Carnival, which owns brands such as P&O, Cunard, Princess and Holland America Line, said that it was “heading into 2018 with a stronger base of business and higher prices than last year”.

The company recorded a 6.8% rise in revenue to $17.5 billion for its financial year ending on November 30, but it saw a drop in operating profit of 8.5% from $3.07 billion in 2016 to $2.81 billion this year.

While ticket prices rose by 4.5% during 2017, Carnival faced increased costs from fuel and currency as well as the impact of a succession of hurricanes in the Caribbean.

Arnold Donald, Carnival’s chief executive, said: “We have numerous efforts underway to keep the momentum going in 2018 and beyond, from our innovative approaches to increase consideration for cruising, including our recently announced partnership with Univision, to the further roll-out of our state-of-the-art revenue management system.”

Carnival will be undergoing further expansion next year with the delivery of four ships - Carnival Horizon, Seabourn Ovation, AIDAnova and Holland America’s Nieuw Statendam.

“We remain on track to achieve double-digit return on invested capital in 2018,” added Donald.

“We are committed to the continued distribution of cash to shareholders through increasing dividends, currently totalling $1.3 billion annually, and ongoing share repurchases, which have exceeded $3 billion since late 2015.”