares and raising another third, which is promotion churn rather than a price trend. Lines with fewer than 300 matched sailings are left out of this table because a handful of sailings can swing their figure.
| Line | Week | Index | Cut | Raised | Sailings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSC Cruises | -0.08% | 100.98 | 12.9% | 33.0% | 6,899 |
| Hurtigruten | +0.35% | 101.56 | 3.1% | 10.6% | 5,311 |
| Viking River Cruises | +0.08% | 100.11 | 1.0% | 2.9% | 5,093 |
| Royal Caribbean | +0.36% | 101.17 | 15.7% | 16.6% | 2,819 |
| Carnival Cruise Line | -1.37% | 99.90 | 41.1% | 10.6% | 2,795 |
| Lindblad Expeditions | +0.18% | 101.74 | 0.0% | 4.8% | 2,441 |
| Avalon Waterways | +0.18% | 100.39 | 0.6% | 6.1% | 2,188 |
| Viking Ocean Cruises | -0.08% | 100.51 | 6.2% | 7.0% | 2,098 |
| Norwegian Cruise Line | -0.29% | 98.52 | 18.0% | 7.6% | 2,041 |
| Princess Cruises | -0.25% | 100.95 | 30.6% | 23.2% | 1,971 |
| AmaWaterways | -0.01% | 100.00 | 0.1% | 0.0% | 1,465 |
| Uniworld River Cruises | +0.36% | 101.05 | 2.3% | 5.0% | 1,363 |
| Costa Cruises | -0.37% | 99.43 | 3.2% | 2.1% | 1,362 |
| Holland America Line | -0.27% | 99.25 | 8.4% | 3.9% | 1,140 |
| Celebrity Cruises | +2.44% | 102.68 | 21.6% | 44.0% | 1,137 |
| Windstar Cruises | +0.02% | 100.00 | 0.6% | 0.8% | 1,087 |
| Silversea | +0.37% | 96.04 | 5.1% | 12.1% | 986 |
| Disney Cruise Line | +0.02% | 100.25 | 4.5% | 8.3% | 955 |
| P&O Cruises | -1.49% | 96.26 | 29.1% | 6.7% | 831 |
| Scenic | +0.22% | 100.60 | 1.0% | 4.5% | 806 |
| American Cruise Lines | 0.00% | 100.00 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 677 |
| Seabourn | -0.06% | 105.33 | 11.3% | 5.1% | 663 |
| Explora Journeys | -0.46% | 101.41 | 11.8% | 15.8% | 647 |
| Oceania Cruises | +0.28% | 100.85 | 5.4% | 11.9% | 615 |
| Cunard Line | -0.01% | 97.31 | 5.8% | 5.8% | 605 |
| Emerald Cruises | -0.85% | 99.15 | 15.4% | 13.7% | 592 |
| Regent Seven Seas Cruises | +0.05% | 100.96 | 8.6% | 9.2% | 479 |
| Virgin Voyages | +0.35% | 103.56 | 4.6% | 6.8% | 413 |
| Azamara Club Cruises | +1.16% | 101.31 | 4.8% | 15.9% | 378 |
| Un-Cruise Adventures | 0.00% | 100.00 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 370 |
| Ponant Cruises | +0.09% | 100.28 | 0.6% | 2.1% | 335 |
| Celestyal Cruises | +0.38% | 100.39 | 1.0% | 4.0% | 304 |
Are cruise prices rising in the Caribbean, Alaska or Europe?
Regional fares diverged in the week to 2026-09-28. Among regions with at least 1,000 matched sailings, United States moved most upward (+0.43%) and Australia/New Zealand moved most downward (-0.28%). Each sailing counts once, under the main region of its itinerary, using the index's own method, which reproduces the all-lines figure when run over every sailing.
Europe/Mediterranean holds 55% of the matched sailings, river departures from Viking, Avalon Waterways, AmaWaterways and Uniworld among them, so it moves least from week to week. Small regions such as Panama or Central America rest on a few hundred sailings or fewer, so one line's promotion can move them. Regions with fewer than 30 matched sailings are not shown.
| Region | Week | Cut | Raised | Sailings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Europe/Mediterranean | -0.03% | 6.8% | 12.2% | 28,879 |
| Caribbean & Atlantic | +0.04% | 18.2% | 17.1% | 6,892 |
| United States | +0.43% | 13.7% | 13.1% | 4,660 |
| Pacific & South Pacific | +0.12% | 1.6% | 4.4% | 2,199 |
| Asia | -0.18% | 7.9% | 12.9% | 2,014 |
| Alaska | -0.19% | 16.8% | 8.5% | 1,876 |
| South America | -0.05% | 4.5% | 5.4% | 1,213 |
| Australia/New Zealand | -0.28% | 32.5% | 14.2% | 1,004 |
| Africa | +0.27% | 1.8% | 3.8% | 881 |
| Canada | +0.21% | 7.9% | 13.3% | 428 |
| Mexico | +0.02% | 16.8% | 9.6% | 394 |
| Hawaii | -0.99% | 26.5% | 7.7% | 366 |
| Antarctica | -0.43% | 2.5% | 4.0% | 322 |
| Arctic | +0.22% | 5.6% | 7.7% | 234 |
| Middle East | -0.47% | 5.3% | 3.3% | 151 |
| Central America | +0.07% | 7.0% | 6.1% | 115 |
| Panama | -0.06% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 73 |
Do balcony and suite fares move differently from inside cabins?
Cabin categories moved differently in the week to 2026-09-28: inside fares fell 0.13%, outside fares fell 0.02%, balcony fares rose 0.15% and suite fares rose 0.08%. Each cabin series compares only that cabin category on the same sailings, so a sailing whose cheapest cabin sold out does not register as a price change.
The booking window splits the same week by how far away the departure is:
- 0 to 90 days before departure: +0.11% over 4,779 sailings, 21.0% cut and 20.1% raised
- 91 to 180 days: -0.14% over 4,997 sailings, 20.0% cut and 18.3% raised
- 181 to 365 days: -0.35% over 14,765 sailings, 13.9% cut and 10.8% raised
- More than a year out: +0.22% over 27,507 sailings, 3.4% cut and 10.0% raised
Sailings close to departure change price far more often than sailings a year out. In the latest week, 21.0% of fares within 90 days were cut, against 3.4% for departures more than a year away.
How is the Cruise Price Index calculated each week?
The Cruise Price Index takes every sailing priced in two consecutive Monday loads, follows the cheapest cabin of the older load to the same cabin in the newer one, and averages the natural log of new fare over old fare. Weekly averages are chained from 100 on 2026-09-06.
Three choices shape what the number means:
- Each log change is clipped to plus or minus 0.5, so a single corrupted fare cannot steer the week.
- A cabin that loses its fare leaves the matched set. A missing fare means not offered or sold out; the feed does not say which.
- Fares are lead-in fares in US dollars as the supplier lists them, one snapshot a week. A price that dipped on Wednesday and recovered by Sunday never appears.
The mean of log changes is the log form of a Jevons index, the geometric mean of price relatives described under price index formulas, chained week to week. Our full method, with every caveat, is on the methodology page.
Key takeaways
- Cruise fares were roughly flat in the week to 2026-09-28: the Cruise Price Index rose 0.01% and reads 100.49 against 100 on 2026-09-06.
- 9.6% of matched fares were cut and 12.0% raised, so most cruise prices did not move at all this week.
- Celebrity Cruises rose most among large lines (+2.44%); P&O Cruises cut most (-1.49%).
- The index compares the same sailings week to week, so new ships and new itineraries cannot inflate it.
- Fares are Monday snapshots of lead-in fares, not live bookable prices, and the series is too young to show seasonality.
Frequently asked questions
Are cruise prices going up in 2026?
Not by much so far. The Cruise Price Index, which follows the same sailings every Monday, reads 100.49 on 2026-09-28 against 100 on 2026-09-06, a change of +0.49%. Weekly moves have stayed small, and the series is too young to show the seasonal pattern that dominates cruise pricing.
Why do cruise prices change every week?
Cruise lines reprice sailings continuously as cabins sell, adding promotions, removing them, or raising fares when a ship fills. A weekly snapshot catches the net result. In a typical week our data shows about one fare in ten cut and one in eight raised, while the rest hold their price.
Is the Cruise Price Index the price I will pay?
No. The index tracks lead-in fares, the lowest advertised fare per cabin category, as the supplier feed lists them each Monday. Taxes, port fees, gratuities and the fare for a specific cabin can differ, and a fare can change between snapshots. Use the index for direction, and check a booking site for a quote.
How often is the Cruise Price Index updated?
Every Monday. The weekly load captures every future sailing's fares, the index is rebuilt from the full history, and this page and the /price-index page refresh the same day. The first load was 2026-09-06, a second followed on 2026-09-07, and loads have run weekly since then.
Which cruise lines does the index cover?
It covers every line in our register with fares in both weekly loads, 43 lines in total, from MSC Cruises and Royal Caribbean to river lines such as Viking and Avalon. TUI and Marella, AIDA, Saga, Fred. Olsen and Hapag-Lloyd have no sailings in the supplier feed, so UK and German mass-market pricing is under-represented.