Saga and Royal Caribbean are cashing in on booming demand for cruises as bookings soar.
Shares in Saga were up over 14 per cent on Thursday afternoon after sales were buoyed by the over-50s market – while Royal Caribbean said ‘momentum is further accelerating’ into this year.
Saga said 70 per cent of berths are already booked on its ocean cruises for next year – with routes including Scandinavia and the Mediterranean proving popular.
Customers are paying an average all-inclusive rate of £445 a day for these trips – 13 per cent higher than the same time a year before.
And its river cruises are 59 per cent booked, with popular choices including its new Spirit of the Moselle ship which goes down the Rhine and journeys along the Dutch waterways. The average trip costs £349 a day.
Interest has been growing in its holidays, which focus on hotels rather than cruises – including to see Andrea Bocelli perform in concert in Tuscany.
Saga has seen strong bookings across its ocean and river cruises for next year
Sales for holidays booked for the coming year are £132million – 5 per cent higher at the same point than the prior year.
Strong demand from holidaymakers for this summer also boosted profit hopes for the FTSE-250 group.
Peel Hunt analysts estimated that Saga profits would increase to a ‘low-£40million range’ for the year to January 2026 – an increase of around 13 per cent on the year before.
And the broker estimated profits would rise further in the year after, predicting an increase of more than 20 per cent to the ‘low-£50million range’ for the year to January 2027.
Saga’s insurance arm also outperformed expectations, with pre-tax profit expected to be ‘marginally higher’ than last year.
Royal Caribbean saw shares rise as much as 9.4 per cent before markets opened in New York after it said 2026 berths were booked at record rates of two-thirds capacity.
It said it could add up to six new ships to its fleet to cater to demand after pledging to add more holidays for 2028.
Jason Liberty, chairman and the chief executive of Royal Caribbean said: ‘2025 was an outstanding year, and the momentum is further accelerating into 2026.
‘We are shaping the future by further investing in game-changing vacation experiences,’ he added.
It comes as the Association of British Travel Agents said ‘demand for cruising remains strong and continues to grow’.
Its research shows 15 per cent of people plan to take a cruise in the next 12 months.
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