Cruise stocks continued a terrible week on Thursday. It appears not only is the broader market’s decline weighing them down, but as the economy begins to slow and demand declines, more cruises are being scheduled, causing pricing pressures for tickets.

Carnival (CCL -2.48%) was down by up to 8.7% during early trading. Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL -3.08%) dropped as low as 8.4%. Meanwhile Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH -3.89%) fell 9.2%. As of 1:30 p.m. ET, the three were all down, by 3.2%, 4.6%, and 5.2% respectively.

Morgan Stanley analyst Jamie Rollo declared Wednesday he feels cruise line companies may start going under if business conditions don’t improve for them soon. Meanwhile Citi leisure and travel sector analyst James Hardiman said Thursday that “some pushback on pricing” was starting to happen, especially as operations begin opening up all of their ships, and working at full capacity.

As cruise lines are facing those problems, They are also contending with rising labor costs, higher fuel prices, and rising interest rates. Clearly investors have reasons to be skeptical about their future performance.

With the economy possibly already in a recession, inflation at a forty year high, savings being exhausted just acquiring daily necessities, and the first hints of layoffs one would see in a slowing economy, both the revenue and expense fronts look challenging for cruise lines. And that is before you consider each company’s debt burden after having to shut down for two years during the Covid pandemic.

It would appear at least the next few quarters are going to be quite problematic for the cruise industry as the economy slows and the Fed hikes rates. If they weather the storm, they may emerge with significantly more debt, which could prove difficult to pay off if they are unable to restructure it properly.

Companies can go under fast, if they cannot find their way to positive cash flow while saddled with debt. The market is now wondering if that is the future awaiting these companies.