News

Work starts on eighth Pandaw Charity funded clinic in Myanmar

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 23 December 2017 23 December 2017

Work has started to construct the eight clininic in mYanmar funded by Pandaw Charity, whivh has beenset up by Pandaw Expeditions, the Singapore-Scottish river cruise company.

One monk has loaned the charity the land within the protection of his monastery and work will begin immediately to construct a two storey building of 1,200 square feet. This will, in addition to consulting rooms, contain an x ray facility, ultra sound room and a diagnostic lab, Pandaw chairman Paul Strachan said in a statement.

Seven already established clinics are all in villages within a 20 mile radius of the central clinic and when necessary the medical team will be able to refer patients to the central clinic for further diagnosis. This year saw us hit our 300,000th patient treatment since inception in 2010.

All medications are provided free. "Some of our clinics are now over run. The Balin clinic near the Pakokku bridge can now get several hundred patients in a day, many arriving the night before to get in the queue. The new central clinic will cost $50,000 to build and all these clinics need money to keep going. Any help you can give us would be appreciated,” Strachan said.

Pandaw has its headquarters in Singapore and the company has its domicile in Scotland in the UK.

Bus crash in Mexico leaves 12 RCCL passengers dead, another 18 injured

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 20 December 2017 20 December 2017

At least 12 people have been killed and another 18 injured after a bus carrying passengers from two Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL) ships crashed in Mexico, media reports said.

The vehicle overturned between Mahahual and Cafetal in Quintana Roo state in the south-east of the country, Travel Weekly in the UK reported on its website.

It was taking a total of 27 people from Serenade of the Seas of Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Equinox of Celebrity Cruises on an excursion from Costa Maya to the ancient Mayan ruin at Chaccoben, the report said, adding that those on board were from the US, Italy, Sweden and Brazil.

Carnival says next year bookings ahead of prior year at higher prices

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 19 December 2017 19 December 2017

Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s ;atgest cruise shipping group, said its cumulative advance bookings for full year 2018 are ahead of the prior year at higher prices at this time. Since November, booking volumes for 2018 have been running well ahead of the prior year at higher prices.

The company expects full year 2018 adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $4.00 to $4.30, compared to 2017 adjusted earnings per share of $3.82.

President and CEO Arnold Donald commented: "Despite booking disruptions from this year's multiple hurricanes, we are still heading into 2018 with a stronger base of business and higher prices than last year.”

“We have numerous efforts underway to keep the momentum going in 2018 and beyond, from our innovative approaches to increase consideration for cruising, including our recently announced partnership with Univision, to the further roll-out of our state-of-the-art revenue management system. In 2018 we also look forward to the delivery of four new cutting-edge ships, Carnival Horizon, Seabourn Ovation, AIDAnova, and Nieuw Statendam to further our strategic fleet enhancement program."

Based on current booking trends, the company expects full year 2018 net revenue yields in constant currency to be up approximately 2.5% compared to the prior year. The company expects full year net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD in constant currency to be up approximately 1.0% compared to the prior year.

As a result of higher fuel prices, forecasted fuel costs for the full year 2018 are expected to increase approximately $117 million compared to the prior year, net of realized fuel derivatives, reducing earnings by $0.16 per share. This is partially offset by favorable movements in currency exchange rates, which are forecasted to increase earnings by $0.08 per share.

Donald added, "We remain on track to achieve double digit return on invested capital in 2018. We are committed to the continued distribution of cash to shareholders through increasing dividends, currently totaling $1.3 billion annually, and ongoing share repurchases, which have exceeded $3 billion since late 2015."