One week after Carnival announced it will increase fares this month in response to a robust wave season, Norwegian Cruise Line is following suit.

Citing “an unprecedented year-to-date increase in booking volume during its ‘Year of the Freestyle Vacation’ wave season promotion in January and February ” as well as strong group bookings, the line announced it will increase prices up to 7% beginning April 2.

The line also attributes the increase in bookings to noticeable demand for the Norwegian Epic, scheduled for launch in June, and for its Hawaii-based ship, Pride of America. Travel agents can expect to see the highest fare increases on these ships.

“Our first quarter wave season promotion definitely persuaded consumers to book a Norwegian cruise vacation as we saw heavy call volumes translating to exceptional bookings,” said Kevin Sheehan, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line.

Several travel agents told Travel Market Report spoke that the increased fares from two lines are a good sign.

“I think this is a very good sign for the industry that we are returning to a more even and balanced state… It’s a continued sign of the overall strengthening of the vacation market economy,” said Amber Blecker of a Colorado CruiseOne.

Marge Suazo of a Colorado Cruise Planners said, "I think it is a really good indicator of stabilization in the cruise industry, and seems to track with the increasing number of inquiries for cruises this year over the same time last year."

Ralph Santisteban of Miami CruiseOne told TMR price hikes were simply inevitable, though he said fares have actually been increasing all along, just not so transparently.

“For the past several years it seemed that cruise prices for most of the mass market lines remained stable at a low rate – this despite the fact that the overall cruise fare was going up,” he said.

The reason the cruise fare was actually going up, he said, is that the lines have steadily been increasing the non-commissionable portion of cruises – i.e. taxes and fees, specialty restaurants, excursions.

All three cruise sellers said they don’t expect the publicly increased fares to have a negative impact on the number of passengers booking cruises.

"I feel that these are reasonable increases and still represent a great value over 2008 pricing. I don’t anticipate a negative impact on my bottom line," Suazo said, though she added she didn't think her bottom line would increase significantly either.

Normalized pricing, which is clearly good for travel sellers, is also good for customers, Blecker said.

“I feel that a predictable pricing structure, where early booking fares are the best pricing, and fares increase as we get closer to the sailing date…(This) is good for consumers as it allows them to better plan their trips… taking the guesswork out of cruise pricing. For example, if consumers know and book their cruise in advance, they can make better decisions with regard to air purchase, and not be locked into higher last-minute air because they waited to book their cruise.”

All also agreed that despite any price hikes, cruising still represents a tremendous value.

“Cruises will remain the best vacation value under the sun even as rates begin to rise,” Santisteban said.

To book a Norwegian cruise for a client, visit www.ncl.com or call (866) 234-7350.