Carnival's Alaska land tour arm reports 7% gain in summer revenue

Carnival Corporation's Alaska hotel and transportation segment, which also includes some unnamed other operations, took in $191 million from June through August, up about 7% from $179 million in the same months of 2025. The figures come from the company's quarterly report, filed September 29 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The business is Holland America Princess Alaska Tours. It runs the hotels, buses and rail links that carry cruise passengers inland from the coast. The filing shows it earned $75 million in adjusted operating income, the company's measure of operating profit excluding certain one-time items, over the three months. That compares with $71 million a year earlier.

The summer quarter carries most of the year for this business. Carnival states in the filing that "all of Holland America Princess Alaska Tours' revenue and operating income is generated from May through September in conjunction with Alaska's cruise season." The results offer a measure of how the land side of the cruise trade fared across the Interior and Southcentral this summer.

The figures are not Alaska's alone. Carnival reports the operation as its "Tour and Other" segment. The company describes it as "the hotel and transportation operations of Holland America Princess Alaska Tours and other operations." The filing does not say what those other operations are or break them out.

The longer view is mixed. Over the first nine months of Carnival's fiscal year, December through August, the segment's revenue rose to $224 million from $212 million. Its adjusted operating income over the same stretch fell to $30 million from $36 million.

Capital spending in the segment also rose. Carnival spent $8 million in the summer quarter, against $4 million a year earlier. Nine-month spending reached $36 million, against $34 million. Assets assigned to the segment stood at $439 million on August 31, up from $421 million on November 30, 2025.

The filing does not attribute the segment's results to any cause. It offers no explanation for the gain in summer revenue or the drop in nine-month operating income.

The Alaska numbers arrived alongside what Carnival called a record quarter for the parent company. Carnival owns Princess Cruises and Holland America Line, along with Carnival Cruise Line and several European brands. It reported third-quarter net income of $1.92 billion and revenue of $8.44 billion. The company said both were all-time highs.

Carnival also raised its full-year outlook. It said operating improvements worth more than $150 million in adjusted net income, compared with its June guidance, would overcome a $150 million hit from higher fuel prices. It said customer deposits reached a third-quarter record of $7.6 billion. It said it has bought back about $1.2 billion of its own shares so far this year.

Chief Executive Josh Weinstein said booked occupancy and pricing for 2027 are both at record levels. He said 2028 bookings are ahead of last year's pace.

Carnival's earnings release does not mention Alaska. Neither filing says how the company's Alaska cruise capacity or its Alaska bookings for 2027 compare with other regions.

Carnival shares rose 13.4% on September 29 and closed at $25.11. Shares in Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings rose 7.5% and 3.4% the same day. Neither of those companies released results of its own.

The summer season ran with the Denali Park Road closed to buses beyond East Fork, near mile 43. The National Park Service said Sept. 3 that the Pretty Rocks Bridge, which reconnects the road, is finished. Buses are expected to carry visitors past it to Eielson Visitor Center, Wonder Lake and Kantishna again in the 2027 season. Carnival's filings do not discuss the closure.

Full bus service along the park road is expected to resume next summer, the Park Service said.