On its year-end and fourth quarter earnings call, Carnival Corporation announced record-breaking bookings during the fourth quarter. Additionally, CEO Josh Weinstein revealed that Carnival Corporation brands had carried about 3.5 million guests who were new to cruising.
Weinstein stated, “In 2023, we captured over 3.5 million new to cruise guests and remain well-positioned to continue to take share from land-based alternatives.”
“In other words, we are gaining momentum in our ability to close the unwarranted value gap to land-based alternatives. And to aid in that effort, we can further chance the fact that while many land-based alternatives have pulled back on service levels. We still deliver incredible service to our guests, thanks to our amazing crew.”
Weinstein also stated that during 2023 web traffic was up 35 percent across the corporation’s nine brands.
“Our paid search was up roughly 50 percent and our natural search was up almost 75 percent, all many, many multiples of our 5 percent capacity growth. In the fourth quarter, we carried more new to cruise, have more new-to-brand guests than we did in the fourth quarter of 2019.”
Carnival Corporation also saw a surge in bookings around its Black Friday, Cyber Monday and other sales and reported that approximately two-thirds of its 2024 occupancy is booked. Also noteworthy is the fourth quarter of 2023 was over 101 percent. Deposits across the fourth quarter also broke records coming in at $6.4 billion, a 25 percent increase over the previous fourth quarter record.
Weinstein said, “We ended the year on a high note with another record-breaking quarter that exceeded expectations. “In fact, we consistently outperformed in all four quarters of the year, buoyed by the strengthening demand environment across all our brands.”
With Carnival Jubilee setting sail tomorrow, December 23, 2023, the company’s new $200 million private destination, Celebration Key, on the 2025 horizon, and Carnival Corporation’s commitment to sustainable practices and improvement of the guest experience, the company is expected to continue to sell out ships and break records.