Carnival Corporation (CCL) shares jumped after the cruise operator reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results amid strong ongoing vacation booking trends. CEO Josh Weinstein joined Yahoo Finance to discuss the company's momentum.

Weinstein noted "record demand" persisting post-pandemic, with 2024 bookings already nearly two-thirds filled at "considerably higher prices." He attributes this to increased advertising and onboard investments paying off, driving "true organic demand" beyond just pent-up post-COVID travel appetite.

In his view, Carnival's "world class" brand experience and delivery of memorable voyages is attracting first-time and loyal cruisers alike to sail at historic volumes and pricing power. .

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Video Transcript

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JOSH LIPTON: Carnival shares rising 6% Thursday on the heels of reporting better-than-expected fiscal fourth quarter results and posting record revenue. The cruise giant noting that vacation demand remains strong. And booking volumes in the quarter were above pre-pandemic levels.

Joining us now is Carnival CEO and President Josh Weinstein. Josh, good to see you. We should note, the stock was up today 6%, Josh. It's up about 140% so far this year. Maybe, Josh, just start with at a high level, if you could walk us through what demand is looking like in your business, Josh, both now and in the quarters ahead.

JOSH WEINSTEIN: Thanks for having me. If I'm going to use a [INAUDIBLE], this record, we see record demand. We entered the first quarter at 60%, about 10% higher year-over-year. We're already nearly 2/3 booked for 2024 at considerably higher prices. So we ended the year incredibly strong. We actually-- our fourth quarter, our per diems were up over 10% versus 2019. And we're really projecting that momentum to continue. So all signs are quite positive.

JULIE HYMAN: Hey, Josh, it's Julie here. One of the other big numbers that stood out to me, the new cruisers in your fourth quarter were up by 51%. That is people who had never been on a cruise before, rose by 51%. Have you ever seen that kind of a gain before? And to what do you attribute that gain?

JOSH WEINSTEIN: That's a good question. Got to look and see if that's where that stacks up. But that's a concerted effort. For the past year and a half, we've been investing in advertising. I've been working with the brands on their commercial-- their entire commercial operation. And it's everything from the Revenue Management to the marketing campaign to performance marketing and then to delivering on board and getting people to enjoy the experience and want to reboot.

And I'd say that our brands are world class. And the portfolio is really, really showing its strength. This is not pent-up demand from. New to cruise is not pent-up demand from pause. This is true organic demand for what we have to offer in the vacation market. Because we have nine brands all over the world that are truly world class, we can target different segments of different markets really effectively.

JOSH LIPTON: And, Josh, once those consumers are on board, how are they spending? Meaning, on the bars, the different experiences you all offer, are they still spending on board strongly right now as they were?

JOSH WEINSTEIN: They are. What we've been trying to explain is we always-- from different angles, people keep asking, you know, when's it slowing down? Has it slowing down? Have you seen signs of the slowdown? The answer is no.

And one of the great things that we track, you know, obviously, the onboard spending level per person per day. And the amounts that people are spending in that regard have been consistent for the last year. Every quarter, they're spending about the same amount of money throughout the cycle of 2023. And we see that momentum continuing as we go into 2024.

So it's not-- it's not one area. It is bar. And it's casino. And it's shore excursion. Then it's specialty dining, and, and, and. So people are looking for great experiences. And our brands do a remarkable job of delivering that to its guests.