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Royal Caribbean layoffs


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2 minutes ago, Boston Babe said:

I find this so very sad.  Praying for RC and it's employees

 https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article242023321.html

We all, as one, need to book cruises in order to help the employees.  I, for one, have several already booked. I hope they don't get cancelled.

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43 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

We all, as one, need to book cruises in order to help the employees.  I, for one, have several already booked. I hope they don't get cancelled.


Though I appreciate your sentiment not all of us, as one, want to rebook. My business has been shut down, no income coming in. We can feel bad for the employees being laid off, but there are those of us with cruises up in the air that would prefer Royal cancel and isssue refunds so we can support our own families at this time. 

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3 minutes ago, Wnuk said:


Though I appreciate your sentiment not all of us, as one, want to rebook. My business has been shut down, no income coming in. We can feel bad for the employees being laid off, but there are those of us with cruises up in the air that would prefer Royal cancel and isssue refunds so we can support our own families at this time. 

Is your business online??? Maybe you can share the link to see if any of us can bring you some business or go shopping??

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1 hour ago, princevaliantus said:

Is your business online??? Maybe you can share the link to see if any of us can bring you some business or go shopping??

Thanks for the offer. I am in the service industry, no on line store. Business will come back, I have no worries there. The concern is when that will happen. And as it sits today, there is no clear answer on that.  
 

We will be fine, just hoping for Royal to decide sooner rather than later. If our June Oasis sailing is still on, we are opting for the FCC and will sail next year happily. If they cancel, we will opt for the refund to add some cushion for a rough couple months ahead. 
 

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1 hour ago, Wnuk said:


Though I appreciate your sentiment not all of us, as one, want to rebook. My business has been shut down, no income coming in. We can feel bad for the employees being laid off, but there are those of us with cruises up in the air that would prefer Royal cancel and isssue refunds so we can support our own families at this time. 

Part of the federal government's $2 trillion CARES act is availability of loans for small businesses to allow them to stay open and avoid having to lay off their employees. Loans are supposed to be forgivable as long as the business does no layoffs and I think makes some other commitments (e.g., no stock buybacks if they are a publicly traded company). Is this something that would help you out? My understanding it's pretty much a matter of applying at the local bank.

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1 hour ago, JLMoran said:

Part of the federal government's $2 trillion CARES act is availability of loans for small businesses to allow them to stay open and avoid having to lay off their employees. Loans are supposed to be forgivable as long as the business does no layoffs and I think makes some other commitments (e.g., no stock buybacks if they are a publicly traded company). Is this something that would help you out? My understanding it's pretty much a matter of applying at the local bank.

Thanks for the suggestion. Yes, I have applied for the PPP loan which would cover salaries for up to 2 months. I believe it to be fully forgiven if used for such. Awaiting word on that, my bank submitted our application last week. No timeline on approval process.

Timing unknown for so much. Hope everyone stays safe and healthy till we begin to resume normal lives and cruising again!
 

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16 hours ago, JLMoran said:

Part of the federal government's $2 trillion CARES act is availability of loans for small businesses to allow them to stay open and avoid having to lay off their employees. Loans are supposed to be forgivable as long as the business does no layoffs and I think makes some other commitments (e.g., no stock buybacks if they are a publicly traded company). Is this something that would help you out? My understanding it's pretty much a matter of applying at the local bank.

The report last night was that this money has already run out!  Very scary times for so many people...

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18 hours ago, JLMoran said:

Part of the federal government's $2 trillion CARES act is availability of loans for small businesses to allow them to stay open and avoid having to lay off their employees. Loans are supposed to be forgivable as long as the business does no layoffs and I think makes some other commitments (e.g., no stock buybacks if they are a publicly traded company). Is this something that would help you out? My understanding it's pretty much a matter of applying at the local bank.

FWIW, I applied back in March for an EIDL loan, but still nothing. I know the PPP is already basically "sold out". 

Back to the layoffs, terrible news. I've been laid off a number of times in my career, and it never, ever gets any easier or doesn't make you feel like someone yanked the carpet from underneath you.

I'll be honest, I'm surprised it took this long for the first round of layoffs. I commend RC for trying to maintain operations this long, but I fear this is not the end either.

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@Matt

I’d encourage you till still apply for the PPP. There should be another round of funding coming and that would put you in the queue early.

I guess I got lucky as my bank says I am I the queue with a confirmation number, but funds have not been dispersed yet.

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2 hours ago, Ditchdoc said:

Two Days After SEC Filings Reveal Royal Caribbean CEO Richard Fain Collected Over $14,000,000 in Compensation in 2019, Royal Caribbean Lays Off 1,500 Shoreside Employees.

 

 

More alarming is how the top management is awarded shares as compensation and then turn around and sell portions of their holdings. It's not just Fain, all the top brass are doing it.

I am not alleging anything illegal nor perhaps common practice in the executive world; but.....when you look back at this going on over the past couple months and in particular in February; a black eye would be describing it lightly. It's gross.

The "I'm not taking a salary till September" or the "I'm voluntarily reducing my salary by 25%" is chump change compared to what these execs cashed shares in for in the month of February.

Most posters on this board would not have to work another day in their lives for any one of the executive share dispositions done in February.

All done while the Covid crisis was know and unfolding.

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I have always been of two minds when it comes to corporations. If you started your company, didn't get into any illegal or moral trouble....I take no issue with large CEO salaries and bonuses. I take issue with companies like Carnival, who got a new CEO that is making bank while illegally dumping. I take issue with the CEO of Disney choosing to furlough their employees until possibly 2021 in order to save $500M a month.....when this company brings in billions. On one hand we expect the market to do well because that affects our 401ks, IRAs and other investments. On the other hand we want that company to value their employees and consumers....costing those gains. I understand these times are unprecedented but this catch-22 has brought out the worst in people and businesses.

 

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9 hours ago, RBRSKI said:

I totally agree with you bobroo, however, you will find on this board, on many occasions, people will caulk it up to a big corporation and ultimately they are in it for a profit!   

Businesses are in the business to make money...not lose money or break even. I have no problem with companies making money & creating wealth...it the greed that is destroying the fabric & choking out young, small, startups ingenuity or consolidating against competition from smaller well established businesses, with a rich to modest history. Monopolies & high bonuses breed contempt to workers & smaller businesses....that's when it become all about the bottomline. I love Free Market & Capitalism...don't won't to control it; yet, we are living under somekind of hybrid economic philosophy these days....and it is very unfair to small businesses & workers. 

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11 hours ago, bobroo said:

More alarming is how the top management is awarded shares as compensation and then turn around and sell portions of their holdings. It's not just Fain, all the top brass are doing it.

As a long-time follower of Apple Inc, this is common practice at many companies. But the details of those stock rewards are important to know. I haven't been following RCL in any depth for any length of time, so I freely admit that I don't know the full details here. But with Apple and, from items I've read in my RSS feed, other companies as well, there are usually some common practices put in place around stock rewards that are intended to make sure the recipient continues to work hard and not just take a quick payout:

  1. Nearly all stock grants are restricted shares that must vest, usually over a period of 5 years, before they can begin being sold. So a cash-out reported today may be for shares that were rewarded many years ago.
  2. Once vested, grants have to be cashed out on a regular and mandatory schedule, often semi-annually or even quarterly. This is to ensure that recipients don't try to time the market or do anything that smacks of insider trading; if the market tanks, well too bad for those shares. They cannot typically be cashed out all at once.
  3. Shares can be rewarded at a discount to whatever the current market price was at the time of reward, but the discount has to be reasonable and comparable to / at the same rate that would be offered to other employees taking part in an Employee Stock Purchase Plan, again to avoid suggestions of impropriety.

Again, I don't know if this is RCL's particular policy, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't. The SEC reviews all stock rewards, and they have to be documented clearly and rigorously and in a timely fashion. The companies are also obligated to report every stock sale made by executive staff as and when they happen. Failure to do so can result in serious legal penalties.

Long way of saying that you shouldn't take a large stock sale reported today to be for a reward given a few months ago or even the prior year. As with all things involving corporate finance, do the homework and see what the details are around those sales and when they were first rewarded.

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