Revenue of Carnival Corporation & plc worldwide 2008-2021

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted the global cruise industry in 2020 and 2021 as countries worldwide introduced travel bans to contain the health crisis. As a result of the COVID-19 impact, the revenue of Carnival Corporation & plc dropped by roughly 73 percent in 2020 over the previous fiscal year, then declined further in 2021. Overall, Carnival Corporation's revenue amounted to 1.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, reaching the lowest value reported since 2008.

Revenue of global leading cruise companies

Some of the leading cruise companies worldwide include not only Carnival Corporation & plc, but also Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd, all of which are based primarily in the United States. In terms of revenue, Carnival Corporation & plc remains the leading cruise company worldwide, despite major setbacks as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, Royal Caribbean’s worldwide revenue amounted to under half that of Carnival. Meanwhile, global revenue of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings amounted to less than a quarter of Carnival’s that same year.

The Caribbean: cruise industry hotspot

For cruise companies like Carnival, the Caribbean has long been a favorite cruise destination, with its clear, tropical waters and many islands for passengers to visit. Among global destinations for cruises in recent years, the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Bermuda topped the list in 2019 and 2020 despite a decline in cruise travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cruise traffic in the Caribbean covers a wide area, from the Bahamas off the coast of Florida to the island of Cozumel off Mexico, to islands like Aruba and Grenada near South America. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bahamas reported the highest number of cruise passenger arrivals in the Caribbean, and the Mexican island of Cozumel reported the next highest number of arrivals.