Carnival sees rise in casino spend

Carnival passengers are spending proportionally more on gambling, the company’s executives reported.

“We had great growth in onboard and other per diems on both sides of the Atlantic. Increases in bar, casino, shops, spa and internet led the way on board,” said David Bernstein, Carnival’s CFO and chief accounting officer.

The company posted a net loss of $2.8bn for Q3 2021. Nevertheless, it ended the quarter with $7.8bn of liquidity, which it believes will be sufficient to return to full cruise operations

Occupancy in Q3 was 54 percent, building consistently on a month-to-month basis from 39 percent in June to 59 percent in August.

“Carnival Cruise Line resumed operations in July offering Caribbean and Alaska sailings somewhat comparable to prior years and achieved 20 percent higher revenue per PCD than 2019 peak levels, despite onboard credits from cancelled cruises” said Arnold Donald, Carnivals president and CEO. The company says cumulative advanced bookings for H2 2022 are “ahead of a very strong 2019”.

“Our booked position for the second half of 2022 is at a new historical high, including our seasonally strong third quarter with all our ships planned to be in operation, despite reduced marketing spending,” Donald continued. “The broader environment for travel, while choppy, has improved dramatically since last summer and we believe it should improve even further by next summer, if the current trend of vaccine roll outs and advancements in therapies continues.”