America’s Cruise Boom Defies Travel Slump With 57% of Gen Z Booking Voyages

Cruises have secretly become travel’s most recession-resistant category. Cruise spending rose across every income group in the first four months of 2026, even as lower-income consumers cut back on flights and hotels. In fact, 57% of Gen Z plan to take a cruise within the next year, according to the Bank of America summer travel outlook survey.

• Global ocean cruise passengers reached a record 37.2M in 2025, rising 7.5% from 2024 as demand for cruise travel kept climbing.
• Viking Holdings’VIK
  2026 advance bookings climbed 13% year-over-year, while 2027 bookings already stand at $3.4B — up 31% from the same point last year.

Conquering the waterline: Budget-conscious travelers are hunting for all-in-one value instead of surprise costs. Intuit Credit Karma’s Courtney Alev noted, “That mindset may make more predictable or bundled options, like cruises, appealing.” Still, stocks of Royal CaribbeanRCL

, CarnivalCCL

, and Viking Holdings have taken hits as investors worry that rising fuel costs and macro uncertainty could cool demand — leaving Wall Street and Main Street on opposite decks.