Earlier this week, we reported on the first signs of price drops at Carnival Cruise Lines after we ran the numbers on hundreds of thousands of stateroom price listings at the carnival.com booking site. As of today, we can confirm that those price drops are not a glitch or an experiment. That's because the price drops have continued across the board with one exception.

Here's what we're seeing.

After overall stateroom prices dropped from $714.80 to $705.60 on March 11, averages moved down further to $704.60 as of March 12. While this isn't nearly the movement we saw between March 10 and 11, it does indicate that the prices drops are holding, and that Carnival ($CCL) is working to move stateroom inventory.

But what's also interesting is that the number of staterooms listed on Carnival's booking site is decreasing, indicating that the company is reluctant to add new sailings as it waits things out.

That doesn't mean it doesn't want to sell the inventory it has on hand. By looking at average prices by stateroom type, we can see that Carnival's strategy here is pretty clear: get people on boats.

Interior staterooms, the least expensive of the bunch, have seen the deepest price cuts. On March 10, interior stateroom prices dropped from an average of $456.10 to $444.10, a 2.6% drop overnight, which was, at the time, the largest percent drop by stateroom type. As of March 12, average interior stateroom prices dropped again, though slightly, to $442.40. That's a 3% drop on average in just 48 hours.

Earlier this week, oceanview staterooms dropped 2.12% from an average of $555.80 to $544.00. The next day, average oceanview prices dropped again to $542.50, bringing their 2-day price drop average to 2.4%.

Balcony staterooms also saw a noticeable price drop on March 10, from a $788.50 to $775.70 average. By March 12, average prices for balconies sunk to $774.00, a 1.8% drop.

Meanwhile, Carnival suite stateroom prices have seen an opposite trend overall, as the cruise line hold its halo hard product close to its chest as it looks to see how the coronavirus pandemic plays out. The parent company has already shut down Princess Cruises for 60 days, and depending on how that experiment goes, one wouldn't be surprised to see other suspensions — especially if these price trends and lack of bookings make sailing cost-prohibitive.

Cruise Lines are in a precarious position with the outbreak: they signal both the potential source of an escape from the virus. Princess's role at the epicenter of the outbreak certainly played a huge role in Carnival's decision to shutter the line for the time being. Meanwhile, Facebook users are chatting about cruise lines on social media.

About the Data:

Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales. 

Further Reading: 

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