A strong wave peak season booking period has been reported by Carnival Corporation.
Booking levels for all future periods have been running ahead of prior year at higher prices since January.
Cumulative advanced bookings for the remainder of 2018 are in line with last year at higher prices.
President and chief executive Arnold Donald said: “The booking strength achieved during this year’s wave season, outpacing even last year’s record levels, demonstrates sustained strong demand for our world’s leading cruise brands and delivers further confidence in our raised earnings guidance.
“We remain on track to achieve double-digit return on invested capital while continuing to return cash to shareholders through ongoing share repurchases and dividend growth.”
The parent company of brands such as P&O Cruises, Cunard, Princess Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line expects full year 2018 net revenue yields in constant currency to be up approximately 2.5% year-on-year based on current booking trends.
The forecast came as Carnival Corporation produced improved first quarter net profits of $375 million against $279 million for the same period a year earlier.
Donald said: “We are off to a strong start to the year achieving another quarter of record earnings on record revenues and exceeding the high end of guidance.
“This strong operational execution affirms our efforts to create demand in excess of measured capacity growth and exceed guest expectations once onboard.
“Our guest experience efforts, coupled with our ongoing marketing and public relations programs are clearly accelerating cruise demand across the board to drive cruise ticket prices higher.”
During the three months, the company signed agreements to build new ships powered by liquefied natural gas for P&O Cruises to be delivered in 2022 and AIDA Cruises in 2023.