Carnival

Is Carnival (CCL -1.44%) (CUK -1.65%) stock’s run finally over? The cruise industry leader has made an incredible comeback after falling off a cliff when the pandemic started. It’s back to business and its usual, sales-generating self, with sky-high demand and record operating profits.

The stock price has matched its ascent, and Carnival stock is up 270% over the past three years. It has required a good amount of confidence from investors to stay with it over this time, but it’s paid off. However, after the most recent earnings results, the stock has started to drop again. Is this a buying opportunity? Wall Street analysts say yes. Are they right?

Image source: Carnival.

Endless seas, endless demand

Carnival is the largest cruise operator in the world, with 90 ships across its portfolio of brands, which includes Princess, Holland, Aida, and others. Demand is outstripping capacity, and it’s ordering more ships to handle all of the people who want to take a historic trip on a luxury liner.

It’s also working hard to generate that demand, with many new features and destinations to attract new and repeat business. In July, it opened Celebration Key, a Caribbean asset that’s exclusive to Carnival travelers. It’s keeping busy there, and management expects it to have visitors nearly every day this year, with two ships in port 85% of the time. It’s getting ready to launch or expand several other exclusive Caribbean assets.

Management is moving ships to where demand is highest, and it already has plans in the works to increase capacity in these locations for the 2027 and 2028 sailing seasons. It’s opened up bookings for new options in South Florida and Texas, and it’s opening new home ports in Norfolk, Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland. It also announced its first-ever dedicated Hawaii series sailing from California.

There’s incredible momentum at Carnival. Almost half of 2026 is already on the books, and in the U.S. and Europe, ticket prices are at historic highs. Occupancy trends remain at historical highs as well.

Are new problems emerging?

For all intensive purposes, Carnival’s fiscal third-quarter (ended Aug. 31) earnings were phenomenal. It beat guidance across metrics, and it reported its highest-ever quarterly adjusted net income at $2 billion. It raised full-year guidance across metrics as well, and this was the third time this year that it did so.

Other positive news is that as interest rates go down, it’s paying off its high debt and refinancing at better rates, saving millions in interest expense.

Despite the wins in basically every area, Carnival tumbled after the report, and it’s still falling, down 7% since the results were released.

It could be tied to the remaining debt of $26.5 billion or to the slowing down of some year-over-year increases. Revenue, for example, increased only 4% from last year. The market may also not have liked Carnival’s plan to convert some of its debt into stock, which dilutes the current outstanding shares. Another likely explanation is that crude oil prices rose on the day of the report, and all of the major cruise stocks fell.

Go with Wall Street

Wall Street sees this opportunity and says go for it. Of covering analysts, 73% call it a buy, with an average price target of 27% over the next 12 to 18 months and a high of 50%.

Investors should always take Wall Street’s approach with a grain of salt and dig further. But in this case, so long as you aren’t totally risk averse and you have a long-term investing timeline, I think Wall Street is on the money here. Carnival has demonstrated strong management, resilience, and cost efficiency, and it’s investing in its future. Keep in mind that you can’t time the market, and the stock could continue to drop before getting back up again, but this looks like an opportunity to buy Carnival stock on the dip.

Notting Hill carnival takes over the West London streets again this weekend, but with major tube closures and road blocks in place – here’s everything you need to know before commuting

Notting Hill Carnival returns this weekend, bringing a burst of Caribbean culture to the streets of West London – and as always, millions are expected to turn up to enjoying the soca music and food.

But with road closures, station shutdowns and crowds packing out the area, it’s important to plan ahead. Whether you’re jumping on the tube, bus or walking in from nearby, here’s everything you need to know about the Notting Hill Carnival route and which transport options are still running.

There’s also a Notting Hill Carnival map available to help you visualise the road closures and walking routes – you can find this on the official carnival or TfL website.

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Tube

Ladbroke Grove – Closed all day.

Latimer Road – Closes at 11.30pm, but may shut temporarily to manage crowds.

Notting Hill Gate – No entry from 11am to 6pm. District and Circle lines won’t stop, and no interchange with Central line all day. Expect temporary closures throughout.

Westbourne Park – No entry from 11am. Expect serious crowding during peak times.

Holland Park – No entry from 11am to 3pm. Fully shuts at 3pm.

Royal Oak – No entry from 11am to 6pm. Fully shuts at 6pm.

Shepherd’s Bush – Expect it to be extremely busy from the afternoon onwards.

Kensal Green – A queueing system will be in place when heading home.

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Bus

Due to road closures, daytime and night buses will be diverted. Services will start from the Prince of Wales pub on Harrow Road (north) and Notting Hill Gate (south).

The following routes will be affected:

2, 7, 16, 18, 23, 27, 28, 31, 36, 46, 52, 70, 94, 98, 148, 205, 220, 228, 295, 316, 328, 332, 414, 452, N7, N16, N18, N27, N28, N31, N98, N205, N207.

Limited-stop services just for the weekend:

• 148X to Victoria – Runs between Shepherd’s Bush and Victoria (10am–5.30pm), then Notting Hill Gate to Victoria (until 10pm).

Stops: Shepherd’s Bush, Notting Hill Gate, Marble Arch, Victoria.

• 7X to Paddington – Runs between East Acton and Paddington (12pm–9.30pm).

Stops: East Acton to Wood Lane, then Shepherd’s Bush, Notting Hill Gate, Lancaster Gate, Paddington.

Beyond the travel time table, TfL has partnered with Metroline and local community group Phoenix Rising to unveil a specially-wrapped Carnival bus. The bus will feature in the parade, with Metroline staff, TfL employees and live steel pan performances onboard.

“For many years Notting Hill Carnival has represented London’s diverse culture and strong Caribbean links – a community which is an integral part of TfL’s history,” said Emma Strain, TfL’s Customer Director.

“That’s why we’re excited to partner with Phoenix Rising to showcase Caribbean-inspired steel pan music on one of our iconic buses,” she added, “Stations around the Carnival are likely to get extremely busy, so please plan journeys in advance using the free TfL Go app or our dedicated travel advice page.”

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Aug. 17 (UPI) — Two American cruise passengers in their 70s drowned in separate incidents on Carnival Cruise Lines’ private destination in the eastern Bahamas.

At Celebration Key on the south side of Grand Bahama, one person died in a lagoon and another at the beach on Friday, the cruise line told ABC News. The 65-acre private location, which initially cost $600 million to build, opened in July.

Grand Bahama, with 47,000 residents, is not on a private island, like Carnival’s other locations for guests.

The island, which serves two Carnival ships at one time, also includes a water park, restaurants, swim-up bar, the world’s tallest sandcastle and swing, and 1.5 miles of beach.

“One guest was sailing with family on Mardi Gras and one guest was sailing with family on Carnival Elation,” the cruise line said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the guests and their families and our Care Team is providing assistance.”

Both cruise ships left ports in Florida last week.

Before noon, Royal Bahamas Police Force officers found a 79-year-old man unresponsive aboard a commercial vessel.

“According to the initial report, the male became unresponsive while snorkeling at a beach,” police said in a statement to NBC News. “A lifeguard assisted him from the water, and CPR was administered, but to no avail.”

Shortly before 2:30 p.m., offers found an unresponsive 74-year-old woman who had been swimming in the pool. A lifeguard assisted her out of the water and CPR was administered “to no avail,” police said.

Carnival said more than 2 million guests a year will visit the destination. An extension is being built to serve two additional ships at one time.

In the debut on July 19, more than 7,000 passengers from Carnival Glory and Carnival Conquest went to Carnival’s site.

Grand Bahama, which is near Freeport, is 65 miles east of Palm Beach County in Florida. Southeast Bahamas, 145 miles from Grand Bahama, is under a tropical storm warning from Hurricane Erin.

The Elation, which launched in 1998, is a 71,909-ton, 855-foot-long ship, that can accommodate up to 2,900 guests and a crew of 900. It sails out of Jacksonville on five-day cruises.

The Mardi Gras, which began service in 2016, is a 181,808-ton, 1,113-foot ship can host up to 6,000 passengers and 2,000 crew members. The Mardi Gras sails out of Port Canaveral on seven-night trips. Another Mardi Gras was Carnival’s first ship launched in 1972 and sold in 1993.

All all, the cruise line operates 29 ships worldwide.

Getty Images

Funding ‘essential’

Reuters