It was just three short years ago that cruise lines bore the brunt of the blame for spreading the COVID-19 virus. The industry was dead in the water.
Not now though. Taking a cruise is as popular as ever as evidenced by Carnival.
The stock price for Carnival Cruise Line shot up nearly 13 percent at the close of business on Monday, buoyed by the rising demand for taking a cruise and an upgrade by both JP Morgan and Bank of America in respective analyst notes.
The pent-up demand of returning, loyal customers shows no sign of dissipating. This could be a record year for the cruise industry.
CNBC cruise expert Josh Schaet also noted that the upgrades come as Carnival pays down its sizable debt, most of which was accumulated during the pandemic.
Carnival CEO Josh Weinstein said: “Getting back a fortress balance sheet is incredibly important to us. We peaked at $35 billion of debt. I was very, very happy to say on our last earnings call two very important things. Number one, we have no intention of issuing any more equity. And number two, we are starting to pay down the debt.”
Even the CEOs are optimistic, said Royal Caribbean CEO Jason Liberty.
“Well, really, for the past couple of months and certainly right now, most of the bookings we're taking on is for 2024,” he told CNBC. “So the demand trends that we've seen earlier in the year is very much flowing into 2024, and even into 2025.”
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