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| Carnival Cruise Lines' booking volumes and pricing are up. Above, guests on Carnival Breeze relax on deck during the sailaway party. // Photo by Susan J. Young |
After Carnival Corp. reported higher than expected earnings last week and held its conference call with financial analysts, Robin Farley, a cruide industry analyst, UBS Investment Research, provided this guidance to investors. It may prove of interest to agents as well.
Booking volumes in the current Wave Season are strong across the multiple Carnival Corp. brands, including the Carnival Cruise Lines brand.
Cumulative bookings for the Carnival Corp. brands for the second quarter 2015 through the fourth quarter 2015 are ahead of where they were at the same time last year. … and with higher pricing.
Caribbean bookings are expected to be positive for rest of the year. Alaska bookings are very strong.
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| Alaska bookings for 2015 are very strong and the region is ahead in price and occupancy for Carnival Corp.'s North American brands. // Photo of downtown Ketchikan, AK, by Susan J. Young |
The Caribbean and Alaska are also ahead in both price and occupancy for the remainder of 2015 (for Carnival’s North American brands).
Carnival noted double-digit growth in Costa Cruises' Asian itineraries.
European itineraries are also ahead in price and occupancy.
While booking volumes for Europe are down year-over-year (as anticipated by Carnival Corp.), less volume has been needed to drive occupancy. European bookings are coming in at higher prices.
Based on Carnival Corp.’s positive commentary about the Caribbean, Farley says the “read through” is positive for operations of competitors Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.