tmp916

Is the last part allowed as you dont say its against ship Rules? ? 
 

Okay, I'm just relieved that this is direction this thread is headed in...

Yes, of course. And the Air Force has its own spirited cry which can mean anything positive. Here are some examples:
Hooah - Army; Hoorah - Navy; Oorah - Marine Corps; Nice Putt - Airforce.

RC Math
1+1= somewhere between pi/2 and (2*pi)/3.
Anything more complicated than 1+1 requires an advanced degree in WTF.

Mine dropped from $71 to $53 for a March 2021 spring break sailing.

March 28, 2021 - Oasis of the Seas

March 28, 2021 - Oasis of the Seas

Mine dropped from $71 to $53 for a March 2021 spring break sailing.

March 28, 2021 - Oasis of the Seas

March 28, 2021 - Oasis of the Seas

I came across this so I thought this would be a fun topic

Did you know diarrhea is hereditary?
It runs through your genes lol 
 

No words needed ????

Yup. I log on to my cruise planner and then find myself thinking what's the point. ?

The family bonding.  We usually try to go with my mom and dad, just having a nice scotch sitting out by the pool.

The family bonding.  We usually try to go with my mom and dad, just having a nice scotch sitting out by the pool.

OK, first off, while I work in the financial industry I am not a licensed broker or financial advisor! I'm just an IT guy who happens to have learned a decent amount about investing from my dad and my own experiences buying a handful of stocks over the last 20 years.
Secondly, @SpeedNoodles and @Lovetocruise2002, get ready to go beyond Bailey mode. ?
That said...
If you are serious about investing in Royal, understand that to hit that 100 share minimum for shareholder benefits you're still going to be spending about $2,200 at the current price of $22.03. That's definitely a lot better than the $11,300+ it was just a few short weeks ago, but that's still not pocket change. If getting the shareholder benefit is your only reason for buying, maybe reconsider because you'll have to take a LOT of cruises that actually pay you that benefit before you break even.
If you want to buy it because you love the company and think it's a good investment for the long term -- I'm talking at least 5 or even 10 years here, since that's always my minimum goal -- you'll want to read up on the company's financials and get some basic understanding of what's really going on under the hood. I just took a quick look at their annual SEC filing (called the 10-K, which was just published in February and covers through 12/31/19), and looked at their financials in particular (page 37 of the linked doc).
For me, I like that for the last 3 years at least they have had three times as much in assets (cash, investments, physical capital like the ships, etc.) vs liabilities (loans, credit lines, bonds issued, etc.). That tells me they are properly managing their finances, and the debt they have is being used to help expand the business and invest in ships / private islands / etc., rather than prop up their business or make it look better than it seems. That said, in comparison to Apple (the only individual stock I currently own), that's a lot of debt relative to assets; Apple for the longest time had zero long-term debt and almost no short-term debt; it's only in the last few years that they started issuing bonds and other debt instruments, and those are still a much smaller fraction of the total assets (which include a cash hoard that is just bananas).
The rest of the financial numbers looked good, too, although one thing surprised me -- It's been mentioned here a few times that the ticket bookings are basically break-even, and it's the on-board spending that drives actual profit. So I was really surprised to see that cruise fares are 75% of their income, while on-board spend is 25%. I would have expected the latter to be more like 35 or 40% if that's really the profit-driver. So I want to dig into that more and see if they break down how much profit comes off of each.
For me, this quick glance makes me think I might sell off some of my Apple stock (I bought it in 2000) and get a few hundred shares of Royal. But I want to dig deeper. I like their product from all three cruise lines, their leadership seems solid from what I've read over the last couple years, and the financials look good at a glance, but I still don't know RCL the company that well yet. Mistakes like the $18/night DBP "intern goof" and others that we've talked about here seem to happen with some disturbing regularity, and point to some possible issues that might make investing in them riskier than it already is, given the industry.

This is interesting.  Especially stating if you have a fever, don't even show up and you'll get a full refund.  I wonder if they require any proof?  If not, this may give a lot of people a way out who were worried about the virus but didn't want to take a financial hit so they planned on sticking it out.

This is interesting.  Especially stating if you have a fever, don't even show up and you'll get a full refund.  I wonder if they require any proof?  If not, this may give a lot of people a way out who were worried about the virus but didn't want to take a financial hit so they planned on sticking it out.

I’m sure it’s a calculated decision where they had to weigh the risk of refunding cruise fare vs the risk of potentially spreading this or other illnesses.  I think we got a hint of this yesterday when we saw the post where the cruiser was able to get a cruise rescheduled when he documented a no-shit flu diagnosis.  That is unheard of but a Royal did it anyway.  Sometimes it’s best just to do the right thing.  Will some take advantage by feigning illness just to get their cruise postponed ?  Probably. But they will feel better and Royal will get credit for doing the right thing.

This is interesting.  Especially stating if you have a fever, don't even show up and you'll get a full refund.  I wonder if they require any proof?  If not, this may give a lot of people a way out who were worried about the virus but didn't want to take a financial hit so they planned on sticking it out.

This is interesting.  Especially stating if you have a fever, don't even show up and you'll get a full refund.  I wonder if they require any proof?  If not, this may give a lot of people a way out who were worried about the virus but didn't want to take a financial hit so they planned on sticking it out.

This is interesting.  Especially stating if you have a fever, don't even show up and you'll get a full refund.  I wonder if they require any proof?  If not, this may give a lot of people a way out who were worried about the virus but didn't want to take a financial hit so they planned on sticking it out.

This is interesting.  Especially stating if you have a fever, don't even show up and you'll get a full refund.  I wonder if they require any proof?  If not, this may give a lot of people a way out who were worried about the virus but didn't want to take a financial hit so they planned on sticking it out.

This is interesting.  Especially stating if you have a fever, don't even show up and you'll get a full refund.  I wonder if they require any proof?  If not, this may give a lot of people a way out who were worried about the virus but didn't want to take a financial hit so they planned on sticking it out.