Del Rio: 'The stars aligned in Q2'Del Rio: 'The stars aligned in Q2'

Del Rio cited an 'extraordinarily strong booking environment' and said the 'rising tide is lifting boats' but he also cited NCLH's revenue optimization initiatives that are resulting in earlier bookings—on average, a little more than seven months prior to sailing, a 'significant improvement over the same time last year.'

All three NCLH brands are delivering well. Plus, sending Norwegian Getaway from the Caribbean to higher-earning northern Europe has paid off, and leaving Norwegian Escape as the company's sole Miami-based ship in Q2 and Q3, benefiting Caribbean yields.

While North American demand is particularly strong for cruises in Europe, Del Rio said the company's efforts in the European source market have closed the gap in spending between Americans and Europeans to the point where 'we are agnostic as to whether the bookings originate from North America or international markets.'

Cuba has been a 'home run' for NCLH, with that destination's share of the company's deployment to double from 2% this year to 4% in 2018.

Norwegian Joy's inaugural in China made a huge splash, with a whopping 10bn media impressions. Del Rio reflected that during the last earnings call, the company was 'overly conservative' given the South Korea travel restriction had just been imposed. While ticket rates and on-board revenue were impacted, pricing in China now appears stable and load factors there are the highest NCL has ever experienced.

The company has applied for a license to sell directly to consumers in China and that will help it better monitize its marketing relationship with Alibaba, 'great partners' who attracted nearly 1m consumers digitally to the Norwegian Joy introductory events.

Overall, today's business environment is 'strong and we're getting both load and price,' the NCLH chief said.

Like Royal Caribbean's Fain, Del Rio also was cautious in telling analysts not to expect 2018 will score the same net yield increases seen in 2017.

'It would be difficult to predict an almost perfect year like this. Nevertheless, we like how 2018 is coming in. Business is strong. We're building good loads,' he said.