About Spacejunkie2

I love all things Cruise and add that to my hobby Photography I'm in dreamland, I'm an exTravel agency owner with the inside contacts, so I will try to keep you updated in all things travel related with a side serving of images and other maritime stories.

Royal Caribbean Announces Spectrum’s 2026-27 Hong Kong Season

Posted on 8 March, 2026 by Spacejunkie2

Royal Caribbean Announces Spectrum’s 2026-27 Hong Kong Season

Royal Caribbean International announced the Spectrum of the Seas’ 2026-27 Hong Kong homeport season, featuring new itineraries including a long-awaited combined Japan and South Korea route.

The upcoming season offers expanded scheduling with more flexibility and choice for vacationers.

The lineup includes exclusive, one-time-only itineraries designed to meet growing demand for diverse cruise vacations from Hong Kong, the company said in a statement.

Highlights of the 2026-27 season include a nine-night Japan and South Korea Thanksgiving and Autumn Foliage itinerary, marking the return of a combined route not offered from Hong Kong for years.

Guests will explore the cultures and landscapes of both nations, with calls at Tokyo, Osaka and Busan.

New this season are eight-night one-way voyages.

Guests can sail from Hong Kong to Tokyo along Japanese and South Korean destinations, or embark in Tokyo to explore Japan and Taiwan before disembarking in Hong Kong.

Two eight-night sailings can be combined to create one seamless vacation.

The season also features the classic five-night Okinawa and Ishigaki itinerary into Ryukyu culture, festive Christmas and New Year sailings, and a five-night Okinawa and Taipei route combining tropical island charm with city energy.

The four-night Vietnam Warm Winter Getaway is available one time only this season.

The just-concluded 2025-26 Hong Kong season achieved over 32 percent of guests on destination sailings originating from international markets, including North America, Europe and Australia.

Jefferies Raises Viking Price Target, Keeps Hold on Norwegian

Posted on 8 March, 2026 by Spacejunkie2

Jefferies Raises Viking Price Target, Keeps Hold on Norwegian

Viking Vela, photo credit Spacejunkie2 – https://flic.kr/ps/GkiQt

Jefferies analyst David Katz updated his outlook on two major cruise operators this week following their fourth quarter and year end 2025 earnings, lifting his price target on Viking while maintaining a cautious stance on Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

Viking Impresses

In a note sent to investors, Katz raised his price target on Viking $91 from $80, reiterating a buy rating, after the company posted its fourth quarter and full year results.

Occupancy of 95.0%, against Katz’s 92.7% projection, led the outperformance, driven by particularly strong ocean segment results where occupancy improved 330 basis points year-over-year. Net yields rose 11.0% in the quarter, roughly double analyst expectations.

Looking ahead, Viking said fiscal 2026 is now 86% booked, up from more than 70% as of the third quarter.

“The clarity of growth is also critical support for the increasing valuation multiples we apply,” Katz wrote, adding that he expects Viking to “continue to outperform peers within cruise and across our coverage, largely irrespective of valuation levels.”

Katz also noted that Viking’s river operations are effectively fully fuel-hedged through forward purchase agreements, and that its only itineraries near the Iran conflict, a small percentage of 2026 capacity in Egypt, have not prompted guest concerns.

Norwegian: Hold, $20 Target

Katz was less upbeat on Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings reiterating a hold rating and maintaining his $20 price target.

Management said Norwegian is running slightly behind its optimal booking curve for 2026, he said, and plans to prioritize occupancy recovery, a strategy Katz acknowledged as “a necessary strategic move” but one that “likely comes with lower pricing in the near term.”

On the cost side, Katz said SG&A reductions are now the target for savings, with ship costs already reduced meaningfully. He expects those efforts to gain traction in the second half of 2026 and into 2027.

“Given guidance for leverage greater than 5.0x through YE26, we remain conservative on the shares,” he wrote.

AIDA Confident Amid Geopolitical Challenges as Demand Grows

Posted on 8 March, 2026 by Spacejunkie2

AIDA Confident Amid Geopolitical Challenges as Demand Grows

AIDA Cruises is seeing strong demand for cruises and a high share of premium bookings and remains positive despite ongoing geopolitical challenges, the company said in a statement.

Current figures show that just over three million German ocean cruise passengers traveled in 2025, growing by nine percent compared to the previous year.

“Cruising in Germany is driving growth in the tourism market. In 2025, AIDA generated profitable growth with unchanged capacity and record-level occupancy,” said AIDA president Felix Eichhorn.

“With around 1.5 million guests in 2025, AIDA is the clear market leader in the German cruise market. This success is driven by strong demand and long-term bookings.”

For summer 2026, AIDA said it seeing an above-average level of advance bookings, a trend which Eichhorn said continues steadily.

“. The disproportionately high number of high-quality, long-term premium bookings also shows that guests place particular value on quality,” he said.

Trips departing from German ports that can operate year-round, such as Hamburg, Kiel, and Warnemünde, as well as routes to Northern Europe remain especially popular, AIDA noted.

Cruises to the United Kingdom, the Baltic states, and classic Northern Europe routes including Norway, Denmark, and Sweden are also said to be experiencing strong demand.

Multi-generational travel is currently in particularly high demand at AIDA.

A YouGov study commissioned by the company found that 66 percent of Germans have already vacationed with multiple generations of their family.

Around 20 percent of respondents believe cruises are especially suitable for multi-generational travel.

The company is also offering 20 Northern Europe cruises this year where shore power is used during port stays at every port.

The first short cruise starts on March 12 from Kiel and takes AIDAbella via Kristiansand, Oslo, and Copenhagen before returning to Kiel.

“In 2023, we had just over 60 shore power connections; last year, that number already exceeded 400. Thanks to the opening of additional facilities in Europe, we expect a further increase to 600 port calls this year. Nevertheless, further expansion of shore power infrastructure in Europe remains necessary,” said Eichhorn.