Curious What is Your Opinion in buying Carnival Stock to get the OBCs

[mcrcruiser]

CCL sells under $10 per share & may go lower  in this   Bear  stock   market  ,so what is your feeling ?

[Horizon chaser 1957]

Depending on how much you cruise, at these prices you’ll get your money back in OBC fairly quickly. Don’t forget, they give you OBC on ALL Carnival Corp. lines, not just HAL. We take longer cruises, so it only takes four cruises at $250 OBC each to make the shares free. And of course, you still have the shares!

[mcrcruiser]

11 minutes ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

Depending on how much you cruise, at these prices you’ll get your money back in OBC fairly quickly. Don’t forget, they give you OBC on ALL Carnival Corp. lines, not just HAL. We take longer cruises, so it only takes four cruises at $250 OBC each to make the shares free. And of course, you still have the shares!

We think that is the  key ,the long cruises to get the $250 per cruise . Getting $100 for short cruises  presents a down side   How long are your cruises ?

[Tampa Girl]

If you do a search on this issue, I think you will  find that the majority of responses are highly positive.  I don't know what or even if CCL is still paying dividends.  However, if you consider both the OBC's and possible dividends, what is not to like about paying $10/share, unless one doesn't cruise enough to make the OBC's worthwhile.  Even then, if dividends are still being paid, there is still an advantage to buying shares.

[faerievert]

It felt worth it to us at a much higher price per share. But only do it if you’ve got the money to burn—any stock is a gamble. We bought as part of our high risk allocation of my husband’s Roth IRA. 

[mcrcruiser]

14 minutes ago, Tampa Girl said:

If you do a search on this issue, I think you will  find that the majority of responses are highly positive.  I don't know what or even if CCL is still paying dividends.  However, if you consider both the OBC's and possible dividends, what is not to like about paying $10/share, unless one doesn't cruise enough to make the OBC's worthwhile.  Even then, if dividends are still being paid, there is still an advantage to buying shares.

CCL had suspended  the dividends . what they did was float a additional one billion follars worth of stock which diluted the shares already outstanding   .Carnival has more debt load than either RCL or Norwegian ;but ,all of them are not in food shape . 

 

 what I did like was those long cruise types . At $250 in OBC a per cruise can recoup the shares cost pretty quick 

[mcrcruiser]

2 minutes ago, faerievert said:

It felt worth it to us at a much higher price per share. But only do it if you’ve got the money to burn—any stock is a gamble. We bought as part of our high risk allocation of my husband’s Roth IRA. 

Yes with a Roth IRA it is  some thing you do not want to touch  until retirement    .We are way into our retirement & we must way Risk ./Reward always when  buying any asset  whether it be stocks ,bonds ,Real Estate ,Gems or precious metals  or Crypto currencies 

[AncientWanderer]

We're happy we bought the stock.  It's been a win for us.

[bennybear]

It depends on when you asked me, we bought several years ago and have lost several thousand dollars.  We did enjoy the benefits, but would have been much further ahead if we hadn’t purchased. 

[ontheweb]

Once upon a time, it was a great investment. The stock price kept going up. At one point, the dividend per share doubled. And of course there was the OBC.

[robotpony]

We bought some this summer at $8.5 and it will return ~$500 in OBC by the end of the year, which is something like an 80% return on the required 100 units. I consider it a long term hold stock that will continue paying in OBC based on the overall potential value, and the investment is small enough that even some risk is fine. The likelihood for growth is still there given the large and diverse inventory, despite the debt load (which will likely that will only delay growth more than prevent).

[Adelante2]

We are well into retirement and recently bought it at under $10.  We have four cruises booked in the next year and will get $700 OBC.  Thinking we will typically take 2-3 cruises a year and the stock will pay for itself in the second year.  However, we are assuming the risk that we could lose it all, but think that the reward outweighs the not-too-great possibility of the risk.

Edited September 27, 2022 by Adelante2

[richwmn]

I bought my first shares many years ago, and between OBC and dividends was around $1,500 ahead when the pandemic started. I have purchased another 200 shares and will be even in January and still have the 300 shares.

[mcrcruiser]

I am finding that by Triple Shorting this Bear  Market ,i can make more  than  any OBC from any cruise line with less risk  . This market unfortunately  is doomed  until the Federal Reserve   stops raising the interest rates to stem inflation    .What is interesting is not only are they raising the rates on the front end but  they are now selling the 18 Trillion dollars in bonds they bought  for Qantitive Easing ,  Thus the Federal Reserve    is actually raising rates faster than the apparent rate increases   . Although the market  projects 6 months in advance ,we are in for a global recession  & unfortunate there will be pain  during that time . Bad government policies have  brought about this inflation & the harsh reality that comes from it 

[mcrcruiser]

Those folks that have shares  best to just hold &  hope that the cruise industry  comes around  in the future  & the cruise lines can pay down this huge debt  . We don't envision any of them paying dividends for many years  .Today ,there is a sense with many companies that they may have to cut or cancel dividends  to conserve cash  . Companies only pay dividends from free  cash flows  .  just look at the devastating  stock price on Intel (intc is the symbol)  .imo they may  find they will have to cut or  eliminate  dividends  which would drive the share price even lower 

[epistax]

I purchased my shares initially for the benefit. I've used the benefit twice. The shares are down a reasonable amount from where I purchased them, but I'd only sell now for tax reasons. I can't give investing advice but if I did not have the stock now and I had a cruise coming up soon, I would probably make the decision to buy them.

 

[Mutumbojimbo]

We bought the required 100 shares this summer for about 8.65 per share, so we should make the purchase price back fairly quickly. We cruise with carnival and the occasional HAL trip as a treat, so I thought it was a good idea for us. If we were all about Royal or NCL, I doubt that it would have been a great decision. 

[drowelf]

Everyone has to look at any investment vehicle for the risk/reward to them. We've bought and sold both RCL and CCL many times over the years. At times we have held more than the required 100 shares for the OBC, but right now, we only have 100 of each as the market is not the best. At the current price for CCL, you could make up your investment in OBC relatively quickly via longer cruises. RCL is more expensive and would have a longer recoupment timeframe. 

 

While the stock is down right now, I don't expect either line to go under in the near term future, so a buy and hold and gather OBC is not a bad investment for us. Only you can decide if its a good risk for you. 

 

We hold ours in my DW's IRA-SEP Account.

[Bwana Tom]

3 hours ago, Tampa Girl said:

If you do a search on this issue, I think you will  find that the majority of responses are highly positive.  I don't know what or even if CCL is still paying dividends.  However, if you consider both the OBC's and possible dividends, what is not to like about paying $10/share, unless one doesn't cruise enough to make the OBC's worthwhile.  Even then, if dividends are still being paid, there is still an advantage to buying shares.

They are no longer paying dividends. Let's hope the financial situation begins to straighten out. I miss those dividends.

[BermudaBound2014]

6 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

I am finding that by Triple Shorting this Bear  Market ,i can make more  than  any OBC from any cruise line with less risk  . 

 

That's what I've been doing.

 

I started shorting all three cruise line stock in July of 2021. I'm up 68% today. CCL is sitting with over 35 Billion dollars in debt. IMO; there is a real possibility of Ch 11, wiping out all shareholders. 

 

Shorting this is the only thing that makes sense until things become less volatile and we know the direction the cruise lines are going. Even then it's risky. The market is a crap shoot right now.

[rkacruiser]

I am a buy and hold quality stocks type of investor.  I have two pots of CCL stock.  One in my name and one held by my broker.  The larger is the pot in my name; an account that I originally began and have used for dividend reinvestments.  That account grew and grew and grew.  Of course, now, it has shrunk.  But, my faith in CCL remains.  The smaller pot of CCL?  It's a loss currently and unless my plans change, I will sell that during the 4th Quarter for tax loss purposes.  However, after the Wash Sale rules no longer apply, I expect to buy those shares that I sell again.  I have benefited from the shareholder's OBC over the years.  But, to buy the stock just for the OBC?  I cannot suggest that.  That is not a valid reason, in my opinion, to make an investment in the Market.  

[Florida_gal_50]

I bought mine a long time ago when they were high.  I’m sure the obc has paid it off over that time.  I have very little in the stick market because I always look at it like it’s lost money.  If you are counting on it as retirement money good luck with that.

[crystalspin]

4 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I bought mine a long time ago when they were high.  I’m sure the obc has paid it off over that time.  I have very little in the stick market because I always look at it like it’s lost money.  If you are counting on it as retirement money good luck with that.

My "Like" reaction is actually a "sad but true" agreement. 😞

 

We bought our 100 shares just at the end of 2019 (possibly dated Jan 2020). Very high. By early February we had six Carnival cruises booked, four HAL and two Princess. Fortunately we can 'afford' to lose that much. Unfortunately we are losing that much and more from our portfolios more days than not.

😞

 

[Langham1865]

at these prices, I was willing to take the risk and buy enough stock to sell some at a gain for the total amount of shares I bought, and keep the 100 shares for the OBC if/when the price gets to an amount I think will be worth it.  Granted, it may be a while for the price to go up that much, if it ever does.  

[BermudaBound2014]

12 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

.  I have very little in the stick market because I always look at it like it’s lost money.  If you are counting on it as retirement money good luck with that.

 

Speaking as a fully retired Gen Z... money placed well in the stock market is not lost money. I'm grateful everyday that my Dad taught me how to invest.

 

The market will return. Cruise stock might get wiped out with a restructure, but the market itself will return.