Travel trade terms
Wave season
Updated
Wave season is the cruise industry's main sales period, which generally runs from January to the end of March. The Points Guy (Jan 2025) describes it as when cruise lines run some of their most competitive sales.
In January 2026, Royal Caribbean Group reported "the highest seven booking weeks" in its history (earnings release, 29 Jan 2026). It credited Cyber sales and the start of wave season. Carnival Corporation (19 Dec 2025) called strong bookings from Black Friday to Cyber Monday "a favorable indicator for wave season".
Example: a river cruise seller has its ads and landing pages ready before January.
Related: cost per booking · intent data · retargeting pixel