ROYAL Caribbean Group (RCG) says it is encouraged by a “significant improvement in demand and pricing environments for cruises,” as it reported a US$1.3 billion loss for the three months to 30 Jun. RCG said it had made “tremendous strides in resuming service both in the United States and globally,”...
ROYAL Caribbean Group (RCG) says it is encouraged by a “significant improvement in demand and pricing environments for cruises,” as it reported a US$1.3 billion loss for the three months to 30 Jun.
RCG said it had made “tremendous strides in resuming service both in the United States and globally,” with 29 ships already in operation across its five brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Silversea Cruises, TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.
That will further increase to 36 by the end of the month, with the RCG anticipating having 80% of its capacity in service by the end of the year.
“We’re thrilled to be back on the water at accelerated speed in the US and elsewhere,” said Chief Executive Officer & Chairperson Richard Fain (pictured).
“After 16 months of being at a virtual standstill and another painful financial result this quarter, the flywheel is clearly picking up momentum.”
Fain said he was encouraged by the booking outlook, especially for 2022 and beyond, adding “since the pandemic began, our objective has been to make our ships safer than Main Street, and today, we are proving that ambitious goal is achievable”.
Overall booking volumes have improved, with Fain saying the return of cruising had been faster than anyone expected.
“We are watching the impact of the Delta variant and other likely variants, but overall we remain optimistic in our mounting trajectory going forward.
“People also book their cruises long in advance, so we are concentrating on maintaining our price levels while growing our load factors,” he added.
However RCG has seen a modest impact from the Delta outbreaks on closer-in bookings.
After raising about US$13 billion in stock offerings, bonds and loans since the suspension of operations in Mar 2020, the group now has current liquidity of around US$5 billion, with customer deposits having increased by more than US$500 billion during the reporting period to US$2.4 billion.
Upcoming newbuild deliveries include the expected handover of Silver Dawn to the Silversea fleet in the fourth quarter of 2021, while next year scheduled arrivals will include Wonder of the Seas and Celebrity Beyond.
RCG Chief Financial Officer Jason Liberty told investors on a conference call the overall Group expected to be “cash flow positive” within the next six months, but warned that the remainder of 2021 would continue to be “painful” in terms of the company’s finances.
