Carnival Cruise Line said booking activity nearly doubled pre-pandemic levels on Monday after it announced an ease in COVID-19 testing requirements for passengers, sending its shares more than 3 percent higher.
The company’s parent, Carnival Corp, said on Friday it would drop mandatory testing for guests vaccinated against COVID-19 and allow unvaccinated passengers to travel without an exemption in some cases, after a similar move by rival Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.
“Mid-August is typically not a busy month for cruise bookings, but it’s clear that pent-up demand for Carnival has not been satisfied and guests are responding very favorably to our updated protocols,” Cristine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, said in a statement on Tuesday.
The cruise industry has bounced back in recent months from an over one-year-long sailing pause caused by COVID-19, but rising inflation and labor shortages pose risks to its outlook.
Carnival Corp forecast a core profit for the current quarter, as the cruise operator returns to full operations even as decades-high inflation and surging fuel costs continue to bite.
Shares of the company, which have fallen 52 percent this year, were up about 10 percent as Carnival also said it expects bookings for the whole of 2023 to be at the top end of their historical range and to benefit from higher prices.