by Brian Major
Last updated: 3:50 PM ET, Wed November 1, 2023
Carnival Corporation¡¯s nine brands are riding the wave of
consumer wanderlust to what company officials, speaking Wednesday at
Northstar Travel Group¡¯s CruiseWorld conference in Fort Lauderdale, describe as
historic highs in passenger bookings revenue and company earnings.
¡°Last year we were in full-on recovery mode, with huge
occupancy gaps and the winding down of covid protocols,¡± said Josh Weinstein,
Carnival Corp.¡¯s CEO. ¡°And now here we are, full steam ahead for the cruise
industry [with] incredibly robust demand and record bookings.¡±
¡°We¡¯ve attracted more people [of] all ages from around the
globe, all of them eager to experience the joy of vacationing at sea,¡± said
Weinstein, who said the company¡¯s success is shared among the major cruise
lines.
¡°This is all setting up the entire global cruise industry for
a banner 2024,¡± Weinstein said.
After the unprecedented shutdown of global cruising during the
pandemic and the slow ramp-up to full operations in its wake, the cruise industry
is experiencing the most successful period in its history.
¡°We¡¯ve returned to full-scale global guest operations and
we¡¯re getting a glimpse of the power of our portfolio of world-class brand,¡± he
said.
Weinstein¡¯s comments at the conference follow a banner
performance for the cruise giant detailed in the company¡¯s third quarter results.
The results ¡°Broke records for our company [in] revenue per
diems, revenue yields, total revenue, customer deposits and bookings for the
future,¡± Weinstein. The results were spread across all of the company¡¯s nine
brands in every global region the organization operates, he said.
Additionally, the Carnival Corp. brands¡¯ third-quarter booking
volumes continued at elevated levels while advanced bookings for 2024 exceeded the high end of the company¡¯s historic range at higher prices compared with
2023.
Indeed, the cruise giant¡¯s 2023 results augur positively
for the coming years, said Weinstein. ¡°I was so happy we could say definitively
[that] we see no signs of a slowdown in our consumer spending,¡± he said.
Carnival Corp.¡¯s record performance is tied to strong
productivity among travel advisors, said Weinstein.
¡°This collective momentum is due in no small part to all of
you. You play an incredibly critical role in supporting and expanding the
entire cruise industry,¡± Weinstein said.
¡°Simply put, we can¡¯t do what we do without [advisors],¡± he
said. ¡°We have the wind at our backs and [travel advisor] engagement with
cruise is at an all-time high.¡±
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