On Tuesday, Carnival Corp.'s (CCL) Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer, Howard Frank, predicted a slow recovery for the consumers.

He specified, “I'm not an economist, but I don't think we're going to snap right back. With consumers making up 70% of the [U.S.] economy, unemployment around 10% and housing prices still very soft, things won't get dramatically better quickly. It will take a period of time.” 

The shares for Carnival were trading up 7.5% to $34.40 lately. 

Carnival, like other cruise companies, had slashed prices in the midst of the recession in the hope of luring price-sensitive consumers, who - until recently - have waited closer to sail date to book trips.

Frank didn’t make any bullish predictions, even when pricing declines haven't gotten any worse – and, on certain itineraries, have improved. 

He explained, “Overall, cruise prices remain lower and occupancy levels, though improving, are still slightly down from last year. People are booking farther out from sail date than they were before, but Carnival's strong booking patterns will have to continue before any pricing actions are taken across the board.” 

In spite of all this, it will take some time before cruise prices can be increased again notably. Frank, who sees a slow, steady pricing improvement over time, said: “I think we'll be stable to slightly up in pricing.”

(Via TopNews United Kingdom. Contributed by Gurpreet Singh)