In its 2022 second quarter update released on Friday (24 June), the cruise giant posted a net loss of $1.8 billion, although operations remained “cash positive” for the period and Carnival ended the quarter with $7.5 billion of liquidity, including cash, short-term investments and borrowings.

The company’s revenue increased by nearly 50% during its second quarter, compared to early 2022, while revenue per passenger cruise day decreased slightly compared to 2019.

Occupancy in the second quarter of 2022 grew to 69%, an increase from 54% in the quarter prior.

Outgoing president and chief executive Arnold Donald, who will step down from the role at the end of July, said “more than 90%” of the corporation’s fleet had returned to service with five of Carnival’s nine brands now operating their full fleets.

“We are aggressively, yet thoughtfully, ramping up to full operations,” said Donald, adding how Carnival Cruise Line – which became the company’s first brand to sail its entire fleet last month – is “expecting occupancy to approach 110% during our third quarter”.

Carnival said the ongoing impacts of the Covid pandemic, inflation and higher fuel prices were “collectively having a material impact” on the company’s business, including its results of operations, liquidity and financial position. 

It added how the company was “making meaningful progress” in resolving challenges around onboard staffing “which have resulted in occupancy constraints on certain voyages”.

Carnival said it predicted another net loss for the third quarter of 2022 and for the full year, although it continues to believe adjusted Ebitda will improve alongside its ongoing return to service, with expected improvement in occupancy throughout the rest of year until returning to historical levels in 2023.

On bookings, Donald said the company had seen “continued strength in demand”, adding how the business was “focused on optimising occupancy while preserving long term pricing”.

“As friction from protocols is removed and society becomes increasingly more comfortable managing the virus, we expect to see demand continue to build, as we have already seen with the strength in Carnival Cruise Line’s closer-to-home cruises,” he said.

Booking volumes for all future sailings during the second quarter of 2022 were nearly double the volumes during the first quarter of 2022, Carnival reported, which the corporation claimed as its “best quarterly booking volumes since the beginning of the pandemic”.

Booking volumes for the second half of 2022 sailings have been higher than 2019 levels, which Carnival attributed to an extended wave season.

Despite cumulative advance bookings for the second half of 2022 being “below the historical range”, Carnival said its booked position was “consistent” and predicted improving occupancy levels for the second half of 2022. 

On his decision to step down from the Carnival helm - due to be replaced by chief operations officer Josh Weinstein - Donald said he believed “now is the time to transition leadership to the next generation”.

“Josh Weinstein has the skill set ideally suited to take this company forward, including strong operating experience and in-depth industry knowledge cultivated over the past two decades. I am confident our positive momentum will continue under Josh’s leadership and I remain confident in the long-term future of our company."