<p>NEW YORK (AP) -- A survey of December cruise trends showed that bookings and pricing trends remained weak but did not seem to be getting significantly worse, a Susquehanna Financial Group analyst said on Wednesday.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />&nbsp;<br />Robert LaFleur maintained &quot;Positive&quot; ratings on both companies. The survey of travel agents was conducted by SFG Research.</p><p>&quot;Clearly, the economic and financial crisis that gained critical mass this past fall has consumers more wary of big ticket commitments like cruises, and the lines have had to respond to this by price incentives,&quot; the analyst said.</p><p>LaFleur noted the economic downturn is prompting cruise companies to rethink some long-standing practices. He cited Royal Caribbean's statement during its fourth-quarter conference call that the company would no longer follow its current strategy of slashing prices to whatever level necessary to fill every cabin.</p><p>&quot;(Royal) would rather sail with some empty cabins than drop prices below economically sensible levels,&quot; LaFleur said.</p><p>On the positive side, LaFleur said lower fuel prices will benefit the companies and early reports are indicating that bookings picked up last month as &quot;wave season&quot; began. The three-month period of January through March is known as &quot;wave season,&quot; when cruise bookings usually surge.</p><p>&quot;At this point, even a non-disastrous wave season could be seen as a positive catalyst,&quot; LaFleur said.</p><p>He noted that both Miami-based companies have been slashing costs to cope with weaker revenue, particularly Royal Caribbean.</p><p>&quot;(Royal) is also trading under a heavy cloud of insolvency risk,&quot; LaFleur said. &quot;While it clearly has the more stressed balance sheet, the combination of financing guarantees, current liquidity, and still-meaningful operating cash flows should get them through.&quot;</p><p>In afternoon trading, Carnival Corp. shares fell 40 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $18.49, while shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. gained 6 cents to $6.80.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>