Baron Barracuda

Agree, prices up but quality unchanged in our land based restaurants. They recognize the meal they serve today influences whether the customer returns tomorrow. It feels like the cruise line execs got together in secret and said maybe if we all reduce food quality together none of our loyal customers will be tempted to switch lines.

Took a quick look at parent RCL's financials (they don't break out X) and saw for 4q '22 total food cost per passenger per day was $18.30. Full year '22 was $18.6 and full year 2019 was $13. (Recall reading in a q&a that "food" includes at least some beverages and recognize pp costs are higher in Specialties and Suite DR's and lower in mdr.) Nonetheless, since 2019 the cost of food to has risen $5.60 per person per day. Believe most would have had no issue if X simply asked us to fork over an additional $5-$6 / day to maintain the historic menus. But while X did raise fares substantially they apparently elected to spend the money elsewhere.

Some ports such as Key West and Bar Harbor are now banning large ships. Sub-1k passenger VO ships are still welcome. In Bermuda aboard the Sky we were able to dock in downtown Hamilton. Larger ships must dock across the bay at the Royal Navy Dockyard forcing passengers to take a bus or water taxi into town.

My question is: When cruising resumed even though ships were sailing at reduced capacity and RCL was losing money you attempted to maintain your pre-covid standards in food and service. Why then with ships once again sailing at full capacity and profitability returning have you taken actions that seriously degrade the dining experience and angered passengers? The everyday items on Royal were very popular and downgrading the beef and fish selections on Celebrity which used to be renowned for it's food is tragic. Plus there is the severe cutback to dinner service in X's Oceanview Care. If a land based restaurant took these actions while raising prices as well I would take my business elsewhere.

With most passengers now sailing AI what's their incentive to push drinks? Maybe some tips for servers but little additional revenue for X

We started with X back in '93. Then it was marvelous, especially the food. Over the years due to continuous cutbacks we found each cruise to be a little bit less special than the one before. Tried VO and VR and really like them. I enjoy the casino and production shows but didn't miss them in 15 nights on VO. Viking verandah cabins are significantly larger than X Sky Suites and we found the food on VO much better. It's been a long time since you could get sushi at the buffet on X and with recent cutbacks the X buffet is no longer an option for a casual dinner. MDR cutbacks on X have also produced lots of negative feedback recently on CC. If you factor in all the inclusions on VO (including "free" air on many sailings) you may find a Viking verandah provides most of the benefits of an X sky suite at a lower price.

OP has alternatively indicated he booked direct through Royal and he used a TA. Which was it and whose confirm is he referencing? TA confirm may not indicate whether deposit was refundable. Can't blame Royal if TA confirm.

You say you booked direct with a cruise consultant at Royal. You also say you went through a TA. Which was it? Did you book direct and then transfer it to TA? Once booking is in hands of TA cruise line often won't allow you to speak directly with them. That's what TA is getting paid for. Whoever you booked with should have sent you a confirm (which you apparently didn't read) indicating the booking was non cancelable. Regardless I'd push hard on the TA to fight with Royal. It would help if you had replacement cruises picked out that he/she could try to slot you into.

Difficult to comment on individual line items in their p&l without knowing how they count the beans. For instance if you book AI do they report the entire booking as cruise fare or do they carve out value of bev pkg and wifi as onboard revenue? Are prepaid grats a revenue or contra-expense (do grats collected and paid to crew even show in the p&l)? Is cost of alcohol netted against bar income or buried in the "food" line with non-alcoholic beverages. Same with cost of specialty restaurants, food expense or contra-revenue? CFO has wide discretion in categorization.

Regarding the rosy booking comments, every quarterly earnings report from every cruise line always seems to rave about strong bookings at higher prices. That RCL is experiencing record bookings isn't a surprise considering new fleet additions have increased the number of available berths by double digits. For X, if bookings are so strong why has Blue Chip been offering free cabins on seemingly every Caribbean and West Coast sailing? Finally, Jason Liberty commented that 80% of upcoming sailings would be to the Caribbean. Pre-covid that market was getting a bit overcrowded and with many new ships on the way a glut may develop putting downward pressure on prices.

What's troubling to me is that even with 95% load factor last quarter they only achieved $15MM in operating earnings. Subtracting $400MM in interest expense and a $130MM one time charge related to the Helms-Burton Cuba lawsuit brought the net loss to $500MM. Long term debt now up to $23B vs $9B pre-covid and stockholders equity down 50% for the year to under $3B. You can't cost cut your way to prosperity but they need to figure how to get the balance sheet under control.

Yes, operating at 95% capacity yet only achieving $15MM in operating earnings also caught my eye (note they did reserve $130MM in q4 for Helms-Burton). Record bookings not a surprise given increased capacity from all the new ships they've been adding. Also note the three new ships being added in '23 will increase debt $3.6B. Additional new builds scheduled for delivery '24 - '26 will increase debt even more. During 2022 total debt increased from $19B to $21B while stockholders equity shrank from $5.1B to $2.9B. At some point creditors will clamor for an equity raise. Stock opened up $7 pulling CCL and NCLH higher as well. Slipped during conference call, now only up $2

Parent Royal is currently developing a beach club on the Western end of Paradise Island that will offer an in-house option when visiting Nassau. Unsure just when it will open and whether there will be an additional charge.

Viking does formal tea daily, with over 30 varieties of tea plus pastries, savories, scones w/ clotted cream and classical music. Very popular.

dw & dd flew back to NYC from Aukland Thursday night after 2 week land tour with nothing but good weather. News reports from only a few hours later show Aukland airport evacuated with waist deep water throughout terminal. Runway damage as well. Airport still closed on Sunday. Must have been a heck of a storm.

We started with X 30 years ago but now favor Viking for both ocean and river cruises. Prices a bit more than X verandahs but you get a lot more. Cheaper than X suites.

Viking does a wonderful formal tea every afternoon. 30+ varieties of tea plus pastries & savories accompanied by live music (cellist or duet). Always well attended

On our first Viking cruise we made our Chefs Table and Manfredi's reservations long before sailing. Once aboard ship and able to view the menus for The Restaurant for all 14 days however we completely rearranged things. Having those menus ahead of time would have been nice.

DW is a big fan of souffle's. For many years was able to get both Grand Marnier and chocolate versions in MDR. Now if she doesn't see one on menu by mid-cruise she asks hw or chef. They are usually happy to please and it turns up as an off-menu item next day.

If X was targeting high rollers I would 100% agree with you but that doesn't seem to be the case. Read through the cc threads on BCC offers and you'll see many (most?) being offered free cabins are not heavy gamblers. The offer comes with no obligation to even enter the casino while on board. My wife and I who rarely gamble receive free verandah offers all the time. Regarding consolidators, cruise lines have always relied on them to sell those last few cabins. How do you think pre-covid pretty much every ship managed to sail full? X doesn't allow TA's to advertise fares lower than what is displayed on their web site but large TA's are always advertising last minute deals where you have to call to get the price. $86/night is better than $0 and maybe those value seeking customers will still gamble a little and spend some money while on board.

So giving cabins away for free is better than quietly offloading them to a consolidator? Grats may help the crew, but personnel is only 10% of total expenses. Free cabins don't help cover the other 90%. And IMO the brand image is much more driven by the cruising experience X offers, especially food and service, than the price they charge for their product. Who is going to avoid X because the price is too cheap?

Recently read (can't remember whether it was cc or elsewhere) that proliferation of these bluetooth speakers has risen to the #2 complaint among cruisers, just behind chair hogs. Rude passengers are using them poolside, in the lounges, the buffet and even the theater. Staff is of course very reluctant to get involved.

Trying to understand the business logic. For 1 1/2 years since re-start despite the cruise lines hemorrhaging cash, ships sailing 1/2 full and supply chain difficulties X strove to offer the same level of service they provided pre-covid. Now, with ships sailing full and parent RCG cash flow positive and actually turning a small profit X has elected to take an axe to food which is very important to customers but only represents 7% of expenses. Meanwhile they give away hundreds if not thousands of free verandahs through Blue Chip Club offers. The latest email I received was good on 70 sailings, 20 of them for 10 nights or longer. If the issue (alibi?) is reducing food waste wasn't OVC much more wasteful back when ships were at reduced capacity? For the past year X arguably didn't have to work very hard for bookings thanks to a large pool of outstanding FCC's. Now, with the FCC's exhausted X will have to compete hard for the public's cruising $. Why then devalue the X product?

We usually take late traditional dining so often stop at OVC for a snack before the show. DW loves the made to order pasta while I grab something fresh off the grill. In days gone by before previous LLP cuts we used to enjoy some sushi as well.

Must disagree. In both 2018 and 2019 RCL enjoyed just under $2B in earnings and $3.5B in operating cash flow. The difference between earnings and cash flow is mostly add back of $1.2B in depreciation, a non-cash expense. These results included interest expense of just under $300 million. So interest expense was covered many times by both earnings and cash flow. With more berths available thanks to fleet additions if RCL is able to get back to their 2019 profit margin they should be able to cover their current $1.4B annual interest expense bill with a sizeable amount left over for debt repayment. There is no need to pay it all off in 10 years, an asset-heavy company like RCL isn't expected to be debt-free and they can always aid the process by issuing stock.