Wells Fargo thinks RCI will order new ship in early 2011

[Cruising89143]

There is an article on Seatrader today stating that Wells Fargo thinks RCI will order a new ship in early 2011 for delivery in 2014. They stated that they think the ship will be in the range of 4000-4200 passenger range.

 

Sounds like a revamped Freedom class ship.

 

Here is the link. You have to register to read the article and it is copyright so no placing it here.

 

http://www.cruise-community.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4370:wells-fargo-thinks-royal-will-place-an-order-in-early-2011-&catid=906:newsheadlines&Itemid=67

[Seatravelers]

Sounds good to me!

[thelion]

They think wrong. RCI is focused on revitalizing their older ships. It would be unwise to start on a new ship and it is not in their business plan.

[Cruising89143]

They think wrong. RCI is focused on revitalizing their older ships. It would be unwise to start on a new ship and it is not in their business plan.

 

Well ordering a ship for 2014 gives them plenty of time to revitalize their fleet and unless you work for RCI, then you know as much as Wells Fargo.;)

[Aquahound]

They think wrong. RCI is focused on revitalizing their older ships. It would be unwise to start on a new ship and it is not in their business plan.

 

How do you know they are wrong? All indications are that another ship is in the drawing stages now. The rumors have been floating around for a while, and on my last cruise, I was told by one of the officers it will be a Freedom Class ship.

 

4 years is a long time from now. One Sovereign Class ship has already been chopped, so I'm sure Monarch and Majesty's years are numbered.

[Host Kewlguy]

Also if Royal plans on keeping up with the competition they'll have to built some new ships by 2014. NCL has already announced plans for two new ships. People love new ships.

[EVALUATOR]

Also if Royal plans on keeping up with the competition they'll have to built some new ships by 2014. NCL has already announced plans for two new ships. People love new ships.

 

They will also need to replace the ship they sold on the 18th when the 12 month lease is up.:D

[cruisenfever]

I thought there was talk a while back that RCI planned on a new ship that would be a combination of the Radiance/Voyager class.

[Cruising89143]

I thought there was talk a while back that RCI planned on a new ship that would be a combination of the Radiance/Voyager class.

 

I think that was wishful thinking for a few folks. There have been several recent articles stating how well the Oasis class ships are doing which is why RCI is going back and adding some of those features to the Freedom class. I would expect the new builds to have a combination of the features found on the Freedom and Oasis class.

 

http://www.cruise-community.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4357&catid=910&Itemid=69

[Cruising89143]

Also if Royal plans on keeping up with the competition they'll have to built some new ships by 2014. NCL has already announced plans for two new ships. People love new ships.

 

This from an article back in September.

 

On Oct. 28, the day that STX Finland hands over the Allure to Royal Caribbean, the 22-ship brand will have no new vessels on order or under construction.

It’s an unusual situation, but company executives said it’s decidedly temporary.

http://www.travelweekly.com/article3_ektid220152.aspx

[Aquahound]

Last month, I was sitting on hold while making a cruise reservation. The RCI advertisement playing on the phone said "soon to be 7 ship classes." Maybe I'm missing something, but I think there are only 6 current ship classes.

[harryfat1]

Thought Richard told the whole world that they are looking at 2014 new build back in October during his post earning conference call with stock analysts?

 

Here is the link to the entire segment, but I have cut and pasted the part about 2014 new build below (bold and underlining are my additions):

 

http://seekingalpha.com/article/232393-royal-caribbean-ceo-discusses-q3-2010-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=qanda

 

 

 

Felicia Hendrix - Barclays Capital

Richard, one of your competitors announced a new ship build yesterday. I was wondering if you could just update us on your thoughts there.

Richard Fain

Yes. Obviously, we're aware of that. And I think I can't give much more information that we've given in the past, Felicia, because as you know, we're cautious. We really don't announce new buildings until we have a deal. So it is our intention -- we've said previously that we don't expect to do anymore Oasis-class ships. We've also made it clear that we don't expect to stagnate and not to have future growth. We look at these things opportunistically. We do think that the rate of growth of new capacity has slowed and will be slower than we've seen historically. We don't feel rush to do something. It's nice to be getting -- you can see how sensitive we are, even relatively minor improvements in yields. And we're still not back to where we were before, so we're looking to the foreseeable future that our growth will come from internal capacity growth that we've already got on order and improvements in our margins, and that's where our focus is. And we've also said historically, we don't see a possibility at this point in building a ship anything before something that would deliver at the earliest 2013. But at this point, it's getting more likely that that would be something more like 2014. But we're careful not to make any comments about our plans until we actually have a deal, and I think we'll stick to that.

[bigque]

On my last cruise in October doing the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle, the CD doing his little speech did confirm that there are plans for a new class of ships that will be between the Radiance class & the Freedom class of ships. He did not however provide a time table.

[Aquahound]

On my last cruise in October doing the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle, the CD doing his little speech did confirm that there are plans for a new class of ships that will be between the Radiance class & the Freedom class of ships. He did not however provide a time table.

 

I thought there was talk a while back that RCI planned on a new ship that would be a combination of the Radiance/Voyager class.

 

One of the rumors going around is combining the best of both ship classes on a Solstice hull.

[EVALUATOR]

 

 

Felicia Hendrix - Barclays Capital

 

 

And in 2009 Hendrix predicted RCI stock would go to $1.00 just before they went bankrupt.

 

She would not be the person I would look to for any cooperation from RCI as to information for tonight's MDR menu, let alone new ship build info.:p

[bigeagle12]

One of the rumors going around is combining the best of both ship classes on a Solstice hull.

 

That sounds COOL !!! ;)

[koterry]

They think wrong. RCI is focused on revitalizing their older ships. It would be unwise to start on a new ship and it is not in their business plan.

So Lion do you know this for a fact ? A nephew of Mr. Fain maybe???? Wouldn't bet aginst RCCL building a new ship and or a newer class.

[harryfat1]

And in 2009 Hendrix predicted RCI stock would go to $1.00 just before they went bankrupt.

 

She would not be the person I would look to for any cooperation from RCI as to information for tonight's MDR menu, let alone new ship build info.:p

 

Well, RCI may or may not like her, but since this is a conference call for the entire world to hear, I doubt they will fabricate any false rumors just to get back at her.

 

I would take for face value on what the big cheese said in this type of setting.

[koterry]

And in 2009 Hendrix predicted RCI stock would go to $1.00 just before they went bankrupt.

 

She would not be the person I would look to for any cooperation from RCI as to information for tonight's MDR menu, let alone new ship build info.:p

Well said Evaluator...Wouldn't put any faith in a Hendrix quote at all..

[samoyedlover24]

Last month, I was sitting on hold while making a cruise reservation. The RCI advertisement playing on the phone said "soon to be 7 ship classes." Maybe I'm missing something, but I think there are only 6 current ship classes.

Aquahound,

 

According to these two threads, http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1176741&highlight=soon+classes and http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1283225&highlight=soon+classes, that was a recording made before the Empress left the fleet in '08 and before the Oasis was finished, and the Empress was classified in a class of her own, so that would have made 7 classes if RCI kept Empress

[Aquahound]

Aquahound,

 

According to these two threads, http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1176741&highlight=soon+classes and http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1283225&highlight=soon+classes, that was a recording made before the Empress left the fleet in '08 and before the Oasis was finished, and the Empress was classified in a class of her own, so that would have made 7 classes if RCI kept Empress

 

Ah-ha! So, it's an old recording. Thank you for clearing that up. :)

[cruisinfanatic]

On my last cruise in October doing the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle, the CD doing his little speech did confirm that there are plans for a new class of ships that will be between the Radiance class & the Freedom class of ships. He did not however provide a time table.

They already have that.

It's called Voyager class

[ocolus8109]

A brand new updated Freedom would be AMAZINGGG

[steve20832]

Here is Royal Caribbean current fleet

Sovereign class - 2 ships left (oldest in the fleet)

Vision class - 6 ships

Radiance class - 4 ships

Voyager class - 5 ships

Freedom class - 3 ships

Oasis class - 2 ships

 

Seems unlikely to me that Oasis class would only have 2 ships. My guess is next ship would be another Freedom class or another Oasis class.

[thelion]

Well ordering a ship for 2014 gives them plenty of time to revitalize their fleet and unless you work for RCI, then you know as much as Wells Fargo.;)

 

I no longer work for RCI but I work for a company that has direct contact with RCI executives and at the last meet and greet they announced to us all (this was less than four weeks ago) that there are no plans right now for any new ships. They are focusing on revitalizing old ships and do not even plan to begin planning until spring-summer 2012 with a late 2014 delivery at the earliest.

 

How do you know they are wrong? All indications are that another ship is in the drawing stages now. The rumors have been floating around for a while, and on my last cruise, I was told by one of the officers it will be a Freedom Class ship.

 

4 years is a long time from now. One Sovereign Class ship has already been chopped, so I'm sure Monarch and Majesty's years are numbered.

 

The officers, etc only know what they hear in rumor from the passengers. Rest assured as a veteran cruise ship worker I can tell you that we get no special info from the company.

 

Last month, I was sitting on hold while making a cruise reservation. The RCI advertisement playing on the phone said "soon to be 7 ship classes." Maybe I'm missing something, but I think there are only 6 current ship classes.

 

It has stated that for a long time. At least two years. It is wrong, sadly. I keep telling them to fix it Ha!