Josh Weinstein: So this is playing out as we would expect it to play out by pulling forward all the volume it gives us better, better control over our pricing environment and our ability to keep pricing at an elevated level? And so it’s literally playing out as it should? It is we are you know, we are 10 points higher than we were you know, when we entered the Q1 of 2024, 10 points higher year-over-year. It’s higher than 2019 as well – which is a very long normalized booking window. And it’s important that we do that, right? I mean, let’s keep in mind, you know, being 10 points above last year is good progress, but we expect to end our occupancy significantly higher than last year, but that’s all feeding into the strategy and pricing is playing along as I tried to say in my notes, I’m not sure how clear it was.
You know, when we entered the fourth quarter of this year, we were about 10 points higher than prior year in the occupancy position and prices were higher. As we made our way through the quarter, we’ve managed to pretty much keep that occupancy advantage and prices on everything that’s booked is now considerably higher. So it is working the way we anticipated.
Brandt Montour: Crystal clear. Thanks.
Josh Weinstein: Excellent. Thanks.
Operator: Our next question comes from James Hardiman with Citi. Please proceed.
James Hardiman: Hi, good morning, guys. Thanks for taking my question. So, I’m going to ask, I think, Steve’s question in a slightly different way. There was a lot of conjecture that you would only give first quarter guidance similar to last year. Obviously, your peers are at a bit of an advantage because they get that first month of Wave as they try to assess what the demand environment looks like. Obviously, you gave us the full year guide anyway. As we interpret that guide then take us through that thought process and whether or not that plays into sort of your level of conservatism being effectively ahead of Wave?
Josh Weinstein: Yes. Well, we are effectively back to normal. This is what we used to do before the last few years, and I think it was quite important that we get back into this cadence. Now, good news, we are highest book we’ve ever been. So we do have more visibility than even we had before 2020. So I think that’s setting us up well to be able to be in a pretty good position to give you this preliminary guidance for 2024. Obviously, we have – I have high expectations in my brands and what I expect them to achieve, including during Wave. And you got to remember, the whole focus of Wave this year, we have the benefit of being able to focus on different things. Last year in Wave, a lot of what we were trying to accomplish and our brands we’re trying to accomplish was just filling the ships because we are in such a different position from an occupancy perspective.
This time, we actually get to go through Wave and really be more strategic in how we are trying to advance the needle, not just on the short term, but on the longer term. So I think it sets us up well. And I keep asking David to change the fiscal year-end and like can we please start on January 1, like everybody else. But apparently, that’s a lot of work. So we’re not going to do that.
James Hardiman: Got it. And then there was a comment in the prepared remarks about not only are you seeing better new-to-cruise numbers, but better new-to-brand numbers relative to 2019. Josh, you talked about having confidence in your brands, but that latter point seems like a big one, right? So much of the conversation just seems to be about the cruise industry, but maybe talk to what you think might be a carnival specific story as in terms of improving consideration among people that are already into cruise?
Josh Weinstein: I think our brands are doing phenomenally and really understanding who that target audience is and how to speak to them with their creative marketing and then on the performance side, just making sure that, that consideration and awareness gets converted into bookings. So we gave – I said in my prepared remarks, we’ve got several campaigns that are either started or about to start. We’ve got a few examples you can click through on the prepared materials of slides that have been put up. They’re doing a great job of captivating the market. And I think getting cut through not just with new-to-brand and new-to-cruise on the value that we have. And fortunately for us as much as we’ve improved on the pricing front in 2023, it’s still a big gap versus land. So all of those things are winded our backs and I expect more of that over time.
James Hardiman: Got it. Thanks guys, and good luck doing with.
Josh Weinstein: Thank you.
Operator: Our next question comes from Jaime Katz with Morningstar. Please proceed.
Jaime Katz: Good morning. Thank you. I’m hoping you can talk a little bit about changes to the sourcing strategy. I know it shifted back a little bit more to North American cruisers in the last couple of years. But given the strength in the European market or the fact that they might be closing the gap, should we expect that to move back to a normal mix?
