Carnival Cruise Line achieved busiest booking week in the company’s 50-year history in the seven days to April 3.
The line saw a double-digit increase from the previous record seven-day booking total, although figures were not disclosed.
All sales channels, including the Carnival website, travel advisors, contact centre and personal holiday planners all contributed to the record-breaking results, according to president Christine Duffy.
Carnival is finalising plans for its return in Australia and plans to announce those details soon.
The performance came as 22 of its 23 ships returned to service across all of its US homeports served year-round.
Carnival expects to have more capacity available by the end of the year then was sailing in pre-pandemic 2019 as new Excel class ships are introduced to replace older vessels removed from the fleet.
Carnival Splendor resumes sailings from Seattle on May 2 ahead of new ship Carnival Celebration entering service from Miami in November and Carnival Jubilee from Galveston in 2023.
Duffy said: “The excitement of the industry’s restart, our successful return of our entire fleet, the guest reaction to [latest ship] Mardi Gras, our loyal guest response to our 50th birthday this year, the support of our travel advisor partners — and of course, the amazing work of our Carnival team — have all contributed to the strong demand we are seeing, and this record-breaking booking week.”
The breaking of the US line’s booking record followed MSC Cruises claiming a 40% rise in sales on Friday over its previous best ever day in the 2019 wave period.