The retiring chief executive of Carnival made a telling distinction when presenting the cruise operator’s latest update on Friday. “While not recession-proof,” Arnold Donald said, “our business has proven to be recession-resilient.” However, like the difference between waterproof and water-resistant watches, this raises questions about how resilient it might be and how long it will take to shake out a recession’s pernicious effects. Not that the company is admitting a recession is actually going to happen, merely that it threatens.
At a time when global air travel is only for the long-suffering, cruises should be an ideal opportunity to satisfy the evident thirst for travel. And none better than Carnival, which claims to be the world’s largest leisure travel company. It runs 92 Princess, P&O
