Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. (RCCL), the world second largest cruise shipping group, says it has retained its guidance for eanings per share (EPS) unchanged for the current year.

“The company maintains full year Adjusted EPS guidance of $6.00 to $6.10 per share. Constant-Currency Net Yields are expected to be up 4.0% or better for the full year,” it said in a statement.

The figure for 2015 was $4.83, which again was an improvement of 42% on the previous year.

Strong close-in demand for North American itineraries in the third quarter is helping offset an impact from the delayed opening of Empress of the Seas sailings during the fourth quarter.  

Net cruise costs (NCC) excluding fuel are expected to be up approximately 1.0% on a Constant-Currency basis, in-line with previous guidance.

"Our strong booked position and continued focus on effective cost management is expected to keep full year earnings ahead of initial guidance and positions us well for the Double-Double in 2017," said Jason T. Liberty, chief financial officer, in a statement.

"Minor operational variations are causing some timing shifts between quarters, but the overall market and our overall results remain unchanged from our last guidance," he said.