Bookings boom at Carnival as wealthy tourists rush to book cruises

Cruise company Carnival says business is booming as wealthy tourists rush to book trips.

The company, whose cruise lines include P&O Cruises and Cunard, which operates the Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, reported record second-quarter revenues of £3.9billion.

And it said total bookings hit a new high despite rising prices.

‘Booking volumes have been tremendous,’ said chief executive Josh Weinstein, who took charge in August last year. 

But Carnival shares fell 12.1 per cent, or 134.2p, to 974.8p after it warned third-quarter profits would be below estimates as it battles higher staff and fuel costs.

The stock is still up around 70 per cent this year, having rallied strongly as the cruise industry bounces back from the pandemic.

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: ‘The shares have seen solid gains over the past few weeks in anticipation of a decent set of numbers so this pullback could merely be a case of some investors cashing in profits.’