Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL), the Miami based cruise shipping group, says that demand in North America has remained strong and that in Europe is improving, but the Chinese market has suffered slightly rom territorial disputes with Japan. The company reiterated earlier forecast that yields would rise between 2% and 4% this year.
Since the beginning of the year booking volumes have averaged 5% ahead of the prior year. At this time, full year booked load factors and APDs are higher than the same time last year. The overall demand environment is in-line with the company’s expectations from February, but as usual there are regional fluctuations.
Bookings from North America have remained strong since the beginning of the year, with the exception of a modest disruption to Caribbean demand which the company attributes to adverse industry media coverage.
Despite the difficult economic news in the EU, demand from European sourced guests strengthened in early February and the company expects pricing improvement from the region for the year.
Demand from China has weakened somewhat due to itinerary changes related to the territorial dispute with Japan.
At this time, the company expects that the negative effects from the adverse industry media coverage in March and itinerary changes in Asia will be offset by the favorable performance in the first quarter and a slightly better outlook for Europe. As a result, full year 2013 Constant-Currency yield expectations remain unchanged from the company’s February guidance of an increase of 2% to 4%.
“Our brands have continued to generate solid demand despite a soft economy in Europe and recent adverse industry media coverage,” commented Brian J. Rice, vice chairman and chief financial officer. Rice continued, “The consumer continues to recognize that we offer a great vacation at an excellent value.”
