10 KEYNOTE From recovery to record performance Josh Weinstein explains to Rebecca Gibson how incremental improvements, disciplined growth and a relentless drive towards decarbonisation have enabled Carnival Corporation to build resilience and position itself for long-term success When Josh Weinstein became president and CEO of Carnival Corporation in 2022, the industry was in the midst of post-pandemic recovery. He took considered steps to move from survival mode to a period of disciplined growth, while building operational resilience for the future. Just four years on, the organisation has returned to record financial performance, achieved key strategic targets ahead of schedule and laid out an ambitious roadmap for future growth. Weinstein started by going back to basics. “Carnival Corporation is a global organisation with eight cruise brands whose purpose is to deliver happiness to over 13.5 million guests each year while honouring the integrity of every ocean we sail, place we visit, and life we touch,” says Weinstein. “Everything we do has to be centred around that purpose, so we analysed everything from the team structure to our business objectives to ensure we could fulfil our ultimate aim.” From the start, Weinstein prioritised people. “Our people are our most powerful asset – we couldn’t deliver amazing cruise experiences without our 160,000 ship and shore team members,” he says. “It was critical to build a team of capable individuals who are passionate about their jobs, committed to helping the company fulfil its purpose, and dedicated to taking care of their people. We spent a lot of time making sure we had the right folks in the right roles and creating a positive, collaborative and inclusive working environment where everyone has the tools, knowledge and support they need to do their jobs well.” Next, Carnival Corporation took steps to “further hone operational inefficiencies wherever it could”. In June 2023, Weinstein introduced the SEA Change programme, setting three-year targets to increase environmental sustainability, boost financial performance and drive sustainable long-term net yield growth across its portfolio. “The main reason for SEA Change was to get everybody thinking about our longerterm trajectory,” he says. “At the time, we were still a little fragile – we hadn’t long restarted operations, so we didn’t have a net income and we’d taken on $20 billion in debt to get through the pandemic. From a financial perspective, there was a long road ahead but I was confident we could achieve levels of performance from well before the pandemic. Ultimately, all our business objectives are designed to help us deliver extraordinary cruises while operating responsibly. If we’re concentrating on this, we’ll naturally hit our financial goals too.” According to Weinstein, the corporation “unlocked the biggest progress” by making significant inroads in the commercial operations of all of the brands. “We enhanced everything from brand and performance advertising and marketing to revenue management, itinerary planning and onboard delivery,” he says. “If we keep doing the boring stuff better, we can understand what our strengths are, identify our weaknesses and work out how to fill these gaps.” Taking this approach worked well. Carnival Corporation attained the targets 18 months early, more than doubling return on invested capital and delivering its highest adjusted EBITDA per available lower berth days in almost two decades, while meaningfully reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In March 2026, the organisation released its PROPEL targets, which are aimed at further increasing earnings, outsizing shareholder distributions and driving higher returns by 2029. While some in the industry questioned Carnival Corporation’s decision to set such ambitious goals amidst ongoing geopolitical volatility, rising fuel prices and other challenges, Weinstein remains unfazed. “We did get a few raised eyebrows,” he jokes. “But I’ve been in the cruise industry for 24 years and there have always been issues like this – my job is to look well beyond the current state of play to ensure we build the resilience to perform well in spite of them.”
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