Cruiser Formerly Known As Cheapo Dad's Trip Report on Odyssey of the Seas Sailing to A Minus B Plus C Plus H Islands

[Qextor]

19 hours ago, perfect match said:

By the way, Harry, I couldn’t view your Effectors videos on my iPad. I could see your other videos, but for some reason not these. I have no idea why. 🤔

I had to right click and choose 'open video in new tab' (Windows 10/Firefox) before it would play.

[harryfat1]

Before I do the nightly upload, I want to take a step back and explain some basic info as I am assuming people understand all the financial info but maybe a quick background will be useful.

 

Major cruise lines like RCCL and Carnival and NCL are registered as “foreign” corporations overseas but headquartered in the US.  RCCL is registered in Liberia and Carnival is in Panama.  They do this for income tax saving purposes as US tax laws treat foreign companies differently.

 

However, as a publicly traded company, RCCL is required by the SEC regulations to provide high-level financial and operational info every quarter. 

 

That quarterly report is called the 10-Q and summarizes the quarterly operations/financial results. 

 

Then every year, they must file the annual report called the 10-K to summarize info for the past year. 

 

RCCL is due to file their 10K by the end of this month and maybe we can take a peek at some of the numbers from it to see where they spend their money or where they DIDN’T spend money as part of the cost savings (we suspect food and labor).

 

So when I say 10Q/10K/financial statements, I’m referring to the SEC report.  In the old days, you had to write to the company to get that information sent via snail mail.  Nowadays everyone just reads it online.

 

 

 

[sanchoucsb]

Your readers demand more financial analysis! Anyone can write a trip report. We are here for the financial analysis and the bad jokes. 

[perfect match]

3 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

It might be if I have multiple videos in the same post, it could impact the download from the server to your iPad.  Going forward, I will try to have just 1 video upload per post to see if that works better.

I got some of the Effectors videos to play just now, but after the first two or 3 it didn’t work any more. Perhaps my so called high speed internet isn’t up to the task. 
 

I probably should do a speed test, but I have absolutely no idea what the numbers they give me mean….

20 hours ago, h20skibum said:

That’s odd, because they show fine on my iPad.  I am watching them on an iPad Air 4.

 

My iPad is getting old, 6th generation (I just had to go look for that)  but it has had all of the latest updates. I don’t know if it’s age would make any difference.

[harryfat1]

2 hours ago, sanchoucsb said:

Your readers demand more financial analysis! Anyone can write a trip report. We are here for the financial analysis and the bad jokes. 

 

Haha, I will inform my joke-writing team of one that someone appreciates his bad jokes.

 

I think others who will be sailing soon on the Odyssey will disagree with your priorities in preferring to read about the trip report instead of the financials.  Besides, there are a lot smarter people than me on CC who can do a better job analyzing it than me.

 

Also, you do realize the reason I am writing these trip reports is so that I can get away from work? Going down to the SEC reporting page by page is like going back to work.

 

Although looking the the earnings press release yesterday, the decrease in payroll for the year was intriguing to me (the yellow highlighted area from yesterday).

 

The annual report of 10K won’t show up for another 3 weeks but the old quarterly 10Q for the first 9 months report is out and the numbers for the first 9 months of 2023 showed the same payroll declining trend as the annual basis so the trend already started.

 

Looking at the 9-month report, you will notice that the payroll amount decreased compared to 2022 on a gross basis.  For 2023, it was $888 Million and for 2022 it was $981 Million.

 

 

Oh, yeah, these financial statements are rounded to the thousands so you need to add 3 more zeros at the end of every raw number.

 

You can see revenue jumped up from $6,2 Billion to $10.5 billion from 2022 to 2023.

 

The revenue number jump makes sense as 2022 was still a restricted year until September before they allowed unvaccinated passengers to cruise and 2023 was a “revenge travel” year so we all knew the cost of cruise went up.  Nothing to see on the revenue side other than knowing it went up.

 

But the labor cost in gross terms and % basis went down makes you wonder why.  In theory, if they are running at higher capacity for the ships and more people sailing, the payroll number should be going up, not down.

 

Back in 2022, labor cost was 15% of revenue but in 2023 it dropped almost by half to 8%.

 

So does this mean they hired fewer people or all the RCI employees just decided to take a pay cut so that the labor cost went down?  What y’all think?

 

In the 10K, they will talk about the number of employees so we can do some comparison there but this is something to keep in mind as a "Hmmmm"

 

[harryfat1]

27 minutes ago, perfect match said:

I got some of the Effectors videos to play just now, but after the first two or 3 it didn’t work any more. Perhaps my so called high speed internet isn’t up to the task. 
 

I probably should do a speed test, but I have absolutely no idea what the numbers they give me mean….

 

My iPad is getting old, 6th generation (I just had to go look for that)  but it has had all of the latest updates. I don’t know if it’s age would make any difference.

If you do a speed test, just focus on the "download speed" number to see how fast data is coming into your iPad. If it's less than 25, it may be slow and cause the video not to run smoothly.

 

As for the age of the iPad, the newer ones have faster CPU and more memory so it can process the info faster after it reaches your iPad.

 

Sometimes if you restart the device it might improve.

 

The final suggestion is you might need to use your laptop or PC for the videos.

[sanchoucsb]

2 minutes ago, harryfat1 said:

But the labor cost in gross terms and % basis went down makes you wonder why.  In theory, if they are running at higher capacity for the ships and more people sailing, the payroll number should be going up, not down.

 

Back in 2022, labor cost was 15% of revenue but in 2023 it dropped almost by half to 8%.

 

So does this mean they hired fewer people or all the RCI employees just decided to take a pay cut so that the labor cost went down?  What y’all think?

 

I can think of two more possibilities:

1. Individual RCL employees didn’t take a pay cut but more expensive employees found their contracts weren’t renewed and less expensive employees replaced them. 

 

2. If gratuities are excluded from these labor costs, then increasing daily gratuities while keeping employee pay flat would result in a lower labor cost for RCL. 

 

My guess is some combination of all of the above. 

[harryfat1]

OK, enough financial talk, let's upload a few pictures before I call it a night.

 

+++++++++

 

Day 3 – Christmas Day (Another Sea Day – Sigh)

 

OK, Finally got the daily compass from the cabin attendant the night before for Day 3.

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Got up and while my family was still asleep, I made my way to the 270 theater via the “secret entrance” at 7:45 AM to have another morning of peaceful coffee and a croissant early before the place was overrun with people at 9 AM for the Santa event or so I thought.

 

The secret entrance I discussed earlier

 

 

Opened the very heavy door and saw a whole lot of people sitting at 270 at 7:45.  Huh?  I thought the Santa event wasn’t until 9 AM when all the kids ages 17 and under all got a gift from Santa (minus the ones that rear-ended him yesterday afternoon).

 

Another view of the library but nobody was here this early in the morning

 

 

[harryfat1]

They had closed the shades in the back and watched the video of Santa “arriving” via the NorthStar.  Huh?  I’m confused. Why are they 1 hour ahead of schedule as it wasn’t even 8 AM yet but the Santa yet starts at 9 AM?

 

Then a bad thought crept into my head – wait, did I adjust my phone time correctly last night so as to really forward the time by an hour?  So instead of being 7:45 as I thought it was, the real ship’s time was 8:45.  Damn. 

 

Good thing it was a sea day with no excursions or else we would have missed everything.

 

 

 

Edited February 3 by harryfat1

[harryfat1]

This is where you get your present from Santa after you provide your cabin info as everyone only gets one present. But if you rear-ended Santa yesterday at SeaPlex, your name is NOT on this list

 

 

Something is pleasing about this view that I like

 

Edited February 3 by harryfat1

[harryfat1]

Santa made it down to deck 4 from the NorthStar and people wanted to take a picture with him

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Santa walks up to deck 5 and goes to 270

 

 

Got Santa to give me a special wave

 

[h20skibum]

4 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

There have been rumors/speculations that cruise lines may not be giving up all the money from the tips pool but some people dispelled that.  We will assume they are honest and pass on all the tip money that they collected and not offset that against some other expense instead.

I don’t want to derail your review, but there is a lot that could be said on this topic.  That would be an interesting topic for the main boards.

[harryfat1]

15 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

I don’t want to derail your review, but there is a lot that could be said on this topic.  That would be an interesting topic for the main boards.

Carnival disputed that rumor few months ago. RCI said nothing as far as I know...

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-cruise-line-addresses-gratuity-nonsense/109106

 

All the publicly traded companies are audited by the major accounting firms so a sum as large as the annual tips amount in theory is accounted for.  

 

I have seen CC discussion on this every time there's a tips increase going from $14.50 to $16 to $18 as people wonder who gets that piece of pie? 

 

Cruise lines no longer break down the numbers so we don't know who gets what as the increases could go to some hidden group.

 

I'm not convinced all the increases went to the major 3 workers that we see daily  - 2 dining staff and 1 cabin steward. 

[vpat48]

Harry, i just want to thank you for good ol fashioned post cruise detailed TR's. These are my favorite kind and going away around here just like the dinos. I am probably one in a million, but i prefer post cruise threads to live reviews or youtube videos. So once again, thanks for the entertainment.

[harryfat1]

2 hours ago, vpat48 said:

Harry, i just want to thank you for good ol fashioned post cruise detailed TR's. These are my favorite kind and going away around here just like the dinos. I am probably one in a million, but i prefer post cruise threads to live reviews or youtube videos. So once again, thanks for the entertainment.

Thank you for the compliment. Much appreciated.

 

As for doing the old school trip report, that just means I’m old as this is the only trip I know how to write. 

 

I’m not smart enough to think on my feet to post live reports while on vacation.  I need time to think and gather my thoughts to share after I get home. Similar to the concept of “too dumb to walk and chew gum at the same time”.

 

Besides, being CFKACD, I wouldn’t be willing to pay for the Internet cost during the cruise so can’t do much of a live reporting if you have no Internet access for a few days. My wife actually prefers no Internet as we won’t all be looking at our phones during the vacation.  

 

Before cell phone cameras became the main photo-taking device, I used to turn off my cell phone right after the ship sailed into the open sea and put it into the cabin safe and won't take it out again until we docked on the last day. 

 

I would just walk around the ship with a camera strapped around my neck and take pictures of food with the SLR before taking pictures of the food became a fashionable thing to do.

 

The only thing missing about not doing a live report is I’ll never get the acknowledgment from “Laura S” of Cruise Critic staff who typically posts a comment for the “live” reports…

[harryfat1]

To my fellow Calfirnia cruisers, hope y’all stay dry and safe on Sunday as another big storm is going to wallop the state

 

https://news.yahoo.com/prepare-now-historic-rains-californias-195233586.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=0_00

 

Edited February 4 by harryfat1

[harryfat1]

So I followed (stalked) Santa back to the 270 area as he settled in his chair to take pictures with the kids, I grabbed my croissant and coffee.

 

 

Saw the video guys from the ship grabbing something to drink.  All the theater background workers as well as the AV folks wore black uniforms

 

[harryfat1]

For those that are interested in coffee and pastries at café 270, you can see the selection behind the glass case as well as breakfast burrito for those that prefer a more substantial breakfast.

 

 

 

 

Since I will be eating with the family again soon, I just got a basic cholate croissant

[harryfat1]

After eating, I went back to the cabin to wake up the family.

 

Looking outside, still somewhat cloudy morning to the east  but more sun southward

 

 

More sun to the south

 

 

View of the 2 cabins from this angle.  Having an open balcony gives you a lot more space

 

[harryfat1]

Slowing to below 18 knots now

 

 

Back home it’s the dreaded Monday morning for us working stiffs but since it was Christmas Day, we would all be off for the day even if we weren’t on vacation.  Since we are on a cruise, we only care today is day 3.

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Santa chilling again at Windjammer

 

 

For whatever reason, Windjammer wasn't that busy.  Maybe some people wanted to go to the MDR for the Christmas morning brunch.  I don't believe they were serving any special menu that morning but I didn't check.  

 

If anyone from our sailing went downstairs for brunch, can you confirm if they had anything special there?

 

We never made it to any brunches in the MDR as they now only have brunch there up to noon so no more regular lunches in MDR on sea days.  Another one of those cutbacks people are unhappy about as they are paying more to get less.

 

Although I wonder if all the ships switched over to the brunch system as back on the Navigator in August, they had the regular lunch at MDR from 11:30 AM to 1 PM.

 

So unless this brunch thing was a very recent development implemented fleetwide, I don't think all the ships are on the brunch schedule but you frequent cruisers can chime in.

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

My wife's breakfast

 

 

My (second) breakfast

 

[harryfat1]

Hey, what do you know, I didn't realize I had a picture of the MDR at 10:22 AM Christmas morning as we wanted to check out what 270 is like with Santa and the kids