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Meyer Group envisages cruise ship of the year 2100

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 29 March 2023 29 March 2023

Meyer Group that has a shipyard in Germany and another one in Finland has been inspired by the rock penguin in the development of a concept called “Reverse” that shows what a cruise ship could look like in the year 2100.

The design features a closed glass facade and urban garden areas as well as drone landing pads, while central public areas form the focal point inside the ship. Thanks to a cabin structure detached from the outer hull, efficient modular manufacturing methods are possible.

"The ship is based on global megatrends and is one - but not the only - logical response to them," explained Tim Krug, Head of Concept Development Group at Meyer Group. "For example, we have only provided for small restaurant areas that serve more as social meeting places because we imagine that a large part of the nutrients will be consumed in concentrated form like pills," Krug he said in a statement.

“From today's point of view, we sometimes come up with extreme approaches, but it is equally important to think them through and develop answers from them.”

The energy concept on board also relies on innovation: thanks to the use of wave energy through horizontal wings on the hull, solar and fuel cells as well as wind energy, it manages without fossil fuels

P&O Cruises to carry out two stage refit of Aurora and Arcadia

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 28 March 2023 28 March 2023

P&O Cruises, the UK focused contemporary market unit of Carnival Corporation & plc, said that it would be updating guest areas on Arcadia and Aurora in two stages.

The first part of the changes, which are due to be completed by May 2023, will include new balcony furniture, new chairs in cabins, as well as new furniture on the ship’s open deck areas. On Arcadia, the Neptune Pool will also see considerable investment with new lounge chairs, sofas, tables and armchairs.

Wider refit of Arcadia that was built in 2005 would take place in November 2024 and that of the 2000 built Aurora is scheduled for April 2025, the company said in a statement.

Gotlandsbolaget buys Birka Stockholm for Baltic cruises

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 27 March 2023 27 March 2023

Gotlandsbolaget, which has its headquarters in Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland, has paid €38 million for the 2004 built cruise ship Birka Stockholm that is of 34,924 gross tons.

Thew ship will be introduced for part of the year on cruises from the Swedish capital Stockholm to Mariehamn on the Aland Islands that belong to Finland and Visby, with the first departure planned for the spring of next year.

Birka Stockholm has been laid up since the start of the pandemic three years ago and before that it was used by Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö on short cruises from the Swedish capital, mainly to Mariehamn.

Gotlandsbolaget also operates ferry services between Nynashamn on the Swedish mainland and Visby. Håkan Johansson, CEO of the company, said that there is a market for the kind of cruises Gotlandsbolaget plans to operate in the Baltic and that the cruise ship would complement the company’s ferries that serve Visby. The island of Gotland itself has become a popular destination for cruise ships, he pointed out.

After laying Birka Stockholm up, Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö had explored the possibility to covert the ship that has accommodation for 1,800 passengers and a high ice class to an expedition cruise ship with approximately 600 berths. However, these plans did not materialise.

Carnival forecasts strong recovery to continue, but sees full year net loss

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 27 March 2023 27 March 2023

Carnival Corporation & plc, the Anglo-American cruise shipping group, forecasts strong recovery of its operations to continue, but nevertheless expects report a net loss for the full financial year to 30 November 2023.

The company forecast a net loss of $550 million to $350 million in its first quarter 2023 interim result statement which also included the following guidance:

For the full year 2023, the company expects:

Adjusted EBITDA of $3.9 billion to $4.1 billion

Includes approximately $0.5 billion unfavorable impact from fuel price and currency compared to 2019
Sequential improvement in each quarter in adjusted EBITDA per ALBD compared to 2019, driven by closing the gap in occupancy to 2019 levels while achieving net per diems above 2019 levels

Occupancy of 100% or higher, returning to historical levels this summer
Adjusted cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD (in constant currency) one point higher than December guidance, reflecting an expected increase in occupancy levels and strategic decisions taken during the quarter

For the second quarter of 2023, the company expects:

Adjusted EBITDA of $600 million to $700 million, a significant improvement compared to the first quarter of 2023
Occupancy of 98% or higher

A seven percentage point gap (or less) from 2019
An improvement from a 13 percentage point gap for the first quarter of 2023 compared to 2019

Net per diems of 2.5% to 3.5% (in constant currency) above 2019 levels

Net per diems reflect the changing brand mix and cabin mix as compared to the first quarter
Net yields (see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below) of $160, higher than first quarter of $149, which reflects continuing net yield improvement

Adjusted cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD higher than first quarter of 2023, reflecting an expected increase in occupancy levels and higher dry-dock related expenses.

Carnival Corporation & plc cuts loss as CEO calls Wave Season phenomenal

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 27 March 2023 27 March 2023

Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise shipping group, has slashed its operating and net losses in the first quarter of its financial year as its CEO the company is enjoying “phenomenal” wave season.

Net loss in three months to 28 February narrowed to $693 million from $1,891 million in the same period year earlier, while operating loss (EBIT) narrowed to $172 million from $1,491 million. Revenues increased to $4,432 million from $1,632 million.

Josh Weinstein commented, CEO, said in a statement: "In the first quarter, we outperformed our guidance on all measures. We achieved record first quarter net per diems, exceeding the high end of our guidance, driven by improving ticket prices and sustained growth in onboard revenue, while delivering an additional seven points of occupancy on higher capacity compared to the prior quarter." (See "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below)

Weinstein continued: "We are enjoying a phenomenal wave season, achieving our highest ever quarterly booking volumes and breaking records in both North America and Europe. Our strong performance has extended into March and we expect this favourable trend to continue based on the success of our efforts to drive demand."

Weinstein added: "We remain focused on executing our overarching strategy of driving net yield growth, while maintaining our industry-leading cost base. With adjusted free cash flow for the year expected to be positive, our revolver renewal behind us, more committed export credit financings in hand, a reduced capex profile going forward and over $8 billion of liquidity, we believe we are well positioned to pay down near term debt maturities from excess liquidity and therefore have no intention to sell equity (except in connection with our advantageous and non-dilutive stock swap program)."

First Quarter 2023 Results and Statistical Information

First quarter 2023 results exceeded the company's guidance due to stronger pricing and onboard spending, higher occupancy and favorable timing of operating costs.

Adjusted EBITDA (see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below) for the first quarter of 2023 was $382 million, better than the December guidance range of $250 million to $350 million, despite a $31 million unfavorable impact from fuel price and currency rates since December guidance.
Continuing to close the gap to a strong 2019:

Revenue in the first quarter of 2023 was $4.4 billion, representing 95% of 2019 levels. This was better than the fourth quarter of 2022, which was 80% of 2019 levels, an improvement of 15 percentage points.
Occupancy in the first quarter of 2023 was 91%, higher than December guidance. Occupancy increased by seven percentage points compared to the prior quarter, on higher capacity.

Cruise costs per available lower berth day ("ALBD") increased 3.3% as compared to the first quarter of 2019.
In constant currency, adjusted cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD (see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below) increased 5.9% compared to the first quarter of 2019, continuing its sequential quarterly improvement and better than the December guidance of up to 6.5% to 7.5%. Costs remain higher as compared to 2019 as a result of higher advertising investments to drive 2023 revenue as well as partially mitigating the impacts of a high inflation environment.
Total customer deposits reached a first quarter record of $5.7 billion (as of February 28, 2023), surpassing the previous first quarter record of $4.9 billion (as of February 28, 2019) by 16%, driven by strong demand, bundled package offerings and pre-cruise sales.

Bookings

Weinstein noted:”We are well booked for the remainder of the year at higher prices (normalized for FCCs), which coupled with continued strength in onboard revenue, supports our improving outlook for the remainder of the year. We expect the extension of booking lead times, combined with our investment in advertising, to position us even better in 2024 and beyond."

The company is very encouraged with the improving demand environment, kicked off by an early start to wave season (peak booking period) on very strong Black Friday and Cyber Monday booking volumes. The company experienced the highest booking volumes for all future sailings for any quarter in its history. Both the company's NAA and Europe segments broke records, contributing to the company's record-breaking quarter. Consistent with previous comments, during the first quarter of 2023 the company continued its increased advertising activities, supporting its booking volumes.

The booking window has continued to return to historical patterns, providing further confidence in the continued strengthening of the demand environment and facilitating improving revenue yields over time. The company's NAA segment's booking curve mirrored peak 2019 levels, while the company's Europe segment continued to see an extension of its booking curve, which is over 80% recovered compared to 2019 levels.

The company's cumulative advanced booked position for the remainder of 2023 is at higher ticket prices in constant currency, normalized for future cruise credits ("FCCs"), as compared to strong 2019 pricing and a booked occupancy position that is solidly in the higher end of the historical range. (The company's current booking trends are compared to booking trends for 2019 as it is the most recent full year of guest cruise operations.)