Norwegian Cruise Line passengers are cashing in as demand drops
Norwegian Cruise Line recently revealed that it's facing a concerning trend in traveler behavior that's led to a slowdown in cruise bookings in one typically high-demand region.
The cruise line's leadership team attributes the trend to economic uncertainty, which seems to be leading Americans to forego long-haul trips this year.
Related: Cruise industry bracing for fight with beloved destination
Although Norwegian reports that bookings have been mostly steady for cruises departing from common U.S. ports, the cruise line has experienced what it refers to as "choppiness" when it comes to bookings for cruises in one sought-after travel region that's not so close to home.
Norwegian is sailing multiple ships to bucket-list destinations in the region this summer, and to help drive bookings for those upcoming cruises, the cruise line has started making some significant price cuts.
Sign up for the Come Cruise With Me newsletter to save money on your next (or your first) cruise.
If you've been dreaming of a summer cruise in the Mediterranean, now may be an ideal time to book with Norwegian Cruise Line. A slowdown in bookings for this summer's season of Europe cruises has led the cruise line to launch some limited-time discounts on cruise fares for select itineraries.
Some passengers who already booked their summer Mediterranean cruises at higher prices have even been able to reprice their cruises, upgrade their cabins, and/or get onboard or future cruise credits simply by contacting the cruise line about the price drop.
Related: Norwegian Cruise Line faces troubling trend
"We sail in August on Breakaway and had booked an inside cabin. Checked on Monday and price had gone down ~£200 for the both of us. Checked today and another reduction. Emailed our [cruise consultant] and we're now in a balcony and paying £90 less than our original deal - and have 3 extra specialty dining credits each too," RassilonGallifrey recently shared in the NCL community on Reddit.
Other cruisers chimed in on the thread to report that they've also been able to contact the cruise line and reprice their cruises.
"I called my [personal cruise consultant] and the price of my cruise went down by $820. I was pleasantly surprised," Ok-Negotiation-7281 wrote.
Be the first to see the best deals on cruises, special sailings, and more. Sign up for the Come Cruise With Me newsletter.
One cruiser noted that keeping an eye on their cruise price has paid off multiple times.
"I literally check every day when I have a cruise booked. My upcoming August cruise went down about 4 times since I booked it. Saved me a good amount of money. If you see a price drop jump on it immediately, it could change again the next day," Rope-Fuzzy pointed out.
And watching the price of your booked cruise doesn't just pay off for Europe cruises, as another cruiser's recent experience reveals. Upcoming Alaska cruises are currently showing some discounts, too.
Related: Norwegian Cruise Line quietly stops sailing in one popular region
"Oh, the call to price check can be so worth it. We have a large 2-bedroom family suite for our Alaska cruise next week and thanks to giving NCL a call few weeks ago, we are getting a C$4,327.94 [future] cruise credit. Not too shabby," SpeedyBurnabite shared.
If you have a Europe or Alaska cruise booked with Norwegian this summer, you may want to contact your travel agent or your NCL personal cruise consultant to ask about any options that may be available to you. Even if you've already made your final payment, you may be able to get a future cruise credit like SpeedyBurnabite did.
(The Arena Group will earn a commission if you book a cruise.)
Make a free appointment with Come Cruise With Me's Travel Agent Partner, Postcard Travel, or email Amy Post at amypost@postcardtravelplanning.com or call or text her at 386-383-2472.
Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
It Seems That Many Young Adults Don't Know That Credit Cards Aren't 'Free Money.' Isn't Knowing To Pay It Off Monthly Just Common Sense?
A Reddit post from r/NoStupidQuestions revealed something eye-opening: many young adults don't realize they have to pay off their credit card balances in full each month to avoid interest. The original poster asked, 'Why do so many people not know that credit cards aren't free money?' and the comments quickly filled with stories, confessions, and hard-earned lessons. Don't Miss: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — Peter Thiel turned $1,700 into $5 billion—now accredited investors are eyeing this software company with similar breakout potential. Learn how you can Hundreds of commenters shared that they had never been taught how credit cards work, and that financial literacy wasn't part of their education at home or in school. As one person said, 'My mom worked all the time and I was a latchkey kid. She never had time to teach me anything. I know to pay it in full now but I was never taught how to handle money. If I knew then even half of what I know now I would be in a much better place.' Another said they thought credit cards worked like a car loan: pay the minimum each month and eventually it's paid off. They don't understand that interest piles on unless you pay in full. Some admitted they once believed credit cards were basically free money. One wrote, 'No one taught me or prepared me for it. I was racking up a bill and paying off the minimum amount and had no idea what interest was and was stuck in it for a long time.' Trending: Maximize saving for your retirement and cut down on taxes: . Many pointed out that young adults are often offered credit cards the moment they turn 18, without understanding the consequences. 'When I was in college, banks would set up a desk in the student center, usually staffed by attractive young women, and sign students up for credit cards,' one commenter shared. 'They had a low minimum payment for as long as you were in school. Imagine handing a 19-year-old a piece of plastic and saying 'Spend as much as you want and only pay $15/month.'' Others shared that financial lessons, if taught, came too early. 'At my school it was taught in 9th grade... four years before any of us even turned 18,' one person wrote. Plenty of financially savvy users said they use credit cards for cashback or points but stressed the importance of paying off the full balance every month. 'I get about $1,000 a year between my Amex and Amazon Prime cards,' one said. 'But you MUST pay off your balance each month to make it work.' Another added, 'Think of it as basically a debit card that doesn't deduct money immediately, but you instead pay for it in one big chunk each month.'Impulse spending came up frequently, not just as a result of poor education but also as a separate challenge. 'If I see something I want in a store and I know I can just whip out a card and take it home there and then, it's hard to resist,' one Redditor confessed. Others pointed out that sometimes it's not about irresponsibility, but necessity. 'You're in a big city and being good with your money but your partner loses her job and for a couple of months money gets ridiculously tight,' one person wrote. While some commenters mocked the idea of anyone thinking credit cards were free money, most responses were empathetic: 'Things that are obvious and common sense to an adult often aren't actually innate behaviors, they're learned.' For many, it wasn't a lack of intelligence, but a combination of being young, under financial stress, and never having someone explain how compound interest and minimum payments really work. Read Next:Inspired by Uber and Airbnb – Deloitte's fastest-growing software company is transforming 7 billion smartphones into income-generating assets – Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article It Seems That Many Young Adults Don't Know That Credit Cards Aren't 'Free Money.' Isn't Knowing To Pay It Off Monthly Just Common Sense? originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
How Senate Republicans want to change the tax breaks in Trump's big bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — House and Senate Republicans are taking slightly different approaches when it comes to the tax cuts that lawmakers are looking to include in their massive tax and spending cuts bill. Republicans in the two chambers don't agree on the size of a deduction for state and local taxes. And they are at odds on such things as allowing people to use their health savings accounts to help pay for their gym membership, or whether electric vehicle and hybrid owners should have to pay an annual fee. The House passed its version shortly before Memorial Day. Now the Senate is looking to pass its version. While the two bills are similar on the major tax provisions, how they work out their differences in the coming weeks will determine how quickly they can get a final product over the finish line. President Donald Trump is pushing to have the legislation on his desk by July 4th. Here's a look at some of the key differences between the two bills: The child tax credit currently stands at $2,000 per child. The House bill temporarily boosts the child tax credit to $2,500 for the 2025 through 2028 tax years, roughly the length of President Donald Trump's second term. It also indexes the credit amount for inflation beginning in 2027. The Senate bill provides a smaller, initial bump-up to $2,200, but the bump is permanent, with the credit amount indexed for inflation beginning next year. Trump promised on the campaign trail that he would seek to end income taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security benefits. Also, he would give car buyers a new tax break by allowing them to deduct the interest paid on auto loans. The House and Senate bills incorporate those promises with temporary deductions lasting from the 2025 through 2028 tax years, but with some differences. The House bill creates a deduction on tips for those working in jobs that have customarily received tips. The House also provides for a deduction for overtime that's equal to the amount of OT a worker has earned. The Senate bill comes with more restrictions. The deduction for tips is limited to $25,000 per taxpayer and the deduction for overtime is limited to $12,500 per taxpayer. The House and Senate bills both provide a deduction of up to $10,000 for interest paid on loans for vehicles made in the United States. And on Social Security, the bills don't directly touch the program. Instead, they grant a larger tax deduction for Americans age 65 and older. The House sets the deduction at $4,000. The Senate sets it at $6,000. Both chambers include income limits over which the new deductions begin to phase out. The caps on state and local tax deductions, known in Washington as the SALT cap, now stand at $10,000. The House bill, in a bid to win over Republicans from New York, California and New Jersey, lifts the cap to $40,000 per household with incomes of less than $500,000. The credit phases down for households earning more than $500,000. The Senate bill keeps the cap at $10,000. That's a non-starter in the House, but Republicans in the two chambers will look to negotiate a final number over the coming weeks that both sides can accept. The House bill prohibits states from establishing new provider taxes or increasing existing taxes. These are taxes that Medicaid providers, such as hospitals, pay to help states finance their share of Medicaid costs. In turn, the taxes allow states to receive increased federal matching funds while generally holding providers harmless through higher reimbursements that offset the taxes paid. Such taxes now are effectively capped at 6%. The Senate looks to gradually lower that threshold for states that have expanded their Medicaid populations under the Affordable Care Act, or 'Obamacare,' until it reaches 3.5% in 2031, with exceptions for nursing homes and intermediate care facilities. Industry groups have warned that limiting the ability of states to tax providers may lead to some states making significant cuts to their Medicaid programs as they make up for the lost revenue in other ways. The Medicaid provision could be a flashpoint in the coming House and Senate negotiations. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., was highly critical of the proposed Senate changes. 'This needs a lot of work. It's really concerning and I'm really surprised by it,' he said. 'Rural hospitals are going to be in bad shape.' The House bill would allow companies for five years to fully deduct equipment purchases and domestic research and development expenses. The Senate bill includes no sunset, making the tax breaks permanent, which was a key priority of powerful trade groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Republicans in both chambers are looking to scale back the clean energy tax credits enacted through then-President Joe Biden's climate law. It aimed to boost the nation's transition away from planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions toward renewable energy such as wind and solar power. Under the Senate bill, the tax credits for clean energy and home energy efficiency would still be phased out, but less quickly than under the House bill. Still, advocacy groups fear that the final measure will threaten hundreds of thousands of jobs and drive up household energy costs. The House bill would allow millions of Americans to use their health savings accounts to pay for gym memberships, with a cap of $500 for single taxpayers and $1,000 for joint filers. The Senate bill doesn't include such a provision. The House reinstates a charitable deduction for non-itemizers of $150 per taxpayer. The Senate bill increases that deduction for donations to $1,000 per taxpayer. Republicans in the House bill included a new annual fee of $250 for EV owners and $100 for hybrid owners that would be collected by state motor vehicle departments. The Senate bill excludes the proposed fees. ___
3 hours ago
How Senate Republicans want to change the tax breaks in Trump's big bill
WASHINGTON -- House and Senate Republicans are taking slightly different approaches when it comes to the tax cuts that lawmakers are looking to include in their massive tax and spending cuts bill. Republicans in the two chambers don't agree on the size of a deduction for state and local taxes. And they are at odds on such things as allowing people to use their health savings accounts to help pay for their gym membership, or whether electric vehicle and hybrid owners should have to pay an annual fee. The House passed its version shortly before Memorial Day. Now the Senate is looking to pass its version. While the two bills are similar on the major tax provisions, how they work out their differences in the coming weeks will determine how quickly they can get a final product over the finish line. President Donald Trump is pushing to have the legislation on his desk by July 4th. Here's a look at some of the key differences between the two bills: The child tax credit currently stands at $2,000 per child. The House bill temporarily boosts the child tax credit to $2,500 for the 2025 through 2028 tax years, roughly the length of President Donald Trump's second term. It also indexes the credit amount for inflation beginning in 2027. The Senate bill provides a smaller, initial bump-up to $2,200, but the bump is permanent, with the credit amount indexed for inflation beginning next year. Trump promised on the campaign trail that he would seek to end income taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security benefits. Also, he would give car buyers a new tax break by allowing them to deduct the interest paid on auto loans. The House and Senate bills incorporate those promises with temporary deductions lasting from the 2025 through 2028 tax years, but with some differences. The House bill creates a deduction on tips for those working in jobs that have customarily received tips. The House also provides for a deduction for overtime that's equal to the amount of OT a worker has earned. The Senate bill comes with more restrictions. The deduction for tips is limited to $25,000 per taxpayer and the deduction for overtime is limited to $12,500 per taxpayer. The House and Senate bills both provide a deduction of up to $10,000 for interest paid on loans for vehicles made in the United States. And on Social Security, the bills don't directly touch the program. Instead, they grant a larger tax deduction for Americans age 65 and older. The House sets the deduction at $4,000. The Senate sets it at $6,000. Both chambers include income limits over which the new deductions begin to phase out. The caps on state and local tax deductions, known in Washington as the SALT cap, now stand at $10,000. The House bill, in a bid to win over Republicans from New York, California and New Jersey, lifts the cap to $40,000 per household with incomes of less than $500,000. The credit phases down for households earning more than $500,000. The Senate bill keeps the cap at $10,000. That's a non-starter in the House, but Republicans in the two chambers will look to negotiate a final number over the coming weeks that both sides can accept. The House bill prohibits states from establishing new provider taxes or increasing existing taxes. These are taxes that Medicaid providers, such as hospitals, pay to help states finance their share of Medicaid costs. In turn, the taxes allow states to receive increased federal matching funds while generally holding providers harmless through higher reimbursements that offset the taxes paid. Such taxes now are effectively capped at 6%. The Senate looks to gradually lower that threshold for states that have expanded their Medicaid populations under the Affordable Care Act, or 'Obamacare,' until it reaches 3.5% in 2031, with exceptions for nursing homes and intermediate care facilities. Industry groups have warned that limiting the ability of states to tax providers may lead to some states making significant cuts to their Medicaid programs as they make up for the lost revenue in other ways. The Medicaid provision could be a flashpoint in the coming House and Senate negotiations. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., was highly critical of the proposed Senate changes. 'This needs a lot of work. It's really concerning and I'm really surprised by it,' he said. 'Rural hospitals are going to be in bad shape.' The House bill would allow companies for five years to fully deduct equipment purchases and domestic research and development expenses. The Senate bill includes no sunset, making the tax breaks permanent, which was a key priority of powerful trade groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Republicans in both chambers are looking to scale back the clean energy tax credits enacted through then-President Joe Biden's climate law. It aimed to boost the nation's transition away from planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions toward renewable energy such as wind and solar power. Under the Senate bill, the tax credits for clean energy and home energy efficiency would still be phased out, but less quickly than under the House bill. Still, advocacy groups fear that the final measure will threaten hundreds of thousands of jobs and drive up household energy costs. The House bill would allow millions of Americans to use their health savings accounts to pay for gym memberships, with a cap of $500 for single taxpayers and $1,000 for joint filers. The Senate bill doesn't include such a provision. The House reinstates a charitable deduction for non-itemizers of $150 per taxpayer. The Senate bill increases that deduction for donations to $1,000 per taxpayer. Republicans in the House bill included a new annual fee of $250 for EV owners and $100 for hybrid owners that would be collected by state motor vehicle departments. The Senate bill excludes the proposed fees.
