SS/RCCL Finances: Improving, Options, Questions??!!

[TLCOhio]

Below are the cruise line stock charts for the past week.  Not exactly positive and upward in optimism!!  As example, Royal Caribbean went from the opening bell on Tuesday morning at $87.10 down to $77.88 late this afternoon.  That is a major drop.  The other two companies followed a similar pattern for the past week.

 

How much of this negative rating by Wall Street would be about Covid rates rebounding, fuel prices being high, interest rates going up and/or Europe war worries, etc.??  Any other factors of importance being missed?

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Panama Canal? Early 2017, Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco adventure through Panama Canal.  Our first stops in Colombia, Central America and Mexico, plus added time in the great Golden Gate City. Now at 31,198 views.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2465580

 

From the Wall Street Journal during the most recent five trading days, below are the charts for the three major cruise lines.  First and second are the charts for Royal Caribbean during the past week and second is their "roller-coast" ride during the past twelve months.  Rocky??  Third and fourth are the charts for the other two lines during the past week.  For this past week, it has NOT been a good positive period.  What will be happening for the future?:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these visuals larger/better!)

 

 

 

[rkacruiser]

Wasn't today the Annual Meeting for CCL?  Have not read any news that may have come from that meeting.  

[gasman489]

19 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

Below are the cruise line stock charts for the past week.  Not exactly positive and upward in optimism!!  As example, Royal Caribbean went from the opening bell on Tuesday morning at $87.10 down to $77.88 late this afternoon.  That is a major drop.  The other two companies followed a similar pattern for the past week.

 

How much of this negative rating by Wall Street would be about Covid rates rebounding, fuel prices being high, interest rates going up and/or Europe war worries, etc.??  Any other factors of importance being missed?

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Panama Canal? Early 2017, Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco adventure through Panama Canal.  Our first stops in Colombia, Central America and Mexico, plus added time in the great Golden Gate City. Now at 31,198 views.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2465580

 

 

From the Wall Street Journal during the most recent five trading days, below are the charts for the three major cruise lines.  First and second are the charts for Royal Caribbean during the past week and second is their "roller-coast" ride during the past twelve months.  Rocky??  Third and fourth are the charts for the other two lines during the past week.  For this past week, it has NOT been a good positive period.  What will be happening for the future?:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these visuals larger/better!)

 

 

 

Really loving your very informative posts!  I think one other factor that will impact cruising for quite a while is the cruise lines’ ability to lure the younger travelers with big money (and there are a lot of them!) -  onto their ships.  Many are more interested in taking expensive land tours to exotic destinations.  The cruise lines won’t survive with a passenger demographic that just does one-offs.  They need to build a solid, younger base.  Not sure if you have seen Celebrity’s new media campaign, touting “inclusive cruising for all.”  This is a good start.  Cruising has come a long way since my Med cruise that started in Barcelona on Celebrity 18 years ago, where some of my fellow cruisers (they were from California) weren’t happy that there were approximately 500 Spanish passengers!!  It’s a global thing now, and the emergence of many wealthy Chinese et al passengers, has changed the face of cruising.  

[CruiserFromMaine]

I didn’t see this posted here. Some good news for Carnival and likely for cruising overall. 
 

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/carnival-best-ever-booking-week-cdc-drops-covid-cruise-ship-warning

 

It’s brief but the key point is: Carnival Cruise Line said Monday [April 4] that it had posted its best-ever booking week in the company's history. 

[cruiseej]

3 hours ago, CruiserFromMaine said:

I didn’t see this posted here.

 

Yup, in post #785 on Tuesday morning, our eagled-eyed cruise news aggregator Terry had this from a report in the WSJ: "Carnival revealed that it had its busiest booking week in its history during the period from March 28 to April 3."

[TLCOhio]

6 hours ago, gasman489 said:

Really loving your very informative posts!  I think one other factor that will impact cruising for quite a while is the cruise lines’ ability to lure the younger travelers with big money (and there are a lot of them!) -  onto their ships.  Many are more interested in taking expensive land tours to exotic destinations.  The cruise lines won’t survive with a passenger demographic that just does one-offs.  They need to build a solid, younger base.

 

Nice comments from gasman489 in New York.  Appreciate the kind follow-up from our neighbor in the Philadelphia suburbs in saying: "eagled-eyed cruise news aggregator Terry".  Is being "eagle-eyed" good at my age?

 

From MSN News and this financial website this morning, they had this headline: “Why Norwegian Cruise Lines Rose 12.3% in March” with these highlights:  "Shares of Norwegian Cruise Lines rose 12.3% in March.  Norwegian bounced back after a difficult February, when earnings numbers missed analyst expectations, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine sparked fear that international travel may decrease.  Yet in March, one of Norwegian's cruise lines released strong bookings, the CDC further relaxed cautious recommendations for cruises as the omicron variant receded, and two analysts upgraded the stock.  On March 7, Norwegian announced that its 2024 Around the World in 180 Days voyage on its Oceania Cruise line sold out within 30 minutes of ticket availability. It was a single-day bookings record for Norwegian. The strong bookings were another data point that despite high inflation and concerns over the economy, demand for cruising still appears very, very strong.  Perhaps these new company announcements and the loosening of COVID restrictions led to increased enthusiasm for the stock. In the middle of the month, analysts at Morgan Stanley  upgraded the stock to 'neutral' from 'underweight.'   Analyst Tim Allen said in his note, 'We believe that NCLH is better positioned in the current recovery than RCL/CCL due to its higher end customer skew, smaller fleet, greater oil hedging, and greater premium market risk (particularly Alaska).' ”

 

Here is more of their analysis: "The positive sentiment for Norwegian also extended to analyst Daniel Politzer at Wells Fargo, who initiated the company at 'Buy,' with a $27 price target. He's also a fan of Norwegian's smaller but newer fleet, which could command higher pricing power in an inflationary environment."

 

Full story at:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/why-norwegian-cruise-lines-rose-123-in-march/ar-AAW2CLu?ocid=BingNewsSearch

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

From late 2018, see “Holy Lands, Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Dubai, Greece, etc.”, with many visuals, details and ideas for the historic and scenic Middle East. Now at 20,769 views.  Connect at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2607054-livenautica-greece-holy-lands-egypt-dubai-terrypix’s/

[saminina]

29 minutes ago, TLCOhio said:

 

On March 7, Norwegian announced that its 2024 Around the World in 180 Days voyage on its Oceania Cruise line sold out within 30 minutes of ticket availability. It was a single-day bookings record for Norwegian.

I would be more impressed knowing how much cash this immediate sellout raised.  A wild guess would be about 35% of the fare.  FCCs piled up to sky being used. 

[TLCOhio]

On 4/9/2022 at 6:57 PM, saminina said:

I would be more impressed knowing how much cash this immediate sellout raised.  A wild guess would be about 35% of the fare.  FCCs piled up to sky being used. 

 

Great comment and follow-up about how those FCC (future cruise credits) have piled up.  How and when will they be used?  New cash is important and needed.  Right?  

 

From the Wall Street Journal late this afternoon is the below chart showing how significantly the value of Royal Caribbean moved UP today.  Carnival was up 5.4% and Norwegian jumped positive by a significant 6.2%.

 

From one financial website at mid-afternoon, they had this headline: “Why Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, and Marriott International Were Soaring Today” with these highlights: “Shares of Norwegian Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean, and Marriott International were all up strongly Wednesday, with the travel stocks trading 6.2%, 4.1%, and 7% higher, respectively, as of 2:48 pm ET.  Both Norwegian and Royal Caribbean put out press releases aimed at generating excitement over new cruises.  It was likely that other factors were lifting these three stocks. During JPMorgan Chase's first-quarter earnings call, its CEO offered some highly positive commentary regarding consumer travel and entertainment spending. And Delta Airlines soared past revenue and earnings estimates.  Both disclosures seemed to put to rest the fear that cash-strapped consumers were dialing back travel spending amid high inflation -- at least for now.”

 

Here is more as a part of this analysis: "Commentary from JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon also seemed to put to bed the idea of the struggling consumer.  'Combined credit and debit spend was up 21% year on year, with growth stronger in credit as we see a continued pickup in travel and dining,' Dimon said. 'And as the quarter progressed, we saw a robust re-acceleration of T&E [travel & entertainment] spend, up 64%.'  Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Barnum also noted that JPMorgan wasn't seeing any increase in delinquencies on its credit cards either. This suggests that even with the robust spending, consumer finances largely remain as healthy as they have been, despite higher gas and food prices.  Additionally, Norwegian issued an announcement that it will be giving two ships from its Oceania cruise line, the Riviera and Marina, full 'stem-to-stern re-inspiration' makeovers, completely renovating them for returns to service in late 2022 and late 2023, respectively."

 

Full story at:

https://www.fool.com/investing/2022/04/13/why-norwegian-cruise-line-royal-caribbean-and-marr/

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Summer 2019 Calgary, Jasper/Banff National Parks, Western Canada Rocky Mountaineer rail adventure, Vancouver, sailing up to Alaska on Silver Muse, post-cruise excursion to Denali, etc.  Many visuals and details from our first in these scenic areas!  Live/blog: 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2682584-live-terryohio-silver-muse-alaska-canadarockies-pix’s/

 

[rkacruiser]

On 4/13/2022 at 5:14 PM, TLCOhio said:

This suggests that even with the robust spending, consumer finances largely remain as healthy as they have been, despite higher gas and food prices.

 

But, for how long if the rate of inflation remains as high as it seems to be?  

 

Never in my life have I had a grocery check-out bill that was as high as what I experienced on 4/13/22,  

[TLCOhio]

16 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

But, for how long if the rate of inflation remains as high as it seems to be?  Never in my life have I had a grocery check-out bill that was as high as what I experienced on 4/13/22,  

 

Agreed that inflation is major issue  here in the U.S.  In talking with a major grocery store operator/manager in eastern Ohio yesterday, he related how it is affecting customers.  At his store, hamburger, when on special, is at $4.99 a pound.  That is not cheap!!  Great comment and follow-up as to how inflation affects consumers!!  And, ultimately, cruise lines?

 

The stock market is officially closed today as it is Good Friday.  Below are the charts reflecting the past week of trading on Wall Street.  Is this upward trend going to continue in the weeks ahead?

 

From CNBC financial cable news this morning, they had this headline: “Cruise stocks have been ‘massive underperformers’ and Citi’s Hardiman sees opportunity” with these highlights: “James Hardiman, Citigroup Global Markets director and travel analyst, joins ‘Power Lunch’ to discuss what will be the leading cruise line stock post-recovery, why cruise stocks are lagging the broader markets.”  There is a three minute plus video as this stock analyst offers his views for the "opportunities" with cruise stocks and for Norwegian especially.

 

Full story at:

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2022/04/14/cruise-stocks-have-been-massive-underperformers-and-citis-hardiman-sees-opportunity.html?&qsearchterm=cruises

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Early 2020 (right before Covid shut-down), many visuals and details from New Zealand/South Pacific in going from Auckland to French Polynesia.  This includes Bora Bora, Fiji, NZ experiences, etc:  Live/blog;

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2735732-live-terryohio-“new”-regatta-south-pacificnz-pix’s/

 

From the Wall Street Journal during the most recent five trading days, below are the charts for the three major cruise lines. Clearly an upward trend, right?:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these visuals larger/better!)

 

 

[rkacruiser]

9 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

“Cruise stocks have been ‘massive underperformers’ and Citi’s Hardiman sees opportunity”

 

Maybe.  Maybe not.  It has been reported today that Russian news broadcasters have stated that "World War III" has begun after the now confirmed by the Defense Department of the sinking of the Flagship of the Black Sea Fleet by two Ukrainian missiles.  Finland and Sweden seem to be "speeding up" their interest in joining NATO.  

 

We are entering geopolitical territory that is uncharted by any financial gurus.  I hope that I am wrong.  

[TLCOhio]

On 4/15/2022 at 8:37 PM, rkacruiser said:

It has been reported today that Russian news broadcasters have stated that "World War III" has begun after the now confirmed by the Defense Department of the sinking of the Flagship of the Black Sea Fleet by two Ukrainian missiles.  Finland and Sweden seem to be "speeding up" their interest in joining NATO.  We are entering geopolitical territory that is uncharted by any financial gurus.  I hope that I am wrong.  

 

YES, agree we are in uncharted waters in many different ways.  BUT, hopefully, we are not near World War III.  We will keep hoping for the best.

 

With the Monday night removal of the airline, etc., mask mandate, it sent the stock market up sharply yesterday.  This especially applied to the three major cruise lines.  See below the chart for Royal Caribbean that was up nearly 4% yesterday.  Carnival yesterday was up 4.6% and Norweigan was also up 4.6% in Tuesday trading.  Also shown below is a chart showing the trend lines for Royal Caribbean since the first of this year.  As you can see RCL has recovered from most all of the sinking that happened when the Russians first invaded Ukraine.  

 

Reactions and future predictions? 

 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio   

 

Barcelona/Med: June 2011, with stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Great visuals with key highlights, tips, etc. Live/blog now at 254,734 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

 

[TLCOhio]

Today was a super "Bloody Day" for the stock market and it was a part of a significant downward slide for cruise ship stocks during the most recent two days.  See the Wall Street Journal charts for the three major cruise lines during the past five trading days.  Is "Bloody" a fair description?  Clearly higher interest rates are driving a significant part of this negative trend.  Right?  

 

From the Wall Street Journal late this afternoon, they had this headline: “Dow Tumbles Nearly 1,000 Points as Stocks Extend Selloff" with this sub-headline: "S&P, Nasdaq turn in sharp weekly losses; yield on 10-year Treasury note hovers near multiyear high.”

 

Here are some of their story highlights: “Stocks dropped sharply Friday with the Dow industrials suffering their worst one-day loss since October 2020 as investors prepared for tighter monetary policy from the Federal Reserve.  The declines in the three major U.S. indexes were broad-based, deepening as the day progressed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 981 points, or 2.8%. The S&P 500 also dropped 2.8%, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 2.55%. All three indexes were down more than 1.8% for the week.  The week’s steep rise in government-bond yields showed signs of steadying, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note ending Friday at 2.905%, down two of the past three trading days. Yields staged a climb earlier Friday before reversing course. Bond yields rise when prices decline.”

 

Full story at:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-markets-dow-update-04-22-2022-11650613003?mod=hp_lead_pos1

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio 

 

Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise from Copenhagen, July 2010, to the top of Europe. Scenic visuals with key tips. Live/blog at 243,941 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

From the Wall Street Journal during the most recent five trading days, below are the charts for the three major cruise lines. Clearly a downward trend!  At the bottom is the WSJ chart for the overall market trend that happened during the past two days of trading.  Are these pretty pictures?:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these visuals larger/better!)

 

 

 

[rkacruiser]

So what?  If one is a buy and hold investor, we have learned that what goes up will come down and go up and go.....

 

If one can not withstand such a scenario, then one ought to move their money to a bank's savings account that pays 0.03% or less.  But, it will be FDIC insured if that will help you sleep better.  

[saminina]

On 4/15/2022 at 5:37 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

We are entering geopolitical territory that is uncharted by any financial gurus.  I hope that I am wrong.  

And closer to the cruise industry, these titled executives have zero experience sailing in stormy waters as they bark out orders to ship's captains actually sailing in them 3000 miles away..   Oh, we're talking finances.   Same thing applies.  These execs have no industry experience for what has been happening the past two years and today, the waters are still very choppy.  

[AmazedByCruising]

On 4/23/2022 at 2:40 AM, rkacruiser said:

So what?  If one is a buy and hold investor, we have learned that what goes up will come down and go up and go.....

 

If one can not withstand such a scenario, then one ought to move their money to a bank's savings account that pays 0.03% or less.  But, it will be FDIC insured if that will help you sleep better.  

 

CCL  moved up and down quite violently between 15 and 20 for the last few months, often 3 or 5 percent in a day.. In retrospect: buy when <17 sell when>19, rinse and repeat. I hope this pattern doesn't continue because I've invested elsewhere 🙂

 

 

[TLCOhio]

On 4/22/2022 at 8:40 PM, rkacruiser said:

So what?  If one is a buy and hold investor, we have learned that what goes up will come down and go up and go..... If one can not withstand such a scenario, then one ought to move their money to a bank's savings account that pays 0.03% or less.  But, it will be FDIC insured if that will help you sleep better.  

 

Normally, I wait till Friday to post on the cruise stocks.  BUT, however, today was a brutal day for the overall stock market and even worse for the cruise stocks.  See the three charts below.  Is this pretty, just bad or even worse?

 

From the Wall Street Journal this evening, they had this headline: “Stocks Fall as Dow Drops More Than 800 Points” with these highlights: “U.S. stocks fell, extending their April losses, as investors digested earnings reports from leading companies and weighed concerns about inflation and the spread of Covid-19 in China.  All three indexes are on track to lose at least 4% this month, with the technology-heavy Nasdaq—which on Tuesday posted its largest one-day percentage decline since September 2020—down more than 12% in April.  Fears about a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in China, and strict lockdowns imposed to fight the outbreak there, have heightened investors’ concerns about the global economy and prompted choppy trading in recent sessions. Inflation is weighing on companies and consumers, while the Federal Reserve’s indications that it will quickly tighten monetary policy threaten to drag on growth.”

 

Full story at:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-markets-dow-update-04-26-2022-11650958530?mod=hp_lead_pos2

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio 

 

Sydney to NZ/Auckland Adventure, live/blog 2014 sampling/details with many exciting visuals and key highlights.  On page 23, post #571, see a complete index for all of the pictures, postings.  Now at 237,184 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

 

From the Wall Street Journal late today, below are the charts for the three major cruise lines. Clearly, sadly, a continued downward trend!  Harder to sell more stock as a way to gather up quick cash to sustain loses?  Carnival get hit really hard today!  Carnival is near a 52-week low.:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these visuals larger/better!)

 

 

[rkacruiser]

17 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

 Carnival get hit really hard today!  

 

One possible factor that could have impacted CCL was the news that CEO Arnold Donald is retiring in August and will become the Vice-Chairman of the Board.  The COO Josh Weinstein will become the CEO.

 

Unsure about the other Carnival brands that sail in Asia, but Holland America has cancelled their 2023 Asia cruises.  What will be the deployment of the ship(s?) that had been planned for those itineraries?  Uncertainties in this Age of Covid continue.  

 

  

[Lauranne]

19 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

 

Normally, I wait till Friday to post on the cruise stocks.  BUT, however, today was a brutal day for the overall stock market and even worse for the cruise stocks.  See the three charts below.  Is this pretty, just bad or even worse?

 

From the Wall Street Journal this evening, they had this headline: “Stocks Fall as Dow Drops More Than 800 Points” with these highlights: “U.S. stocks fell, extending their April losses, as investors digested earnings reports from leading companies and weighed concerns about inflation and the spread of Covid-19 in China.  All three indexes are on track to lose at least 4% this month, with the technology-heavy Nasdaq—which on Tuesday posted its largest one-day percentage decline since September 2020—down more than 12% in April.  Fears about a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in China, and strict lockdowns imposed to fight the outbreak there, have heightened investors’ concerns about the global economy and prompted choppy trading in recent sessions. Inflation is weighing on companies and consumers, while the Federal Reserve’s indications that it will quickly tighten monetary policy threaten to drag on growth.”

 

Full story at:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-markets-dow-update-04-26-2022-11650958530?mod=hp_lead_pos2

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio 

 

Sydney to NZ/Auckland Adventure, live/blog 2014 sampling/details with many exciting visuals and key highlights.  On page 23, post #571, see a complete index for all of the pictures, postings.  Now at 237,184 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

 

 

From the Wall Street Journal late today, below are the charts for the three major cruise lines. Clearly, sadly, a continued downward trend!  Harder to sell more stock as a way to gather up quick cash to sustain loses?  Carnival get hit really hard today!  Carnival is near a 52-week low.:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these visuals larger/better!)

 

 

Thanks for the heads up! I purchased some stock this morning. Do you receive OBC as a stock holder? 
Laurie

[taxatty]

2 hours ago, Lauranne said:

Thanks for the heads up! I purchased some stock this morning. Do you receive OBC as a stock holder? 
Laurie

Yes, if you have at least 100 RCL or Carnival shares on their affiliate cruise lines. We've got lots of OBC from them--it's paid for the shares several times over. Note that the RCL benefit is only good on RCL and Celebrity (but not on SS, charters or Galapagos sailings).

2021-RCL-Shareholder-Benefit-Offer.pdf 2021 US Annual Report - Shareholder Benefit - Final.pdf

Edited April 28, 2022 by taxatty

[Stumblefoot]

5 hours ago, Lauranne said:

Do you receive OBC as a stock holder? 

Where?  On SS?  Absolutely not.

[Lauranne]

Sorry for my lack of clarity. Yes on SS. Too bad, it might have paid for a nice bottle of wine. 😉 

Laurie

[Lauranne]

Thanks for the information taxatty! I will read through the information when I can. 
Laurie

[TLCOhio]

On 4/27/2022 at 4:20 PM, rkacruiser said:

One possible factor that could have impacted CCL was the news that CEO Arnold Donald is retiring in August and will become the Vice-Chairman of the Board.  The COO Josh Weinstein will become the CEO.  Unsure about the other Carnival brands that sail in Asia, but Holland America has cancelled their 2023 Asia cruises.  What will be the deployment of the ship(s?) that had been planned for those itineraries?  Uncertainties in this Age of Covid continue.  

 

Appreciate ALL of these great comments and follow-ups.  Excellent question and response about OBC as a stockholder.  Helpful sharing!!   Smart "catch" by our SW Ohio neighbor in posting about the Carnival CEO retiring.  Yes, that could be a major factor, especially at this challenging time.  

 

Very good point about the Carnival situation as a number of cruise lines have scrubbed Asia sailings. And then they need to deploy their ships to another productive part of the world.  Things are getting better, but it is not simple and easy to make these various transitions and shifting of these assets.   

 

From the Wall Street Journal in yesterday's print version, they had this headline: “Cruise Line Carnival Replacing CEO Arnold Donald" with this sub-headline: "Operating chief Josh Weinstein named successor as pandemic-battered industry seeks path to profitability.”

 

Here are some of their story highlights: “The change comes as the cruise industry continues to recover from the pandemic, when health authorities imposed strict restrictions and halted operations for months seeking to slow the spread of Covid-19.  Carnival and other operators have since resumed commercial cruising, but the emergence of Covid-19 variants and fresh restrictions have hampered operations. Carnival and others have failed to turn a profit during the pandemic. Rivals Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. both project profits in the second half of this year.   Carnival is turning to Mr. Weinstein, 48, as the industry resumes full service and searches for a path toward profitability.  A 20-year company veteran, Mr. Weinstein oversaw everything from auditing and information technology to global port operations, which evolved throughout the pandemic among in response to various government restrictions. He earlier served as Carnival’s treasurer for 10 years, overseeing financial planning, tax analysis and other areas.”

 

Don't mean to pick on finance-types running cruise lines, but these "bean-counter" CEO's need to make sure they and their key people are fully focused on understanding customers and their needs/expectations.  The finances are important!!  But without customers being trusting and confident that quality will not be sacrificed in the quick quest to achieve fatter profit margins, it could be a serious challenge to gain and sustain future bookings.   We understand that huge losses have happened during the past two years.  Many sophisticated customers, however, remember the "good-old-days".  They will not be happy or satisfied if too many "corners are cut" and the food/entertainment/service standards are diminished and diluted.  Fair or unfair?

 

Full story at:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/cruise-line-carnival-replacing-ceo-arnold-donald-11650980056

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio 

 

Venice: Loving It & Why??!!  Is one of your future desires or past favorites? See these many visual samples for its great history and architecture.  This posting is now at 95,132 views.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1278226

Edited April 28, 2022 by TLCOhio

[rkacruiser]

51 minutes ago, TLCOhio said:

They will not be happy or satisfied if too many "corners are cut" and the food/entertainment/service standards are diminished and diluted.  Fair or unfair?

 

Very fair comment  TLCOhio.  Corners have been cut for quite some time on some--maybe all?--of the brands of CCL.  All one has to do is to read the Message Boards for awhile for any of the CCL brands to learn this.  This has been going on well before Covid.  Are the cruise line brands of NCL and RCI exempt from such an experience?  How many posts have I read from regular Celebrity Cruise guests and the guests of the NCL brands that have witnessed the "cutting of corners".

 

Profitability for all of the cruise companies is obviously important.  Both the  CEOs of RCI and CCL have much on their plate regarding to returning the companies to profitability.  Both Mr. Liberty and Mr. Weinstein have had significant tenure with their companies.  They have had the opportunity to observe what happens when Presidents (or whatever their title may be) are appointed as leaders of the brands that are less guest focused (and cruise experienced) as their predecessors.

 

I remain optimistic that "fair seas and following winds" for the industry will be the end result of this challenging time for them.  Do I expect to receive a resumption of the dividends that have been previously paid on my CCL and RCI shares?  🤣 !!  But, I do think it will be, I hope, before the Good Lord calls me home.