by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 2:40 PM ET, Thu April 30, 2026
Bookings for Royal Caribbean’s luxury Mediterranean cruises are rebounding following a decline caused by America’s attack on Iran.
After a month of disruption caused by the war, Royal Caribbean's bookings in the region are now higher than they were last year, according to Reuters. At the same time however, increasing fuel costs (also being impacted by events in Iran) are causing Royal Caribbean to cut its annual profit projections.
The cruise line is now reporting that its adjusted per-share profit will be between $17.10 and $17.50 for fiscal 2026. That’s down from a prior forecast of $17.70 to $18.10, per Reuters. Royal Caribbean has also said it expects fuel costs to be about $1.3 billion higher than its earlier full-year forecast of $1.17 billion.
An industry heavily reliant on fuel oil and marine gas, cruise lines are finding themselves operating amid an increasingly challenging environment, particularly as negotiations between the United States and Iran hit a stalemate. If a resolution isn’t reached soon, it could mean prolonged disruption to the Middle Eastern supply of fuel, according to Reuters.
"Sustained higher fuel costs will be a headwind to profitability, but we think RCL can adjust itineraries to mitigate this effect," CFRA Research analyst Alex Fasciano said in a report from Reuters. Fasciano also noted that the cruise operator is seeing limited expenses elsewhere.
The good news for the cruise industry is that travel demand continues unabated. Underscoring that point, Royal Caribbean CEO Jason Liberty said during a recent earnings call that "travel remains a top priority, ranking as the number one leisure category where consumers intend to spend more.”
The desire to travel remains strong despite the fact that the Trump Administration’s war in Iran is driving up travel costs for
Americans, impacting everything from airline tickets to gas prices for
road trips. Data released by NerdWallet in March showed that airfare costs were up 7.1 percent year-over-year.
That figure represented the largest increase in travel costs in more than a year.
Even more recent data, released this week by the International Air
Transport Association (IATA), shows in numbers how sharply the
U.S.-Israel war on Iran has impacted travel globally, beyond just the cruise industry. While global demand was up 2.1% from March, 2025, demand in the Middle East dropped 58.6%.
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