Leading Brands in US Cruises & Cruise Services: Q3 2024 Insights

The US Cruises & Cruise Services sector witnessed significant shifts in audience engagement and advertising trends from Q2 to Q3 2024. This article examines the performance of three leading brands: Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise Line. Utilizing Sensor Tower’s comprehensive data, we delve into web and app engagement, advertising spend, and audience behavior across these brands.

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival Cruise Line is a major player in the industry, known for its extensive fleet and vibrant vacation experiences. Its digital presence includes the website, carnival.com, and the Carnival HUB app.

• Audience Trends: Carnival's website experienced fluctuations, peaking in July with over 65M visits, but dropping to 30M by September. The monthly deduplicated audience remained stable above 3.9M throughout Q3.

• App Engagement: The Carnival HUB app's monthly active user base showed a downward trend, starting at over 292K in July and declining to approximately 228K by September.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Carnival's monthly advertising expenditure decreased from over $930K in July to around $700K in September, with significant impressions from OTT and Facebook channels.

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean is renowned for its innovative ships and immersive travel experiences. Its digital strategy includes the website, royalcaribbean.com, and the Royal Caribbean International app.

• Audience Trends: The website reached a peak of 29M visits in September, with a consistent monthly deduplicated audience of around 3.1M throughout Q3.

• App Engagement: The app maintained a stable monthly active user base, hovering around 360K active users throughout Q3.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Royal Caribbean's monthly ad spend remained relatively stable, with a slight decrease from $920K in July to $920K in September. Facebook and OTT were key channels for impressions.

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise Line, celebrated for its freestyle cruising concept, is represented through its website, ncl.com, and the Cruise Norwegian - NCL app.

• Audience Trends: Visits to ncl.com decreased from 18M in August to 15M in September. The monthly deduplicated audience remained just under 2M.

• App Engagement: The app saw a decline in monthly active users, from 70K in August to around 62K in September.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Norwegian's monthly ad spend peaked in June at over $3.3M but dropped to $1.5M by September, with desktop display and video channels leading in impressions.

Conclusion

The Q3 2024 data reveals intriguing trends within the Cruises & Cruise Services category. Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise Line each demonstrate unique strengths and strategies. Sensor Tower’s unparalleled insights into cross-platform behavior, available through Web Insights, App Performance Insights, and Pathmatics, provide invaluable data for understanding these market dynamics and offer unique advantages for decision-makers seeking to navigate this evolving landscape.

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