Carnival Corporation Posts Record Profit as Cruise Industry Recovery Exceeds Expectations

Carnival Corporation & plc reported all-time high financial results today, with a net income of $1.9 billion for the third quarter of 2025, marking the company’s strongest financial performance in its history.

The world’s largest cruise operator achieved record revenues of $8.2 billion, representing the tenth consecutive quarter of record revenue performance. The company’s adjusted net income reached $2.0 billion, surpassing its previous record set in 2019 by nearly 10 percent.

“This was a phenomenal quarter delivering all-time high net income and our tenth consecutive quarter of record revenues. Strong demand and onboard spending drove a 4.6% improvement in net yields, all of which was achieved on a same ship basis,” said Carnival Corporation CEO Josh Weinstein.

The company’s adjusted return on invested capital has reached 13% for the first time in nearly 20 years, which Weinstein attributed to “continued improvement in our operational execution—driven not only by consistently strong performance from Carnival Cruise Line and AIDA, but also great advancement across the rest of our portfolio of world class brands.”

Carnival’s booking outlook appears strong, with advance bookings for 2026 in line with 2025’s record levels but at higher prices. The company has nearly half of its 2026 capacity already booked, and early bookings for 2027 have achieved record volumes during the third quarter.

On the financial front, Carnival has made significant progress in strengthening its balance sheet. During the quarter, the company refinanced $4.5 billion of debt and prepaid an additional $0.7 billion, reducing its secured debt by nearly $2.5 billion. For the full year, Carnival has refinanced over $11 billion of debt and prepaid another $1 billion.

CFO David Bernstein noted, “With our current refinancing strategy nearly complete, we’ve continued taking decisive actions to strengthen our balance sheet by simplifying our capital structure, reducing interest expense and managing our future debt maturities.”

The company’s net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio improved to 3.6x as of August 31, 2025, down from 4.7x a year earlier, as it moves closer to its goal of achieving investment grade leverage metrics.

Among operational highlights, Carnival opened its new exclusive destination, Celebration Key, on Grand Bahama Island in July. The facility features the largest freshwater lagoon in the Caribbean and has already hosted nearly half a million guests sailing on 16 Carnival ships from nine different homeports.

The company raised its full-year 2025 guidance for the third time this year, now expecting adjusted net income to increase nearly 55 percent compared to 2024.

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