A surge of interest in cruise holidays has promoted Norwegian Cruise Line to increase prices for the coming season by up to seven per cent.

The decision follows what the organisation is branding an “unprecedented” year-to-date increase in booking volume. Demand has been driven by the ‘Year of the Freestyle Vacation’ wave season promotion, which ran during January and February.

“Our first quarter wave season promotion definitely persuaded consumers to book a Norwegian cruise vacation as we saw heavy call volumes translating to exceptional bookings,” said Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian Cruise Line’s CEO.

“As we move out of wave season, consumers and travel partners can expect to see our prices rise across the fleet, especially for our new, highly anticipated ship Norwegian Epic.”

In addition, Norwegian Cruise Line confirmed group business was up close to twofold.

The company also saw a strong interest in its new ship debuting in June, Norwegian Epic, and for its Hawaii-based ship, Pride of America.

This will see prices rise from April 7th, with travel partners urged to take advantage of the current pricing environment for their individual bookings and to block group space up to four months prior to sailing without paying a deposit, NCL said.

Norwegian Cruise Line recently confirmed plans for the 2011/12 winter deployment.