Carnival Corp (NYSE:CCL), Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NYSE:NCLH) and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL) shares are trading higher by 10.39% to $7.33, 11.33% to $45.30 and 11.01% to $12.91 Wednesday afternoon. The cruise line sector at large is trading higher during Wednesday's trading session following a series of analyst rating updates.

• UBS analyst Robin Farley maintained Carnival with a Buy and lowered the price target from $11 to $8.
• Farley maintained Royal Caribbean with a Buy and lowered the price target from $65 to $56.
• Farley upgraded Norwegian Cruise Line from a Neutral to Buy and lowered the price target from $18 to $15.

Shares of travel and leisure companies have been volatile in recent sessions amid concerns over a recession and further Federal Reserve policy tightening. An economic slowdown could drive a slowdown in consumer spending on non-essential services such as travel.