- Carnival’s company margins (both North American and EAA brands) have declined in the past couple of years.
- Higher fuel expense is much to blame but a rise in the onboard & other expense bucket is also pressuring costs.
- The chart below shows that onboard & other margins not only have stopped improving but actually fell in recent quarters.
- Management guided onboard spend in 2013 to be similar to 2012; let’s see how much of that flows to the bottom line, beginning with 1Q earnings in 2-3 weeks
