Carnival and AIDA Lead Carnival Corp’s Brand Rankings

Of Carnival Corporation’s eight cruise brands, Carnival Cruise Line and AIDA Cruises are currently at the top of the company’s internal rankings, according to CEO Josh Weinstein during the third quarter earnings call.

Weinstein explained that the company has been deliberate in allocating capital to its strongest performers, which is why Carnival and AIDA are the only brands with new ships on order.

“But keep in mind, we have many other brands that are quickly progressing up the internal leaderboard. This year, the overwhelming majority of capacity will be at brands delivering double-digit returns,” Weinstein said.

He added that some brands still have significant growth potential: “In fact, several of our brands are not yet back to either 2019 levels or the record highs they’ve reached in the past two decades. So we know the latent potential they have.”

Weinstein noted that the company has streamlined its portfolio: “We have rationalized,” he said, referring to brands that needed restructuring.

In addition to Carnival and AIDA, Carnival Corporation’s portfolio includes Costa, Holland America Line, Princess, Cunard, Seabourn, and P&O UK.

“We have rightsized many of our brands that needed rightsizing and the progress is good, and we’ll continue to support the brands that need a little bit more help than others to keep pushing up the ranks,” Weinstein added.

Among those streamlined was Costa, which reduced its fleet during the pandemic, exited Asia, and transferred three ships — the Luminosa, Venezia, and Firenze — to Carnival Cruise Line.

“I’m ecstatic that as amazingly as Carnival and AIDA have been doing over the last couple of years, they got to look over their shoulder because there’s some that are coming on fast,” Weinstein concluded.