Earned & PaidCarnival
Carnival spent $972M on advertising and marketing in fiscal 2025, up 5.1% on the year before and +34% since 2019. That's 3.6% of revenue, more than in 2019: leaning in.
Marketing spend by year
Bars: advertising and marketing expense, $B (10-K). Line: spend as a share of revenue. Years where the filing's revenue line isn't comparable are left out of the line.
What they told investors
“We have been putting marketing dollars and shifting marketing dollars, to really lean into Celebration Key, and I think that's why it's one of the most sought-after destinations even though it doesn't doesn't take people yet.”management · 2025 Q2 · transcript
“We're spending much more on a per-unit basis than we did back, you know, five, six years ago and still a good amount less than many others in the vacation and leisure space.”Josh Weinstein · 2025 Q1 · transcript
“Our elevated marketing investment has been working as we continue to drive demand well in excess of our capacity growth with year-to-date web visits up over 40% versus 2019; paid search, up more than 60%; and natural search up over 70%.”Josh Weinstein · 2024 Q3 · transcript
What the 10-K says about marketing
- measurement “fferentiation and clarity around its unique value proposition, executing on a range of carefully targeted, results-driven marketing and advertising programs to reach its optimal market segment of new and loyal guests and travel agent partners. Among these programs are…” 10-K, Jan 27, 2026
Say vs do
Carnival's management has talked about its marketing budget, but in ways annual filings can't check: one quarter, one brand or channel, or the mix.
What they said
“Our elevated marketing investment has been working as we continue to drive demand well in excess of our capacity growth with year-to-date web visits up over 40% versus 2019; paid search, up more than 60%; and natural search up over 70%.”
Josh Weinstein on the 2024 Q3 earnings call, Jan 6, 2026 · transcript
Can't tell from annual filings It's about part of the business; filings report one company-wide number.
“We have been putting marketing dollars and shifting marketing dollars, to really lean into Celebration Key, and I think that's why it's one of the most sought-after destinations even though it doesn't doesn't take people yet.”
Management on the 2025 Q2 earnings call, Jun 24, 2025 · transcript
Can't tell from annual filings Filings don't split brand from performance or report spend by channel.
“We're spending much more on a per-unit basis than we did back, you know, five, six years ago and still a good amount less than many others in the vacation and leisure space.”
Josh Weinstein, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Climate Officer on the 2025 Q1 earnings call, Mar 21, 2025 · transcript
Can't tell from annual filings It's about several years, not one we can check.
What they did
| Year | Marketing spend | Change | Share of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $972M | +5.1% | 3.6% |
| FY2024 | $925M | +8.7% | 3.7% |
| FY2023 | $851M | +14.4% | 3.9% |
| FY2022 | $744M | +118.8% | 6.1% |
| FY2021 | $340M | -2.3% | 17.8% |
| FY2020 | $348M | -52.2% | 6.2% |
Against its peers. Compared with the 5 other Travel advertisers we track (Booking Holdings, Expedia, Airbnb, Marriott, Royal Caribbean): since 2019 its marketing spend went +34% (peer median +18%); its share of revenue moved +0.1 pts (median -2.5); last year +5.1% (median +0.6%).
In interviews, its leaders made 10 statements about marketing: 1 argued for investing in brand and 0 for cutting.
How we check: a statement gets a verdict only when it's clearly about the size of the whole company's marketing budget over a full fiscal year; we compare it with the advertising and marketing expense in that year's 10-K. Statements about one quarter, one brand or channel, or the mix between brand and performance can't be checked against annual filings.
What they say about media
The marketing channels it talks about using for itself on earnings calls and in its 10-Ks and 10-Qs, since 2019; counts are statements, not spending.
- Affiliate & lead gen “Among these programs are increasingly effective digital performance marketing and lead generation approaches that have attracted new guests online by leveraging the reach and impact of digital marketing and social media.” 10-K · Jan 27, 2026 · source
- AI in marketing “We are also enhancing our commercial strategies by leveraging AI to improve marketing effectiveness, deliver personalized experiences and drive efficiency gains across all our cruise lines.” 10-K · Jan 27, 2026 · source
- Creative campaigns “Our brands are iterating on under creative marketing and constantly finding ways to attract more attention to the amazing product and execution we already deliver on board, and it is continuing to pay off as we chip away at the unwarranted price disparity to land-based vacations.” Josh Weinstein on the earnings call · Jan 6, 2026 · source
- Paid search · SEO & AI search “Our elevated marketing investment has been working as we continue to drive demand well in excess of our capacity growth with year-to-date web visits up over 40% versus 2019; paid search, up more than 60%; and natural search up over 70%.” Josh Weinstein on the earnings call · Jan 6, 2026 · source
- Experiential & events “That advertising campaign is launching over the holiday, including the activations on Christmas Day and Times Square on New Year's Eve, in time for our [Indecipherable] something that's very present in the news today, Omicron there.” Arnold W. Donald on the earnings call · Dec 20, 2021 · source
In the news
- Princess Cruises, Channel 9 set sail with 'Chefs Ahoy' culinary showdown series Mi-3.com.au. · Sep 25, 2026 · sponsorship