Shares of Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) opened higher on Tuesday after the company posted better-than-expected financial results. The beat on both ends of the income statement shouldn't really come as a surprise. Revenue rising 18% to $5.78 billion -- ahead of the 16% increase that it initially targeted -- isn't a shock, even if it did fall short of analyst targets last time out.

Momentum at rivals Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) and Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE: NCLH) has been strong. Both of them report on a different fiscal year, so they had already tipped the market off to strong bookings trends earlier this calendar quarter.

The bottom line is where the top-line beat became an outright blowout. Carnival clocking in with a reported profit of $0.07 per share or an adjusted profit of $0.11 per share may not seem like much, but this is a seasonally sleepy period for cruise lines before summer crowds start walking up the gangway. Wall Street pros were holding out for a small loss, but this was an even easier call to make than the revenue beat. Carnival is back, and it might not be too late to come aboard.

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Source Fool.com