Cruise stocks rallied following President Trump’s announcement on Truth Social that all reciprocal tariffs will be paused for 90 days. This comes after cruise stocks dropped considerably last week with some major brands falling as much as 13 to 16 percent (in one day) after Trump’s initial tariff announcement on over 90 countries on his self-proclaimed “Liberation Day.” Read: Trump Tariffs Cause Cruise Stocks to Tumble.
A breakdown of major cruise stocks as of today is as follows:
Cruise Stocks Closing Prices April 9th:
- Carnival Corporation: $19.61, up 17.50%
- Royal Caribbean Group: $209.51, up 16.27%
- Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings: $18.39, up 18.34%
Cruise stocks have been more volatile than the average S&P 500 companies in response to Trump’s tariff announcements. The S&P 500 jumped 9.5% today while major cruise stocks almost doubled that.
Notably, Cruise CEOs down-played (or played dumb) the potential negative effect tariffs had on the cruising industry at Seatrade Cruise Global’s event in Miami Beach, as reported by Cruise Industry News. In response to tariffs, Josh Weinstein CEO of Carnival Corporation said “The uncertainty and ripple effect absolutely has an impact. As of now the answer is we don’t know. It takes some time for people to get comfortable with the uncertainty.”
Drops in cruise stocks are due to more than just uncertainty. Concerns over consumer discretionary spending are front and center with the recent volatility. Cruise vacations will be the first item many families cut if they face financial insecurity due to the inflationary nature of tariffs. Investors have similar concerns regarding consumer discretionary spending for major U.S. airlines as their stocks dropped last week and mostly recovered today.
The 90 day pause on tariffs may bring stability to the global economy and industry outlook on cruising. Uncertainty will still prevail with Trump excluding China from the pause and raising its tariffs to 125%. The response from China, the internal backlash Trump will face, and the effects on the stock market remain to be seen.
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