It's taken a few years, but Carnival (NYSE: CCL) (NYSE: CUK) shareholders are finally starting to find their sea legs. Shares of the world's largest cruise line operator have been sailing smoothly in recent weeks, up a seaworthy 34% since the start of May.

Long-term Carnival investors will take a little more convincing that the upticks will stick. The stock is still 83% below the all-time high it hit more than five years ago. Go back 10 or even 20 years, and those stakes are currently underwater, despite the cruise market being much larger now than it was at those starting lines. 

Dilution hasn't helped. Carnival's share count has increased by roughly 75% since the pandemic, and its long-term debt has more than tripled in that time. The cruising industry had to sacrifice a lot to stay afloat when fleets weren't allowed to return to business as usual for years after the COVID-19 crisis shut down operations. 

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Source Fool.com