Royal Caribbean Revenue Takes a Dip
Monday, August 10th, 2009
Cruise ships are suffering from the reduced demand for leisure and luxury travel. Royal Caribbean cruise lines is among the major cruise lines experiencing severe drops in revenue in 2009. The cruise line recently shifted many of its ships out of Alaska in hopes of staying competitive during this rough economy. The company had planned 20 trips to Alaska this year, but made the decision to redeploy the Serenade of the Seas vessel to save on total costs. The Associated Press reports that this redeployment will account for a $55 million loss in revenue.Royal Caribbean also posted a quarterly loss in 2009, with company shares down 12 percent as demand for cruise travel continues to dip and fears of the swine flu virus are on the rise. Since many of the cruise ship's ports are in Mexico, the company has experienced a significant decrease in demand for exotic cruise vacations to Central America.
The owner of Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Pullmantur Cruises, Azamara Cruises and CDF Crosiers de France reported a loss of $35.1 million for the three months ended in June 30. Bookings for cruise travel have remained relatively stable in some parts of Europe such as Spain, but concerns of swine flu are still putting a dent in cruise travel.
On July 31, 2009, 60 crew members aboard the Voyager of the Seas cruise ship that departed from Barcelona, Spain to a French Port were diagnosed with swine flu. The ship was carrying approximately 3,600 passengers, and another 70 ship employees were showing symptoms of swine flu before the ship was leaving for Marseille that night. Royal Caribbean Cruise lines may now need to pursue a decontaminating plan for the Voyager of the Seas and possibly other cruise ships departing from Barcelona and other ports in Europe.
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