Carnival Corporation more than doubled net profits in the second quarter of 2015 to $193 million from $73 million a year earlier.
Revenues were in line with the same three months last year at $3.6 billion.
Fleet-wide forward bookings in the last 13 weeks for the next three quarters were running well ahead of last year at slightly lower prices due to transactional currency impacts, the cruise giant said.
“At this time, cumulative advance bookings for the next three quarters are well ahead of the prior year at slightly lower prices again due to transactional currency impacts,” Carnival Corporation said.
President and chief executive, Arnold Donald (pictured), said: “Current strength in booking volumes clearly demonstrates strong consumer demand for our brands, leaving less inventory remaining for sale and building confidence in achieving significant revenue yield improvement this year.
“We are stepping up our marketing investment for the remainder of the year to further solidify our base of business for 2016 and drive continued yield improvement as we progress on our path toward double digit return on invested capital.”
Reviewing the past quarter, he said: “We more than doubled our second quarter earnings versus the comparable period a year ago and significantly exceeded our quarterly earnings guidance.
“Our initiatives to create demand and leverage our scale benefited both cruise ticket prices and onboard revenues contributing to 5% revenue yield improvement this quarter.
“While all of our North American brands enjoyed strong revenue yield improvement, our Carnival Cruise Line brand performed particularly well again this quarter.
“We thank our teams around the globe for their consistent delivery of exceptional guest experiences as well as our travel agent partners for their strong support, both of which are critical to our success.”
Fuel prices declined 37% to $411 per metric ton for the second quarter from $657 per metric ton in the same period last year but were higher than the company’s March guidance of $402 per metric ton.