Leading Brands in the U.S. Cruise Industry: Q4 2023 Analysis

Introduction

The cruise industry in the United States experienced notable shifts in audience engagement across websites and applications during Q4 2023. This analysis highlights the performance of three leading brands: Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise Line. Leveraging data from Sensor Tower, we examine web and app engagement, audience trends, and advertising efforts that underscore their digital strategies.

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival Cruise Line is renowned for its vibrant and diverse cruise experiences, reflected in its robust digital presence through carnival.com and the Carnival HUB app.

• Audience Trends: The monthly true audience for carnival.com rebounded from a September dip, stabilizing above 3.3M by December. The website saw a significant increase in visits, reaching 33M in December, up from 27M in October.

• App Engagement: The Carnival HUB app's monthly active users rose from 558K in October to over 807K by December, reflecting heightened mobile engagement.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Carnival's monthly advertising spend surged, peaking at over $4.1M in December, with substantial impressions via OTT and desktop video channels.

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean is celebrated for its innovative cruise offerings, maintaining a strong digital presence through royalcaribbean.com and the Royal Caribbean International app.

• Audience Trends: The monthly true audience steadily climbed, reaching 2.8M in December. Website visits also increased, exceeding 20M by December, marking consistent growth since October.

• App Engagement: The app's monthly active user base grew consistently, reaching approximately 1.27M by December, indicating strong mobile engagement.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Royal Caribbean's monthly ad expenditure peaked at around $2.6M in December, with Facebook and OTT channels delivering the highest impressions.

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise Line is known for its freestyle cruising concept, with a strategic digital approach via ncl.com and the Cruise Norwegian - NCL app.

• Audience Trends: The monthly true audience fluctuated but concluded at approximately 1.6M in December. Website visits remained stable, averaging around 16M by the quarter's end.

• App Engagement: The app's monthly active users increased to 346K in December, demonstrating a steady rise in mobile engagement.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Monthly advertising spend varied, peaking at $2.25M in November, focusing on desktop video and OTT channels for maximum impressions.

Conclusion

The Q4 2023 data unveils significant digital engagement and strategic advertising efforts by Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise Line. Sensor Tower's comprehensive data insights offer an unparalleled view into cross-platform user behavior, essential for understanding market dynamics and audience trends in the cruise industry. Decision-makers can leverage these insights to drive strategic growth and competitive advantage. For more detailed analytics, explore Sensor Tower's solutions.