Carnival Corporation is using artificial intelligence across its commercial systems and automating more of its shoreside operations as it pushes to capture cost savings ahead of schedule, CEO Josh Weinstein said during the company’s third quarter earnings call on Tuesday.

The company is putting AI to work to help teams make better decisions and provide more personalized guest experiences, while also identifying new efficiencies in how it manages its vessels, Weinstein said.

“While it’s still early, we are beginning to capture opportunities embedded in our Propel targets sooner than expected,” he said.

The company generated more than $150 million in operational improvements since its June guidance, fully offsetting the impact of higher fuel prices.

Unit costs excluding fuel rose 1.8 percent in the third quarter, a full point better than guidance. Fuel consumption came in three points better than expected, marking a nearly 4 percent year-over-year reduction, CFO David Bernstein said.

Consumption per available lower berth day is now down 26 percent since 2019, which Bernstein said represented savings of nearly $750 million at current fuel prices.

Weinstein said the company did not hedge fuel, calling it a short-term fix, and focused on consumption instead.

“The best way you can combat the input cost is to use less of it,” he said, crediting teams for innovating on both itineraries and technology. “It is also good for the planet, and it’s tremendous for our bottom line.”

Looking ahead, Weinstein said moderate capacity growth required the company to be smarter and more efficient in everything it did, leveraging its scale and taking advantage of evolving technologies.

“Now, if fuel would cooperate, that makes it a hell of a lot easier,” he said. “But clearly, we can’t count on that.”