The cruise ships are full. Since many cruises are booked far in advance I wouldn’t worry yet.
MSC (Italian) is making a huge push into the US market that may really hurt the primarily US cruise lines. There is only so much money to go around. We are taking the MSC Meriviglia from Rome to Miami in late September. They have a potential edge against a recession because they also run a fleet of container ships and can possibly subsidize the cruise ships with the cargo line.
MSC is, at least from what I’ve seen, undercutting prices. The ships are nice like Royal but with strange shows and entertainment. But, in a lot of ways they are better than Carnival. So, think Royal Caribbean ship with Carnival buffet. And people haven’t taken them before so they attract the curious. They also match the status cruisers have on other cruise lines. So Carnival Platinum members get the MSC equivalent from the first cruise.
Just my two cents worth.
I went to Alaska w/the GF in early June on NCL. Ship was 50% full. There was slightly more crew than there were passengers.