Royal Caribbean sees slowdown in future bookings

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines has cited global economic conditions as the cause of a decline in cruise bookings.

Travel Insurance News - 30/10/2008

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"While the company's order book remains solid, there has been a significant deterioration recently in new bookings due to economic and financial turmoil," said the company in a statement issued with its earnings report for the third quarter.

The parent company of Azamara Cruises, Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines reported earnings for the third quarter of $411.9 million, which were record earnings for the company, and up from $395.0 million for the same quarter last year. These earnings are on bookings that were made in advance of the current crisis in world financial markets.

Royal Caribbean’s chairman and CEO, Richard Fain, commented on the results: "While we are pleased with our third quarter results, the operating environment has changed dramatically in recent weeks.”

The parent company’s statement indicated that the various cruise brands were offering discounted cruises with the objective of operating full ships.

"As we have seen during other challenging periods, our customers are delaying their (purchase decisions) further out," noted Brian Rice, the chief financial officer of Royal Caribbean. "It is too early to respond to this atmosphere in a systematic way, but we have attracted short term volume in the traditionally weak fourth quarter using discounts."

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