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Carnival Corporation & plc orders new ships for its Holland America and Carnival brands

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 26 October 2012 26 October 2012

Carnival Corporation & plc today announced it has reached an agreement for the construction of two new cruise ships – a 99,000-ton ship for its Holland America Line brand and a 135,000-ton vessel for its Carnival Cruise Lines brand.

A memorandum of agreement has been signed with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for the construction of a 2,660-passenger ship for Holland America Line scheduled for delivery in fall 2015 and a 4,000-passenger ship for Carnival Cruise Lines scheduled for delivery in winter 2016. The total cost for the two vessels combined, which includes the U.S. dollar denominated contract price and all owner's costs, will be approximately $195,000 per lower berth. The memorandum of agreement is subject to customary closing conditions, including execution of shipbuilding contracts and financing.

The Holland America ship, which will be a new class of vessel for the line, will enter service five years after the last Holland America ship, the ms Nieuw Amsterdam, delivered in 2010. The Carnival Cruise Lines vessel, also a new class of ship, will be launched four years after the introduction of Carnival Breeze, which debuted in spring 2012. The timing of capacity additions for these brands is similar to the five year span between upcoming new ship introductions for both Princess Cruises and P&O Cruises (UK), as previously announced.

"Today's order continues the company's strategy of introducing two to three ships per year across the corporation's 10 brands. We have strategically timed the introduction of these new ships to allow ample time for those brands to further grow their passenger base and absorb the new capacity while minimizing revenue yield dilution in the remainder of their existing fleets," said Micky Arison, chairman and CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc.

Including the newbuilds announced today, Carnival Corporation & plc currently has nine new ships scheduled for delivery – two for 2013, two for 2014, three for 2015 and two for 2016. Arison also noted that the addition of new tonnage is expected, to some extent, to replace existing capacity reductions from possible sales of older ships.

The memorandum of agreement with Fincantieri continues the company's longstanding and successful relationship with the Italian shipbuilder, which dates back more than 20 years.

Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, said, "These additional orders bring the total number of ships we have built for Carnival Corporation & plc to 61 and confirm Fincantieri's world leadership in the cruise ship sector even at a time of slowing demand." Bono added, "We view these orders as a very positive development for the Italian economy and the global cruise industry."

Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise vacation group in the world, with a portfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Ibero Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and P&O Cruises (Australia).

Together, these brands operate 100 ships totaling approximately 203,000 lower berths with nine new ships scheduled to be delivered between March 2013 and March 2016. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.

RCCL says early 2013 booking trends encouraging

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 25 October 2012 25 October 2012

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL), the second largest cruise shipping company in the world, says that while it is very early in the 2013 bookings cycle and visibility at this time is limited, the company is encouraged by the trends so far.

For the year 2013, booked load factors and average per diems are both slightly higher currently than at this same time last year. This is particularly encouraging in light of the fact that these prior year comparisons relate to bookings before the Costa Concordia incident which occurred in January 2012.

The company increased its guidance for full year earnings per share by $0.15 to a range of $1.85 to $1.95. This increase has been mainly driven by stronger than anticipated revenue (+$0.06 per share) and expense reduction (+$0.06 per share). The remaining $0.03 per share improvement is principally due to currency benefits net of oil price increases.

For the full year of 2012, Net Yields are expected to increase approximately 3% on a Constant-Currency basis and to be up 1% to 2% on an As-Reported basis. Approximately 200-250 basis points of the expected improvement in Net Yields relates to deployment initiatives and changes to the company’s international distribution system.

For the full year Net Cruise Costs (NCC), excluding fuel are expected to increase approximately 4% on a Constant-Currency basis (up 2% to 3% As-Reported). Excluding deployment initiatives and changes to the company’s distribution system, Constant-Currency NCC excluding fuel are expected to be flat to up 1%

RCCL plans third Oasis ordered by year end; seen to enter service 2016

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 25 October 2012 25 October 2012

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL), the second largest cruise shipping company, says it is planning to order a third Oasis of the Seas class vessel that would enter service in 2016 if an ordered is placed.

“The company noted that it is engaged in negotiations for the possible construction of an Oasis-type newbuild that would be delivered in middle to late 2016. While the company has not entered into any agreement at this time, it hopes to do so before year’s end. The new ship is expected to cost less on a per berth basis than either of the first two Oasis-class vessels,” the company said in a statement.

“The Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas have proven themselves to be exceptionally attractive ships by generating the highest guest satisfaction ratings in the fleet coupled with very compelling financial returns,” said Richard D. Fain, chairman and chief executive officer. Fain continued, “Ordering another such ship for delivery in 2016, at a lower cost, with better energy efficiency is very consistent with our balanced goals of prudent growth, return improvement and debt reduction.”

RCCL third quarter profit markedly exceeds forecast

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 25 October 2012 25 October 2012

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL), the world’s second largest cruise shipping group, announced third quarter 2012 net income of $367.8 million, or $1.68 per share, versus income of $399.0 million, or $1.82 per share, in the third quarter of 2011.

The fresh figure significantly exceeds forecast of $1.45 by industry analysts.

“Close-in bookings for the third quarter across most itineraries — including Europe — were stronger than anticipated, resulting in a Net Yield increase of 0.1% on a Constant-Currency basis. NCC (net cruise costs) excluding fuel were also better than anticipated and increased 2.0% on a Constant-Currency basis (declined 0.2% As-Reported),” the company said in a statement

“Approximately 200 basis points of the Net Yield improvement and approximately 220 basis points of the NCC excluding fuel increases during the quarter relate to previously announced deployment initiatives and changes to the company’s international distribution system,” RCCL said.

Two UK travel consortia reject cruise lines' commission cut moves

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 24 October 2012 24 October 2012

Following recent announcements by a number of the UK's largest cruise companies that they are to reduce the rate of commission payable to third party agents, The Travel Network Group and Advantage Travel Centres, two of the UK's largest consortia with a combined network of over 1500 independent agents, have joined forces to reject the proposal.

Gary Lewis, Group Managing Director, The Travel Network Group said in a joint statement issued by the two organisations: "We have now discussed this issue in great depth with our members and with Advantage Travel Centres and we are all deeply dissatisfied with moves by certain companies to reduce commission.

"Our strategy is, and has always been, to work with operators who help our members satisfy the needs of their customers, and who at the same time support the trade and our members commercially. There are a number of great quality Cruise lines providing fantastic cruise product to us as a Group and therefore, with immediate effect, we will be looking to strengthen our relationships with those cruise operators who are more supportive of our members and the trade. This will inevitably lead to a reduction of business going through those suppliers that are not supportive of this strategy.

"It is disappointing that during these already difficult trading conditions that some are choosing to make these commercial decisions that will ultimately harm the relationship they have with the trade and independent agents in particular," added Mr Lewis.

Julia Lo Bue-Said, Leisure Director, Advantage Travel Centres, said: "Agents margins are constantly being penalised. Seven years ago they earned the base commission on every component, seven years on non commissionables can account for at least 2% of the holiday price. This means that agents' margins have continued to diminish whilst their costs have continued to increase."

The Travel Network and Advantage combined sell around £350 million worth of cruise through their network of agents.

"Members of Advantage Travel Centres and The Travel Network Group are not supportive of the latest round of commission cuts and this will have a detrimental impact to sales. We have already witnessed the impact commission cutting has achieved and it does not drive incremental sales."