Latest news with #CarnivalCruiseLine
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
After 40% Rise, What's Next For Carnival Stock?
LISBON, PORTUGAL - JUNE 03: Carnival Miracle, a 88,500 GT Spirit-class cruise ship operated by ... More Carnival Cruise Line, sails the Tagus River after departure from the cruise terminal on June 03, 2025, in Lisbon, Portugal. (Photo by Horacio Villalobos#Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images) Carnival (NYSE:CCL) shares have increased by approximately 11% in the past month and nearly 40% over the previous 12 months. These recent improvements come after the cruise line reported a set of second-quarter results that exceeded expectations (for the November fiscal year). Revenue was approximately $6.33 billion, reflecting a rise of about 9% compared to the previous year, while net income increased to $565 million, a significant rise from just $92 million a year ago. Carnival has also raised its full-year forecast, indicating that adjusted net income would be 40% greater compared to 2024. The demand for leisure cruising has remained strong following Covid-19 due to appealing prices when compared to land vacations, along with a preference for an all-inclusive, packaged travel experience. Cruise lines such as Carnival have been benefitting from increased capacity, growing onboard revenues, and some price hikes in recent quarters. Furthermore, Carnival has been concentrating on enhancing its fleet, which has led to robust operating performance and profitability. On July 19, 2025, Carnival will open its Celebration Key destination in the Bahamas. This new site could enhance revenue and brand perception by providing a unique and fully controlled private island experience for guests. So, should you buy Carnival stock after its recent results? Carnival's recent performance and future outlook appear strong, and the company's valuation is also reasonable. However, the stock isn't an unequivocal buy for several reasons. We reach our conclusion by comparing the current valuation of CCL stock with its operational performance over recent years, as well as its current financial health. Our analysis of Carnival against key metrics such as Growth, Profitability, Financial Stability, and Downturn Resilience indicates that the company exhibits weak operational performance and financial health, as outlined below. Nevertheless, for investors looking for lower volatility than individual stocks, the Trefis High Quality portfolio offers an alternative – having outperformed the S&P 500 and provided returns greater than 91% since its inception. How Does Carnival's Valuation Compare to The S&P 500? In terms of what you're paying per dollar of sales or profit, CCL stock appears slightly undervalued compared to the wider market. • Carnival has a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 1.3 compared to 3.1 for the S&P 500 • Moreover, the company's price-to-free cash flow (P/FCF) ratio stands at 17.0 versus 20.9 for the S&P 500 • Additionally, it has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 16.4, while the benchmark's P/E is 26.9 How Have Carnival's Revenues Increased Over Recent Years? Carnival's Revenues have experienced significant growth over the past few years. • Carnival's top line has increased at an average rate of 130.2% over the last 3 years (against an increase of 5.5% for the S&P 500) • Its revenues have grown 12.7% from $23 billion to $25 billion in the last 12 months (as opposed to 5.5% growth for the S&P 500) • In addition, its quarterly revenues increased by 7.5% to $5.8 billion in the latest quarter from $5.4 billion the previous year (compared to a 4.8% improvement for the S&P 500) How Profitable Is Carnival? Carnival's profit margins are approximately at the median level for companies within the Trefis coverage universe. • Carnival's Operating Income over the past four quarters was $3.8 billion, indicating a moderate Operating Margin of 15.1% • Carnival's Operating Cash Flow (OCF) during this timeframe was $5.1 billion, suggesting a moderate OCF Margin of 20.0% (in comparison to 14.9% for the S&P 500) • For the previous four-quarter period, Carnival's Net Income was $2.1 billion – reflecting a poor Net Income Margin of 8.1% (compared to 11.6% for the S&P 500) Is Carnival Financially Stable? Carnival's balance sheet appears very weak. • Carnival's debt was $28 billion at the conclusion of the most recent quarter, while its market capitalization is $34 billion (as of 6/26/2025). This results in a very poor Debt-to-Equity Ratio of 84.4% (in comparison to 19.4% for the S&P 500). [Note: A lower Debt-to-Equity Ratio is preferable] • Cash (inclusive of cash equivalents) constitutes $833 million of the $49 billion in Total Assets for Carnival. This culminates in a poor Cash-to-Assets Ratio of 1.7% How Resilient Is CCL Stock in a Downturn? CCL stock has performed significantly worse than the benchmark S&P 500 index during some recent downturns. While investors are hopeful for a gentle landing by the U.S. economy, what could happen if there were to be another recession? Our dashboard How Low Can Stocks Go During A Market Crash illustrates how key stocks performed during and following the last six market crashes. • CCL stock fell 79.6% from a peak of $31.31 on 2 June 2021 to $6.38 on 10 October 2022, compared to a peak-to-trough drop of 25.4% for the S&P 500 • The stock has yet to recover to its pre-Crisis peak • The highest value the stock has attained since then is $28.49 on 30 January 2025 and it currently trades at around $26 • CCL stock dropped 84.6% from a peak of $51.90 on 17 January 2020 to $7.97 on 2 April 2020, compared to a peak-to-trough decline of 33.9% for the S&P 500 • The stock has not yet recovered to its pre-Crisis level • CCL stock decreased 70.7% from a high of $51.33 on 9 October 2007 to $15.02 on 20 November 2008, compared to a peak-to-trough drop of 56.8% for the S&P 500 • The stock fully bounced back to its pre-Crisis high by 13 July 2015 modest valuation, concerns remain for Carnival stock, particularly regarding its weak financial standing and resilience during downturns. Investing in a single stock poses risks. Conversely, the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio, comprising 30 stocks, has a history of consistently outperforming the S&P 500 over the past four years. Why is this? As a collective, HQ Portfolio stocks have delivered superior returns with reduced risk compared to the benchmark index; it has shown less volatility, as depicted in HQ Portfolio performance metrics.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Carnival Cruise Line raises red flag over new cruise ‘hack'
Carnival Cruise Line raises red flag over new cruise 'hack' originally appeared on Come Cruise With Me. Many cruisers turn to online forums like Reddit, Facebook groups, and cruise website message boards for tips and advice about cruises. These forums can be a wealth of cruise information, but it's important to keep in mind that not all of the tips and 'cruise hacks' you find on them — even popular ones — are cruise hacks violate cruise line conduct policies and could get you banned from sailing. Some can also jeopardize your safety and the safety of others. Although some cruise hacks are smart and helpful, you probably shouldn't try any that sound questionable. If you're unsure, consult your cruise line's guest conduct policies or contact its guest services team. Cruise lines want to make it easy for passengers to understand what onboard behaviors are discouraged. Guest conduct policies are quite detailed to help prevent any doubt, and to help ensure a safe and enjoyable onboard experience for all. For Carnival Cruise Line passengers, there's even an easy way to reach out directly on social media to a helpful cruise line representative. Carnival Cruise Line Brand Ambassador John Heald manages a popular Facebook page where he answers hundreds of questions from passengers every day. Heald also posts helpful information that cruisers need to know, including warnings about rumors and cruise hacks that passengers should a video message posted on June 14, Heald shared a serious warning for Carnival cruise passengers after a concerning cruise hack was brought to his attention by both cruisers and a staff member who monitors social media sites for the cruise line. This Carnival cruise cabin hack was posted on a cruise message board and suggested a questionable way to make the cabin air conditioning get cooler. 'Basically, what they're saying is you can go into the thermostat, take the thing off, switch some wires around and bypass and sort of try and make it cooler yourself, I guess,' Heald said he didn't really know what this air conditioning hack was telling people to do exactly, but what he did know was that passengers should not attempt it because it's extremely unsafe. 'I spoke with one of the engineers about this on one of the ships, and not only is that something that is very likely to give you an electric shock and really injure you, but also it's very dangerous as well from a fire safety point of view,' Heald he warned passengers against this cruise air conditioning hack, the brand ambassador also encouraged Carnival cruisers not to hesitate to reach out to guest services if they have a problem with their cabin air conditioning. 'Please don't write to me at the end of cruise when you're back home in Cleveland and say it wasn't cold enough in my cabin,' Heald stressed. 'Talk to somebody on board there — call 7777, go to guest services, tell your cabin attendant, do whatever is necessary.' Heald also explained why it may feel like cruise ship air conditioning systems aren't cooling as well as they should, especially during the hot summer season. 'The ship uses a cooling system — a cool water system — which takes the cold water from the engines and the engine room and pushes that through into the air conditioning. Now, remember this time of year the water temperatures in the be very warm and so just bear that in mind — it is the very warm and humid time of year,' Heald said. More Carnival cruise news:'But if you have any concerns in your cabin, please speak to somebody. Do not, do not tamper with the air conditioning system, please,' he reiterated. The brand ambassador also warned that tampering with your cabin air conditioning system could get you banned from sailing on Carnival cruise ships. 'Not only is that very dangerous but it's a very good chance that you would stop yourself [from] ever being able to cruise with us ever again,' he added. (The Arena Group will earn a commission if you book a cruise.) , or email Amy Post at or call or text her at 386-383-2472. This story was originally reported by Come Cruise With Me on Jun 17, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Carnival Cruise Line explains how tips get divided
Carnival Cruise Line explains how tips get divided originally appeared on Come Cruise With Me. Tips, sometimes called gratuities, may be the single most controversial thing on cruise ships. Most cruise lines have two types of tipping. First, there are the daily included are added to your bill each day and are split between various workers. The cruise lines don't tell you exactly how those tips get split, but they do assure you that every dollar you pay goes to an employee. In most cases, passengers can remove the daily gratuities. Sometimes they do that if they are not happy with certain aspects of service. That's generally considered pretty unfair, because some of those tips go to behind-the-scenes workers who did nothing wrong. You may not love your waiter or your room steward, but the guy cleaning your dishes or washing your sheets and towels still deserves to be tipped. The second type of tip is the more traditional one. That's when you hand someone money after receiving good service. It has always been somewhat unclear what happens to those tips and whether they go into a pool or somehow get shared. Carnival Cruise Line Brand Ambassador John Heald took a break from answering questions about his cruise line's loyalty program, and shared some insight as to where your tips go. . A passenger recently shared an actual tipping dilemma with Heald on his Facebook page. Hello John. I have a question about gratuities. We always prepay our gratuities. We also always have 'your time' dining. We like to give EXTRA gratuities to our dining staff (and our cabin attendants and bar staff and many others we feel deserve the extra recognition). My question is, since our dining servers change with each meal (versus having the same wait staff on early or late dining), and since we often eat breakfast or brunch in the dining room, is it appropriate to leave the additional cash tip for the waiter on the table at the end of each meal? Or is there a more appropriate way to show our extra appreciation for the service they've provided? In his answer, Heald shared some information that many cruisers have had questions about. "Thank you for being so gracious and kind to the crew. In answer to your question, if you are on 'your time' dining, the prepaid gratuities are split between all of the waiters who work at 'your time' dining," he wrote. The brand ambassador also shared what happens with any extra tips made directly to service staff members. "Any extra you give any crew member in cash is kept entirely by them 100%," he added. Heald was also gracious and made it clear that tips are not required and are appreciated. "Thank you, I hope that helps explain and at the end of the day, you have to decide who to give an extra gratuity to and whoever it is, I know how appreciative they are. Thank you for your generosity, and if I can ever do anything for you, please let me know," he a separate post, Heald asked his followers if they ever tip people outside of those workers you normally associate with getting tips. "I would like to ask if outside of the people that the gratuity automatically goes to, your cabin attendant, dining room, staff, and those that serve on Lido and behind the scenes there, have you ever tipped another crew member?" he wrote. Heald made it clear that this was not a requirement. "Now I'm not suggesting that you have to. I'm just interested, as indeed I'm sure others [are], if you have perhaps tipped the maitre d, perhaps a wonderful charismatic staff member who your children took a real shine to? Perhaps somebody that impressed you and was always so polite and fun with you?" he added. Many Carnival passengers shared that they have."I consider the auto gratuities part of the cruise fare. I then tip the folks that go above and beyond," Rachel Harrington wrote. Shawn Caccia shared a list of people he and his wife tip. "We do it all the time. My wife often tips the bathroom attendants at whatever bar/club area bathroom that she favors, and I always tip the young men who clean up in the smoking area. Not to mention the coffee shop people and the pizza makers. They all work very hard and contribute to our fun," he posted. Sirrom Anna shared another hard-working group that some people tip as well as some other tipping scenarios. "We've tipped Camp Ocean staff big because they were so great with my kids. There was a trip that we didn't even see our room steward other than the first day, so we didn't tip him. Bartenders got an extra tip, so we don't have to wait the 5 min. between a drink. Barista got tipped as well, and suddenly we didn't have to wait 5 min. between buying a coffee and Gatorade," he wrote. (The Arena Group will earn a commission if you book a cruise.) , or email Amy Post at or call or text her at 386-383-2472. This story was originally reported by Come Cruise With Me on Jun 24, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Carnival cruisers get free drinks with this lesser-known deal
Carnival cruisers get free drinks with this lesser-known deal originally appeared on Come Cruise With Me. Often, to get something for free on a cruise, you have to be a member of the cruise line's loyalty program (or casino loyalty program). Earning free rewards usually requires sailing frequently or spending a significant amount of money in the onboard Carnival cruise ships, once you have a few sailings under your belt as a member of the cruise line's VIFP Club loyalty program, you can start redeeming rewards during your cruises like a complimentary 1.5 liter-bottle of water. Other perks become available as you continue to sail and advance to higher levels of the VIFP Club. But besides redeeming VIFP rewards, if you plan ahead, you can also take advantage of one special free wine offer. This lesser-known Carnival cruise perk is available to any adult sailing on any Carnival cruise ship, no matter what their status in the cruise line's loyalty program. Carnival Cruise Line Brand Ambassador John Heald recently highlighted it on his popular Facebook page where he answers questions and shares helpful information for Carnival cruisers every day.'Thousands of votes in and it seems [many] people enjoy a complimentary bottle of wine on the first night of the cruise at the Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse,' Heald noted about recent passenger poll he took on his Facebook page. Comments on the poll also revealed that many other cruisers — even some who sail frequently — were unaware of this and other wine deals available for Carnival's specialty dining restaurants, so Heald detailed them for his followers. Heald explained that passengers who make a reservation to dine in Carnival's Steakhouse and select other specialty dining restaurants on the first night of their cruise can enjoy one free bottle of house wine for every two passengers who are 21 or offer applies to all Steakhouse, Rudi's Seagrill, Il Viaggio, JiJi Asian Kitchen, and Cucina del Capitano specialty dining restaurants with the exception of Cucina del Capitano on Carnival Mardi Gras, Carnival Celebration, and Carnival Jubilee. Passengers who prefer premium wine can choose to enjoy a 50% discount on bottles of wines listed under $100 instead. This 50% discount offer applies during the first and second night of the cruise in the Steakhouse, Rudi's Seagrill, and Il Viaggio restaurants on any Carnival ship. If you plan to take advantage of one of these wine deals during your cruise, make sure to ask your server about it and confirm the details before placing your Carnival cruisers who are wine lovers appreciate the fact that they can pair these specialty dining wine deals with other ways to avoid paying a premium for wine on board. Although passengers aren't allowed to bring their own beer or liquor on board, Carnival allows passengers to bring one sealed 750-ml bottle of wine per person. 'Love my wine! We bring our two bottles and also go to the steakhouse the first night. It's wonderful to sit on the balcony at night and enjoy the view of the ocean, moon and stars while sipping a nice red wine,' Mary Elderkin commented on Heald's post about the wine deals. More Carnival cruise news:Other wine lovers also appreciate that Carnival offers a 'Cruise the Vineyards' wine package that features wine at a discounted price. Available in a three- or five-bottle package, the 'Cruise the Vineyards' program allows passengers to choose from a varied selection of wines from around the world to enjoy during their voyages. 'I love the new wine drink package," Kelly Davey noted. "I have done the five-bottle package the past four cruises.' (The Arena Group will earn a commission if you book a cruise.) , or email Amy Post at or call or text her at 386-383-2472. This story was originally reported by Come Cruise With Me on Jun 15, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Carnival Cruise Line passengers vote against US ports
Carnival Cruise Line passengers vote against US ports originally appeared on Come Cruise With Me. With economic concerns and increasing political tensions on the mind of many U.S. travelers, it's no surprise that more people are choosing domestic vacations this summer. As the U.S. continues to issue heightened travel warnings for U.S. citizens visiting certain countries, it wouldn't be shocking if more cruisers decided to stay closer to home for their next cruise cruise lines like Norwegian Cruise Line have reported experiencing a softening in bookings for Europe cruise itineraries this summer, although demand remains strong from Caribbean cruises departing from U.S. ports. Americans are increasingly choosing to forego long-haul international trips, but they aren't ditching travel altogether. States across the U.S. like Florida and Texas are reporting sharp increases in the numbers of domestic tourists visiting this year. With domestic destinations trending, you might expect Carnival Cruise Line — which prides itself on offering more accessible U.S. home ports than any other cruise line — to feature more cruise options that sail to close-to-home destinations. That's not the case, however, and it doesn't seem to be what Carnival passengers want, Key West, Florida, has long been a staple of Caribbean cruise itineraries, other U.S. cruise ports (outside of Alaska and Hawaii) have traditionally served much more often as departure ports for cruises than as cruise ports of call. This is changing, however, as popular U.S. cities like New Orleans, San Francisco, Boston, and Portland, Maine are increasingly being featured as stops on cruises departing from other lines like Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, and Virgin Voyages are leading this trend, and although Carnival does offer some U.S. port stops, they're not a big focus. Carnival's cruise itineraries lean heavily into The Bahamas, Caribbean islands, and Mexico. Despite current travel trends, Carnival Cruise Line passengers are continuing to show strong interest in sailing to these popular destinations outside of U.S. waters as they plan for their next cruises. It turns out that most Carnival cruise passengers don't actually want more cruises that visit U.S. ports of call, at least according to a June 16 poll conducted by Carnival Cruise Line Brand Ambassador John Heald on his popular Facebook page that's followed by more than 600,000 results showed that thousands of Carnival cruisers don't want the cruise line to lean into the growing cruise trend that's seeing more U.S. ports of call featured on cruise itineraries. The poll was driven by a recent message Heald received from an unidentified Carnival passenger who said: 'Please include more American ports as places we visit during the cruise. Why does Carnival Cruise Line not include New Orleans, San Francisco, and Boston? These are just as good and fun places to visit as most of your selections in the Caribbean.' More Carnival cruise news:Through votes in the poll, about 5,700 Carnival cruisers indicated that they agreed and would like to visit those U.S. cities during their cruises. Many more passengers rejected the idea, however. About 15,000 Carnival cruisers voted for the poll option, 'I really do not have interest in having places like New Orleans, San Francisco, and Boston as part of my cruise itinerary.' In the comments on the poll post, some Carnival cruisers explained that the Caribbean is far more interesting to them than U.S. cities. 'If I'm taking a Caribbean cruise, get me there as fast as possible, without stopping at additional U.S. ports,' Bob Riedle commented. (The Arena Group will earn a commission if you book a cruise.) , or email Amy Post at or call or text her at 386-383-2472. This story was originally reported by Come Cruise With Me on Jun 27, 2025, where it first appeared.
