Carnival's Alaska land tour business reports 7% rise in summer revenue

Carnival Corp.'s Alaska land tour business took in $191 million from June through August, up about 7% from $179 million in the same months of 2025, according to the company's quarterly report, filed Sept. 29 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The business, Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, 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 over the three months, up from $71 million a year earlier. Adjusted operating income is the company's measure of operating profit, excluding certain one-time items.

The summer quarter carries most of the year for this business. According to the filing, all of the Alaska business's revenue and operating income comes from May through September, during the cruise season.

The figures aren't Alaska's alone. Carnival reports the business in its "Tour and Other" segment, which it describes as the hotel and transportation operations of Holland America Princess Alaska Tours "and other operations." The filing doesn't identify those other operations or break them out.

Over the first nine months of Carnival's fiscal year, December through August, the segment's revenue rose to $224 million from $212 million, but its adjusted operating income fell to $30 million from $36 million.

Carnival spent $8 million on capital projects in the segment during the summer quarter, up from $4 million a year earlier, and $36 million over nine months, up from $34 million. Assets assigned to the segment stood at $439 million on Aug. 31, up from $421 million on Nov. 30, 2025.

The Alaska numbers came out alongside what Carnival called a record quarter for the parent company, which 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, both of which it called all-time highs.

Carnival said operating improvements worth more than $150 million in adjusted net income, compared with its June guidance, would overcome a spike in fuel prices. It reported record third-quarter customer deposits of $7.6 billion and 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 at record levels and that 2028 bookings are ahead of last year's pace.

Carnival shares rose 13.4% on Sept. 29, closing at $25.11. Shares of Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, which did not report results that day, rose 7.5% and 3.4%.

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, and it expects buses to carry visitors to Eielson Visitor Center, Wonder Lake and Kantishna again in the 2027 season.