MIAMI — Carnival Corp.’s profit nearly tripled in the first quarter as it paid less for the fuel to power its cruise ships.

The Miami company, which operates 99 ships under the Carnival, Holland America and other brands, also said Wednesday that trip bookings for the rest of 2016 are higher than they were last year and that travellers are paying higher prices. This led to the company boosting the lower end of its earnings outlook for the year, and consequently, its stock rose Wednesday.

Carnival said it now expects earnings between US$3.20 and $3.40 per share for the full year. Carnival still expects revenue to rise 3% for the year, slightly below the 4% rise to $16.3 billion analysts expected, according to FactSet.

Revenue rose 3.4% to $3.65 billion in the period, which also beat Street forecasts.

Carnival paid $187 million for fuel costs in the quarter, 41% less than the $318 million it paid in the same quarter a year ago.

The company said it had about 4% more passengers in the quarter.