Carnival Corp has reported a seventh consecutive quarter of huge losses as a result of the pandemic while also achieving record bookings for the second half of next year.
The Arnold Donald-led owner of 91 cruiseships on Friday posted a $2.84bn deficit for the third quarter versus a $2.86bn loss for the same period last year.
New York-listed Carnival registered an adjusted loss of $1.99bn against an adjusted deficit of $1.7bn a year earlier.
It did not disclose revenue but said third-quarter bookings improved since the first quarter but were not as high as the second quarter due to the Delta variant hurting consumer confidence.
Carnival said customer deposits grew by $630m during the third quarter to $3.1bn as of 31 August, marking the second consecutive quarter of increased deposits since March 2020.
Advanced bookings for the second half of 2022 are ahead of a "very strong 2019", it said.
"Our booked position for the second half of 2022 is at a new historical high, including our seasonally strong third quarter with all our ships planned to be in operation, despite reduced marketing spending," chief executive Donald said in a statement.
"The broader environment for travel, while choppy, has improved dramatically since last summer and we believe it should improve even further by next summer, if the current trend of vaccine rollouts and advancements in therapies continues.
"We have also opened bookings for further out cruises in 2023, with unprecedented early demand."
Carnival ended the third quarter with $7.8bn in cash and lowered future annual interest costs by over $250m per year and arranged payment extensions on about $4bn in debt.
"We believe we have sufficient liquidity to get us back to full operations and continue to be focused on pursuing refinancing opportunities to reduce interest rates and extend maturities," chief financial officer David Bernstein said.
Carnival's shares which trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CCL, gained 3% to $25.44 on Friday.
