Carnival posts loss, shares sink

Yes, 100 shares. No, you can use it for every cruise. I sent in a request last Friday for 3 booked cruises... got a response on Monday with the OBC for each one.

Is it still 100 shares to get on board credit? Is it also true you can only use this credit once a year? Trying to look up on CCL web site for answers, no luck.

At present it is still 100 shares for OBC, and that offer is good through July of 2015. See the link to get the official document from CCL.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=140690&p=irol-sharebenefit

You can get more than 1 a year, so far I can verify that you can have at least 2 in one year, as we did that in 2013 and I already have the credits applied for my 2 2014 cruises.

Hope that helps.

I got 3 OBC in one year before.

Funny how Micky Arison Just made a deal to dump 10 million shares (9% of what he owns) in Feb. Wonder if he knew something?

On the Princess Board here on CC ... Caribill has a very good easy to read summary of the Carnival Corp. conference call today.

LuLu

~~~

Depending on where you live, the economy can be in the toilet. Not everyone gets a year-end bonus of $168,000.00 or more. Not everyone works in an industry that is doing well, etc.

Prices for everything have risen at a much faster pace than salaries. Unless discretionary monies were put aside for vacations, not everyone is in the position to book multiple sailings and spend loads of money on board (where most of the sailing's revenue comes from) on drinks, shopping, photos, and shore excursions. You have to have people on board to spend money regardless of whether or not they were fortunate to win a free cruise.

Considering everything that Carnival was hit with last year, this is not unexpected. The stock market is a gamble and stocks do go up and down and reflect what is going on in the marketplace.

When the price of a stock is down, it is a great time to buy!

MARAPRINCE

Depending on where you live, the economy can be in the toilet. Not everyone gets a year-end bonus of $168,000.00 or more. Not everyone works in an industry that is doing well, etc.

 

Prices for everything have risen at a much faster pace than salaries. Unless discretionary monies were put aside for vacations, not everyone is in the position to book multiple sailings and spend loads of money on board (where most of the sailing's revenue comes from) on drinks, shopping, photos, and shore excursions. You have to have people on board to spend money regardless of whether or not they were fortunate to win a free cruise.

 

Considering everything that Carnival was hit with last year, this is not unexpected. The stock market is a gamble and stocks do go up and down and reflect what is going on in the marketplace.

 

When the price of a stock is down, it is a great time to buy!

 

MARAPRINCE

This is true.

I hear on television that the economy is better.

But what I see is that it is better for people who were never actually affected.

This is true.

 

I hear on television that the economy is better.

But what I see is that it is better for people who were never actually affected.

In NYC, affordable housing is considered $2,500 or more per month for a studio apartment! Meanwhile there is a large segment of the population only making minimum wage.

Lots of foreign money pouring into NYC especially in the housing market. Rentals/condos are the hot thing now instead of owing a home. Fine if you work in a well paying job in the finance sector.

MARAPRINCE

It also just paid a dividend in the past few weeks. I hate the fact that it's down. I almost sold mine a few months back when the shares were sinking, but I held on and they came back up. I've more than doubled my money on my investment and I can't complain about the OBC I've received over the years. I'm going to stay put for now.

Thanks for the help. Next question is should I wait awhile before buying? We have 4 cruises booked 2-2014 and 2-2015. Would like to get the credit.

If a comany's target market is people who is very tight on money, the earning result is not surprising.

You DO realize that CCL is the umbrella corp, right?

That is includes not just people who are tight on money but people who sail Holland America, Aida, P&O, P&O Australia, Costa, Ibero and Princess, right?

And let's not forget those poor, downtrodded folks who sail Cunard and Seabourn.

:rolleyes:

Thanks for the help. Next question is should I wait awhile before buying? We have 4 cruises booked 2-2014 and 2-2015. Would like to get the credit.

It's hard to say when is a good time to buy and when isn't. It is really when you are comfortable with the price of the stock. For example, if you bought today, would you be worried about the money if it dropped to $30? With 4 cruises booked, if they are in the 7-13 day range, you will get $100 OBC for each. Plus the dividends ($1/share/year). My dad told me something when I was young and playing with stocks. NEVER invest with money you can't afford to lose. If you come out ahead, you are doing better than most.

Steve

You DO realize that CCL is the umbrella corp, right?

 

That is includes not just people who are tight on money but people who sail Holland America, Aida, P&O, P&O Australia, Costa, Ibero and Princess, right?

 

And let's not forget those poor, downtrodded folks who sail Cunard and Seabourn.

 

:rolleyes:

Yes I do know, as I sailed most of the lines you mentioned. But do you know what percentage Cunard and Seabourn represent of Carnival Corp's revenue?

If you cut your prices lower than it cost to operate (meaning everyone is getting something free, not the whole cruise, but part of it), and rely on add-ons such as drinks, fttf, pictures, excursions etc than why wouldn't the expectation be that the company possibly is in trouble. Once you go so low, it's tough to get back up. Carnival needs to fix the items they broke.

On the Princess Board here on CC ... Caribill has a very good easy to read summary of the Carnival Corp. conference call today.

LuLu

~~~

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2014648

First off, it was a grossly inaccurate statement regarding the company; the kind of scuttlebutt that can contribute to a dip in stock prices.

 

Secondly, most of us that got lucky enough to win the randomly awarded cruises have been the subject of some pretty personal attacks on these boards, to the point those threads have been deleted.

Sorry, don't agree with your fundamentals or post.

We too won a free cruise. I read the cc ALL THE TIME and never saw or felt attacked and NEVER personally. Sorry if you did.

You DO realize that CCL is the umbrella corp, right?

 

That is includes not just people who are tight on money but people who sail Holland America, Aida, P&O, P&O Australia, Costa, Ibero and Princess, right?

 

And let's not forget those poor, downtrodded folks who sail Cunard and Seabourn.

 

:rolleyes:

AND as a Carnival stockholder you can get OBC sailing on those lines, too.

Meh, you can drive yourself crazy looking at stock prices every day. The market crashed just about the day after I bought my 100 shares, but I've been getting dividends (which are reinvested) and OBC since, so the total $ value is now over what I paid for it, even if the price per share is still lower (I think it went higher for about a minute a couple of months ago). And with the price going lower, my dividends are buying even more shares.

It's not like I invested my life savings...

Call me crazy, but I am still long on this stock. I am in @ $18.80/share since March of 2009. I have received 15 shareholder OBCs (roughly $1,500) and quarterly dividends totaling $750 (including a payment just this past week).

My total investment was $3,775 and I have received $2,250 of that back in dividends and OBCs. Not a bad return in my book - in 10 years the stock purchase should completely pay for itself, and with any good fortune, the stock value will rise as well.

For the past 3 years there has been resistance around $40-42. This last run up to 40 has been in the making since mid-December. My guess is that the stock will probably pull back to mid-30s before making a run at 40 again over the summer. There is a probably a buying opportunity in the next few weeks in the mid to low 30s.

Do your own research, and see what makes sense for your portfolio.

Call me crazy, but I am still long on this stock. I am in @ $18.80/share since March of 2009. I have received 15 shareholder OBCs (roughly $1,500) and quarterly dividends totaling $750 (including a payment just this past week).

 

My total investment was $3,775 and I have received $2,250 of that back in dividends and OBCs. Not a bad return in my book - in 10 years the stock purchase should completely pay for itself, and with any good fortune, the stock value will rise as well.

 

For the past 3 years there has been resistance around $40-42. This last run up to 40 has been in the making since mid-December. My guess is that the stock will probably pull back to mid-30s before making a run at 40 again over the summer. There is a probably a buying opportunity in the next few weeks in the mid to low 30s.

 

Do your own research, and see what makes sense for your portfolio.

For someone who cruises as often as you do, this makes perfect sense. And you offer very good advice in my opinion. Additionally, the OBC benefit is further enhanced since it is a non-taxable benefit.

After recently cruising on HAL, I have a completely different attitude towards CCL. That particular cruise was simply amazing, perhaps the best cruise to date. Prior to that, I was convinced that CCL was destroying and devaluing the industry with cost cutting measures. But the HAL experience was quite the opposite for me and illustrated that CCL is retaining the quality levels and brand identity of the cruise lines owned by the parent company. They offer cruise experiences for all budgets and tastes; this is a great model and I hope that they remain successful.

I think as people want different things they're going to go elsewhere. Carnival can't offer me what I want for 2015, so I have to go elsewhere. And I won't be going to Princess or Holland America. They have higher prices than all other lines in Europe and no itineraries I like. So there has to be others who will do the same thing that would normally choose Carnival.

My dad told me something when I was young and playing with stocks. NEVER invest with money you can't afford to lose. If you come out ahead, you are doing better than most.

Steve

It is always a good idea to respect one's parents. But I hope you are smart enough to realize your dad did not know what he was talking about, vis-a-vis the last sentence.

Divide the last hundred years into decades, however you want, and you will discover, just as every investor has, or would, that investment in the market has not only been a money maker, but substantially better than any other monetary alternative.

My dad told me something when I was young and playing with stocks. NEVER invest with money you can't afford to lose. If you come out ahead, you are doing better than most.

 

 

Steve

That was the speech he was supposed to give you before you headed out to the casino. ;)

As a stockholder, I am not worried. It has been an up and down ride over the last few years. Like Samikitty, we too, have had great return on our investment. The value of the each stock has increased, decreased, increased, decreased.... it is the nature of the beast.

I continue to ask myself these questions? Is the overall product positive? Is the product evolving to meet customer demands, preferences, and proclivities? (evolving is the key here)... Is the product a quality product that meets the needs of the masses? and lastly, Is it a fun ship that I want to sail on again?

Frankly, I can answer a strong yes for every question. I keep my stock!

Not surprised. I am predicting a bunch of consumer discretionary based companies miss their targets this year as they over-estimated the amount of growth. People are spending more, but we are far from pre-2008 where people were lighting money on fire.

Totally agree with this. Some retailers made the same assumptions as well. We are not as recovered as everyone likes to think or say we are.

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my company posted a $24 Billion quarter -- beat estimates -- and there was an after hours sell off. because people can. they sell off at $35 and then rebuy at $32 and then bring it back up to $36 and they may more money than if they left it..

its not like it is real humans calling the shots -- it's all computer software managing the institutional buyers -- the onsie twosies out there dont influence the price at all.