Fuel costs rise to levels close to the record levels of 2022
If in the second quarter of the 2026 financial year, which
ended on May 31st, the cruise group
U.S. Carnival Corporation reported record revenues for the
period, however, a generalized increase in cost items
of production has had a negative impact on profits, and in particular
that relating to fuel rose to a value
lower only than those of 2022 when the prices of the
energy prices had spiked mainly due to
of the effects of the war in Ukraine and the consequences on the
demand for the immediate aftermath of the pandemic
Covid-19.
In particular, in the last quarter March-May, revenues
marked a record value for this period of 6.66 billion
of dollars, with an increase of -5.3% over the same period in 2025 and
with new peaks both in terms of revenues generated by sales
of cruises and those produced by sales on board the
ships that stood at 4.27 billion (+4.1%) and
2.39 billion (+7.5%). The costs of cruise operations and
of excursions grew by +8.7% to 4.22 billion
dollars, with a particularly significant increase of +27.1% in the
cost of fuels which amounted to 595 million.
Operating profit amounted to €851 million (-8.9%) and profit
net to $539 million (-5.1%). In the period March-May
3.4 million passengers embarked on the group’s ships,
number unchanged compared to that of the corresponding period of
2025.
In the first half of the 2026 financial year, the group
total revenues of $12.83 billion, in
growth of +5.7% over the first half of the year
of which 8.30 billion deriving from the sale of the
cruises (+4.5%) and 4.53 billion from sales on board ships
(+7,9%). Half-year operating profit was 1.46
billion (-1.3%) and net income of $801 million (+62.7%).
With regard to the current level of bookings of
cruises scheduled by the group’s various cruise brands,
Carnival CEO Josh Weinstein made
I note that the volume of bookings for the cruises of the second
half of the 2026 financial year is higher than that of the
last year and has record prices “despite –
highlighted – the extreme geopolitical volatility taking place by
more than a quarter that mainly affected bookings
for our European cruises, particularly in the
Mediterranean which is closer to the conflict in the Middle East
East. For these cruises – he specified – we took advantage of the
significant advantage in terms of employment that we had
Strategically built to prioritize integrity
of prices. Currently,” Weinstein pointed out, “we are at 93%
of the capacity booked for the year with a residual capacity
still available compared to the same period last year, and
We are on track to achieve record net returns
in the second half of 2026”.
In addition, Weinstein pointed out that in the long term, in the
2027 and beyond, demand continues to be high and since March the
booking volumes and prices for these future cruises are
above the previous year’s levels, including an increase in
substantial bookings for the group’s European cruises
next year. “Our booking curve has
– remains the longest ever recorded,
Testimony to the strength of our portfolio of airlines
world-class cruises, the solidity of our
efforts to generate demand and exceptional
holiday that we offer”.
