(Bloomberg): Carnival Corp. (CCL)’s losses following the grounding of the Costa Concordia cruise ship off Italy may be exacerbated by the disaster coinciding with the start of the peak-booking season. About one-third of all cruise vacations are arranged during the so-called wave season from January to March, said Sharon Zackfia, an analyst with William Blair & Co. in Chicago. “They’re the most profitable bookings,” Zackfia said in an interview. “Presumably most people now are booking for the key summer season, which is when the cruise lines make the bulk of their money.”

Europe generated about 38 percent of Miami-based Carnival’s revenue in fiscal 2010, the last full year for which geographic results are available.

Its Genoa-based Costa Crociere unit is the continent’s largest cruise line based on passengers and ship capacity, according to Carnival (CCL), the world’s biggest cruise operator with brands including Cunard and Princess Cruises.

“The timing of this event could weaken 2012 booking trends given the fact that it occurred early in the wave season,” Emile Courtney, a New York-based Standard & Poor’s credit analyst said in a note. The grounding “could weigh on booking trends across other cruise brands.”

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