My experience with Carnival stock purchase

[Stokeset]

About 3 weeks ago, I set up an investment account through my bank (BOA) with Merrill Lynch. I watched Carnival stock for a while to see if there were any kind of trends, and on 11/22, I transferred money from my bank savings into my investment account. I had to wait 24 hours to verify the transfer, and on 11/24 I purchased 100 shares of Carnival stock (CCL). The next day I was able to print a receipt of purchase. Due to the Thanksgiving holidays, I was unable to fax the verification of purchase to both Princess and Carnival for our 2016 cruises until 12/1. Went on-line this morning (12/3), and (WOW!) we already have the on-board credit with Princess for our upcoming cruise in 58 days. Was that fast or what!!!??? I was expecting it to take weeks, and I had it in less than 48 hours.

 

The only regret: just wished I had done it YEARS ago! It only cost me $6.95 for the purchase and about 20 minutes of my time to set up the online investment account.

Now if I can just figure out how to weed through Carnival’s website to see if our other credit has been applied……

 

Hope this may help someone who's been on the fence.

And it's great to be booked with Princess again-looking forward to spending time on Coral.

[pompeii]

Thanks for the info. I, too, regret not buying it a couple of years ago when I started cruising with Princess. I've missed out on a lot of OBC but I guess better late than never. I've pulled out my investment information and am planning to "convert" some of it into CCL. I'm hoping it will be easy!

[flamomo]

I was fortunate to have purchased 100 shares of CCL back when the price was around $27/share. In the intervening years, I have made back my initial investment, and have been in the "gravy" phase the past few years. Love it!!

[paul929207]

Flamomo,

We must have bought about the same time. I paid $26 & change per share. It has been a fantastic purchase. Obviously the amount of OBC will depend on the frequency and length of cruises, but we have gotten more than double our purchase price in OBC.

[johnmik1]

I bought at $19 and have received over $3000 in OBC.

[caribsun]

With Carnival it will take a little longer to receive a email confirmation of your stock credit.

[RocketMan275]

I also bought CCL. I did this in 2013 paying something like $38/share. I wouldn't recommend this stock as a long term hold since travel related stocks such as CCL can fluctuate widely.

 

I just want to mention one other thing. Currently, the stock pays 30 cents a share dividend each quarter. That adds to $120 per year meaning you may get more from the dividend that the OBC depending upon your cruising habits. We cruise twice a year for $200 OBC plus $130 dividend, total $330. That's an annual profit (disregarding captial gains) of 8.7% which isn't bad at all.

[MCC retired]

I bought CCL stock when it was first publicly traded years ago .

I think I recall about $14 a share or less.

It since split twice after a few years and I sold it for $36 a share .

Dove back in years latter for $33 a share and still have those shares.

With the Shareholder Benefit, Capital Gains and Dividends , it has been one of my best investments ever . :)

Edited December 3, 2015 by MCC retired

[pompeii]

Is there a page on the Princess website that shows how much OBC you can get? Does anyone have the link?

[DebJ14]

I have been buying and selling it over the years, always turning a profit. Once we know we are cruising Princess, Carnival or HAL, I buy it back and hold it until after the cruise. I have done well between the profits, the dividends (I don't ever sell until the next X dividend date) and the $3500 in OBC that I have received.

 

I am anxiously awaiting my November Fidelity statement so that I can fax it to Princess. My experience with Princess, Carnival and HAL is that the OBC is applied quite quickly. They do take care of their shareholders!

[DebJ14]

Is there a page on the Princess website that shows how much OBC you can get? Does anyone have the link?

 

The shareholder benefit is outlined on the Carnival Corp website.

Hopefully, this link will work It is a pdf file

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9Mjc0MjIzfENoaWxkSUQ9LTF8VHlwZT0z&t=1

Edited December 3, 2015 by DebJ14

[fishywood]

Is there a page on the Princess website that shows how much OBC you can get? Does anyone have the link?

 

Shareholder benefit information is found on Carnival's corporate website:

 

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=140690&p=irol-sharebenefit

(you have to save the PDF document to open it)

[Thrak]

Is there a page on the Princess website that shows how much OBC you can get? Does anyone have the link?

 

OBC from CCL Stock

Sailings of 6 days or less $50

Sailings of 7 - 13 days $100

Sailings of 14 days or longer $250

Edited December 3, 2015 by Thrak

[Redwing55]

OP- Nice post. So many are afraid of buying a stock. Hope this alleviates those fears.

 

On a bit of related note, I wonder if a split is coming sometime. I wonder if it is consistently in the 60's if the board will authorize a split- still a ways to go though.

[Times Prince]

I also bought CCL. I did this in 2013 paying something like $38/share. I wouldn't recommend this stock as a long term hold since travel related stocks such as CCL can fluctuate widely.

That's the same advice and recommendation we received from our investment banker back when I initially wanted to buy CCL stock @ $25/share. The couple of months delay until I said "I don't care" raised the purchase price to $28 or so.

 

Our investment banker has since apologized to us. :D Notwithstanding the OBC we've gotten, CCL had the best individual stock performance in our portfolio. :) Add in OBC with 1-2 cruises a year, and it is a total winner

 

Every time we meet with him we tell him how much shareholder's benefit OBC we've gotten this year. At our last meeting he said he is going to buy some for himself and his wife - with some cruises in the future. :D

Edited December 5, 2015 by Times Prince

[Colo Cruiser]

Its a great benefit of the stock. :)

[Stokeset]

Hello, and thanks everyone for your responses. Just to let you know about another small surprise. I had requested in my fax to Princess and Carnival to please contact me by email with any questions. Two days after my initial post, I received the following email from Carnival, and I must say I am very happy with their immediate reply and in the information they supplied. Keep in mind that our Carnival cruise isn't until November, 2106.

 

"Thank you for submitting your shareholder brokerage statement. However, the shareholder benefits are currently only applicable to sailings through July 31, 2016. In order to apply your onboard credit on your reservation, you will need to submit a current statement after March 2016 when the new shareholder benefits are released.

Please fax or mail a current statement after that date to fax 305-406-6477 or mail to

 

Carnival Cruise Lines

Attn: Guest Administration

3655 N.W. 87th Avenue

Miami, FL 33178"

 

Happy sailings!

Liz

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the info. :)

[denatravels]

Hello, and thanks everyone for your responses. Just to let you know about another small surprise. I had requested in my fax to Princess and Carnival to please contact me by email with any questions. Two days after my initial post, I received the following email from Carnival, and I must say I am very happy with their immediate reply and in the information they supplied. Keep in mind that our Carnival cruise isn't until November, 2106.

 

 

 

"Thank you for submitting your shareholder brokerage statement. However, the shareholder benefits are currently only applicable to sailings through July 31, 2016. In order to apply your onboard credit on your reservation, you will need to submit a current statement after March 2016 when the new shareholder benefits are released.

 

Please fax or mail a current statement after that date to fax 305-406-6477 or mail to

 

 

 

Carnival Cruise Lines

 

Attn: Guest Administration

 

3655 N.W. 87th Avenue

 

Miami, FL 33178"

 

 

 

Happy sailings!

 

Liz

 

 

Interesting.. I have a princess cruise July 23 and a HAL cruise August 1. I was under the impression that it had to be within 90 days of sailing (which March wouldn't be for your November cruise). Wondering if I can do princess now?

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

CCL has been one of my better buys. Since I bought it, it is now worth 3x what I paid. And to think my de scoffed at me when I bought it. :)

 

My credit was posted within 24 hours. Very nice.

Edited December 5, 2015 by LoveThisCruisingThing

[rubytue]

I picked up both RCL and CCL for a song back in 2008. $17 and $23, respectively. RCL is now in the $90 range, and we've never managed to go on one of their cruises, but it's a great performer :) I just keep them both on my Roth IRA account and let the dividends reinvest for my retirement, then enjoy the OBC when I cruise. We also recently added NCLH to H's retirement account, so we have that available when needed.

 

I'm conflicted out of many investment sectors due to my job, so I don't have many individual stocks. I am glad I found this sector for some of my fun investment money.

[dickinson]

Interesting.. I have a princess cruise July 23 and a HAL cruise August 1. I was under the impression that it had to be within 90 days of sailing (which March wouldn't be for your November cruise). Wondering if I can do princess now?

 

Yes, it has to be within 90 days of your cruise.

[Craigster-diver]

Just pointing out that the OBC is per shareholder occupied cabin, not per shareholder.

[pjrockman]

Love the stock and customer service. My best time was last month: faxed at 4:13 p.m. EST, OBC in my online account at 4:26 p.m. EST same day. 13 minutes. Thanks, Princess!

 

Paul

[satxdiver]

I bought the stock right after the stock market crash in 2008 at a very attractive price. The OBC and dividends have more than paid me back for the purchase price. I also have RCCL stock but they will not let you stack OBC. It is one or the other but not both etc. Nice that Princess lets us stack the OBC. I recently faxed my stock holding for our upcoming cruise and Princess posted it the next business day. We are going to get a lot of OBC the coming year. It is a win - win situation.