Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines third-quarter profits exceeded all expectations, with profits jumping 32% and revenue increasing 8.4% from the same quarter last year.

RCCL CEO Richard Fain that internal efforts to control costs had “more than compensated” for rising fuel costs and lack of new capacity for the cruiseline. Fuel prices were 47% higher during the quarter compared with the third-quarter of 2004,

Why does this matter to you, the traveller? Because it once again illustrates that cruise travel is a secure industry that provides a great travel bargain and that is reflected in that the cruise industry continues to be economically sound. Compare that to the struggling airline industry. As a travel agent, I like to think that the difference between the two industries is that cruise lines continue to consider travel agents their business partners while airlines can’t figure out that many of their problems started the day they thought they no longer needed travel agents.