Carnival Cruise Line got a jumpstart on what it hopes will be a busy 2023 as it posted a record Cyber Monday booking day -- 50% above the volume for Cyber Monday 2019.

“The Cyber Monday sale activity showed consumer demand across the fleet, and we were particularly pleased with the booking activity for Carnival Venezia’s new year-round service from New York, and our new extended six-month program for Carnival Magic out of Norfolk,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

“Our very successful naming ceremony for Carnival Celebration on November 20 and all the media coverage it generated clearly kept Carnival top of mind as vacationers got started on their holiday shopping yesterday.”

With November’s introduction of service by Carnival Luminosa in Australia and Carnival Celebration from Miami, and three additional ships joining the fleet over the next 18 months, Carnival is giving cruisers plenty of vacation options. There are 24 ships in guest operation, and 26 ships are open for sale – some already into 2025 – with the pending arrival of Carnival Venezia and Carnival Jubilee.

Carnival says the pent-up demand for cruising has manifested in multiple ways in 2022. Earlier this year, the cruise line reported that the one-week period of March 28-April 3 was its busiest booking week in its history, showing a double-digit increase from the previous record seven-day booking total.

Carnival now has more capacity sailing (as measured by ALBDs – available lower berth days) than it was sailing in 2019.