Oct 29, 2026 earnings call — Turnaround progress and Great Stirrup Cay opening
NCLH reported adjusted EBITDA of $937 million for Q3, beating guidance by $63 million.
Revenue $2.9B (est $2.9B) · EPS $1.12 (est $0.93)
Key quotes
"I want to touch on the progress of our turnaround strategy, which is built around three priorities: strengthening revenue performance, improving operating efficiency and enhancing the guest experience."
"Combined with the approximately $225 million identified over the prior 2 quarters, these actions bring our total annualized savings and cash benefits identified this year to approximately $325 million and our total identified to date to over $600 million."
Analyst Q&A 12
Why yields up 1%–2% in 2027
Q (Steven Wieczynski · Stifel): He asked what gives the company confidence that yields will rise 1% to 2% next year, and wanted color on risks like the war, close-in demand, onboard spend, and like-for-like pricing with new hardware.
A: Management said several factors give them confidence for 2027. They cited Q3 outperformance, being ahead on pricing in every quarter next year, marketing plans for wave season, and changes to revenue management as reasons they can reach the net yield target.
"I think it's a lot of things actually that give me a lot of confidence or give us a lot of confidence about '27." — John Chidsey (CEO)
Filling bookings without cutting price
Q (Brandt Montour · Barclays): He asked how the company can fill the first-half load shortfall while protecting pricing, and whether the baseloading strategy is working since the company is only booked in line for the second half.
A: Management said baseloading is early but they think it is working and they have marketing ideas to reinforce it with consumers and travel agents. They noted close-in bookings helped Q3 outperformance, they assumed those close-in bookings don't continue in Q4, and they will learn more in the coming months.
"I think the other unknown that you bring up is this close-in booking that we saw in this -- in the third quarter, which is one of the reasons that we outperformed." — John Chidsey (CEO)
Leverage and deleveraging plans
Q (Benjamin Chaiken · Mizuho): He asked whether deleveraging will be organic or require equity issuance, and how leverage might come down over the next few years.
A: Management said they believe they have sufficient liquidity after recent bond issuance and the revolver upsizing, so they do not foresee the need for equity issuance. They expect deleveraging primarily to be organic and noted taking only one ship a piece in 2028 and '29 reduces CapEx by about $1 billion per year, which will help delever.
"No, I would say from where we sit, we believe we have sufficient liquidity and financial resources after both the recent bond issuance and the revolver upsizing, so we don't foresee the need for equity issuance at all." — John Chidsey (CEO)
Incremental cost savings details
Q (Conor Cunningham · Melius): He asked about the incremental cost savings announced, opportunities onshore and via AI, and how cost trends affect earnings next year.
A: Management clarified they announced $225 million previously and this quarter added another incremental $100 million, bringing total announced savings to $325 million for 2026. They said they have further line of sight to more savings next year through strategic sourcing, offshore, and other initiatives, and highlighted their historical record of delivering sub-1% unit costs.
"So just to clarify, through our last call, we had announced $225 million. This quarter, we're announcing another incremental $100 million bringing it to $325 million in the course of 2026." — Mark Kempa (CFO)
Brand contributions and cadence
Q (Elizabeth Dove · Goldman Sachs): She asked whether the first-half/second-half cadence changed, and how much Norwegian versus Oceania and Regent will contribute, including whether Norwegian will return to positive growth.
A: Management said the cadence remains the same with the second half delivering the major impact. They said Oceania and Regent continue to perform very well, and most improvement is expected to come from the Norwegian brand, giving them high confidence for next year.
"Yes, the most of the improvement is obviously coming from the Norwegian brand, which is, again, what is driving the shift to the positive yield" — John Chidsey (CEO)
Great Stirrup Cay ticket take rate
Q (Stephen Grambling · Morgan Stanley): He asked what percentage of passengers on Great Stirrup Cay buy a waterpark ticket.
A: Management said they did not have the exact percentage available. They noted the island visitors count rose to 1.4 million from an initial 1.2 million due to itinerary changes adding 200,000 people, and said take rates and pricing are meeting expectations and should improve as family exposure and awareness increase.
"What I can tell you very clearly is that it is meeting our expectations, both in terms of the take rate on the ship as well as the pricing." — Mark Kempa (CFO)
Marketing The Haven luxury product
Q (Vince Ciepiel · Cleveland Research Company): He asked how well consumers understand The Haven and whether the company will emphasize this product more in upcoming marketing.
A: Management said agents and consumer research show they need to remind people about The Haven. They will reemphasize The Haven in new marketing campaigns rolling out with wave season in January and expect that to help raise yields on that product.
"So when you see the new marketing campaigns that will roll out with wave season in January, you will see a reemphasis on The Haven." — John Chidsey (CEO)
Occupancy versus pricing mix for 2027
Q (Xian Siew Hew Sam · BNP Paribas): He asked how to think about net-yield composition into 2027: will occupancy fall to hold pricing, or will both improve, and what is the expectation for load factor.
A: Management said they are behind in load for the first half but ahead on pricing, and the ideal is to claw load back. They expect acceleration in the second half with both pricing and load contributing to yield, and they would expect overall load factor increases next year as they annualize over 2026 underperformance and run ad campaigns.
"I would expect that we are going to see overall load factor increases next year again, as we're annualizing over some of the underperformance that we've seen in 2026." — Mark Kempa (CFO)
Why baseloading not earlier bookings
Q (Richard Clarke · Bernstein): He asked why baseloading did not produce earlier, lower-priced bookings for 2027, whether it will start 2028 at lower prices with more demand, and how to tell incremental demand from pulled-forward bookings.
A: Management said baseloading had limited impact on early 2027 because much inventory for Q1 2027 was already booked, and the approach is applied by itinerary. They said baseloading is fully implemented in the back half of 2027 and will be active for all of 2028, and that some demand should be incremental from programs while some bookings will simply move earlier; they also expect stickier customers and reduced churn over time.
"So Richard, the reason that you don't see it as much in '27, because obviously, there was a lot more inventory at booked in the first quarter of '27." — John Chidsey (CEO)
Occupancy target and air savings timing
Q (Raymond Bowers · Wells Fargo): He asked how much of the 1–2 point yield is occupancy versus price, where occupancy should go over time, and how air dynamics savings will appear.
A: Management said historically they reached quarters of 111–113 occupancy and they expect to get back to 110 and above over time, though not overnight. They said going after occupancy is a key pillar, and air and operational improvements will phase in over late 2026, 2027 and 2028 with some bleed-in, including crew-side benefits arriving in 2027.
"So I would expect us to clearly get back to 110 and above." — John Chidsey (CEO)
Baseloading timing and $100M cost impact
Q (Robin Farley · UBS): She asked how baseloading will lift both load and price without cutting price, whether Q3 looks better than Q4 on the books, and whether the $100 million in cost saves shows up in net cruise cost or elsewhere.
A: Management said they implemented baseloading in the last 60 to 90 days, mainly for back half 2027 and all of 2028, so it will take time to show results and they will provide more detail in February. On the $100 million, they said the impact is both: the airfare change is effectively a marketing subsidy that affects revenue, while crew cost savings hit the cost line, and they would not give a detailed split.
"I look at this airfare program that we were doing as basically a marketing subsidy." — John Chidsey (CEO)
Which year to compare pricing to
Q (Alex Brignall · Rothschild): He asked what historical quarter or year management uses as the best comparison point to judge current pricing versus prior years.
A: Management said they do not use a single prior year as the benchmark. Revenue management uses internal historical data and the broader competitive environment, and the process combines those data with a baseloading strategy rather than picking a single year as the reference point.
"I don't think it's a particular year that we're looking at in terms of setting our benchmark pricing for Q3 and Q4 revenue management is an art as much as it is a science." — Mark Kempa (CFO)