Carnival Experiences Record Bookings

Carnival has just experienced its greatest booking numbers since 2007.

Photo courtesy of Carnival Cruises.

 

The folks over at Carnival Cruise Lines must be giddy with delight: they've just come off of a record booking week the likes of which haven't been seen since 2007, before the recession took a chunk out of their profits.

Last week, the line booked a whopping 165,308 guests on future voyages.  If you break it down, that's roughly 23,000 guest bookings per day.   Keep in mind, these aren't numbers for Carnival PLC, the umbrella corporation that oversees lines like Holland America and Seabourn.  This is just Carnival Cruise Lines, better known as "The Fun Ships" - and those numbers are nothing to sniff at.

Gerry Cahill, President & CEO of Carnival, mentioned that while the economy is improving, customers are still seeking value in their cruise vacations - something we've heard for months from a number of industry insiders.  It's here that the travel industry differentiates itself from others who have found themselves hit hard by the recession.  Rather than cutting back travel altogether, most people are looking for the cruise vacation that will give them the most bang for their buck.  As a result, cruise lines haven't been forced to price themselves out of the market in the same fashion that other industries have had to just to make a buck.

The numbers released yesterday also speak to the quality of product Carnival offers.  Is it Regent or Seabourn?  No - but it does offer one heck of a good time for a price that many find irresistible, and that is a formula that has proven incredibly successful for the line, which operates 22 "Fun Ships" around the world. 

Like many lines, Carnival is also continually re-inventing itself, and no doubt attracting new passengers in the process.  Just a few months ago, the line announced plans to deploy its Carnival Spirit to Australia year-round - a very esoteric choice for the line, which is perhaps known best for its variety of North American homeports.

But with over 165,000 guests booking passage on Carnival last week, we can't help but wonder: what will this week be like?

For more information on the voyages offered by Carnival, be sure to visit their website.