Carnival Corp., reported second quarter results on Friday, posting net income of $380 million on revenues of $2.66 billion; that compares with $388 million on $2.52 billion during the same quarter a year ago. Yields increased 1.5 percent compared to the same quarter in the prior year. Micky Arison, Carnival Corp.'s chairman and CEO, said the second quarter results were in line with expectations, and the company's North American and European cruise brand yields were strong, despite price pressure on Caribbean sailings. He also said the company had done a good job of controlling costs, despite higher fuel costs, which chopped $74 million off the quarter's bottom line. Arison said he is expecting a solid increase in revenue yields from the company's European brands in the second half of 2006, and that pricing in Europe and Alaska for the company's North American brands is ahead of last year. He also noted that the company has many new ships on order. Putting positive cruise line earnings in perspective, Michael Batt, president and CEO, Carlson Leisure Group, speaking to Results! Travel agencies on Friday at the group's annual conference in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, told his agents that "every time the cruise lines build a new ship that's an investment in our future," as more ships give agents more commissionable product to sell and thus more money to make. The key, he said is for agents to be aggressive and go after the business.
