Carnival Sees a ‘Hurricane Hangover’ in Parts of the Caribbean
Photo Credit: Carnival Conquest is shown in Puerto Rico in November 2017, the first of the cruise line's visits after Hurricane Maria struck the island. Carnival Cruise Line
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Travelers held off on booking cruises to the Caribbean in the aftermath of the 2017 hurricanes. One big question is how many of them will want to risk sailing during this year's hurricane season — and at what prices.
Last year's hyperactive hurricane season is still proving a drag for the cruise industry.
Carnival Corp. executives said Thursday that cruise bookings for the full year in the Caribbean are slightly behind where they were a year ago at lower prices. That relative weakness is due to lower demand for eastern Caribbean itineraries and especially sailings out of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The western Caribbean is experiencing higher demand at higher prices.
"For the eastern Caribbean and San Juan itineraries, we expect to optimize our revenue yields by holding price and being patient," said Chief Financial Officer David Bernstein during a call with analysts to discuss results from the first fiscal quarter. "While the current perception of these regions is still somewhat impacted from last year's hurricanes, our guests are having a great time and coming home very happy. So it's just a matter of time before we are successful in getting the word out and improving things even further."
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