Royal Caribbean announced that John F. Brock, chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola, has been appointed to the cruise line's board of directors.  The move is effective immediately.

Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain commented on Brock's arrival, "John's demonstrated leadership skills and his broad and impressive executive experience in the international beverage industry will help us to deliver long term value for shareholders. We warmly welcome him to the board."

Brock has been the chairman of Coca-Cola Enterprises since 2008 and CEO since 2006. Mr. Brock also has significant Board experience, having previously served on the boards of Dow Jones & Company, Campbell's Soup Company, InBev, Cadbury Schweppes, and Reed Elsevier.

Prior to working at Coca-Cola, Brock served as CEO of InBev, S.A., a global brewer, from 2003 to 2005 and as COO of Cadbury Schweppes plc, from 1999 to 2002. 

Royal Caribbean reported fourth-quarter net income of $7.02 million or $0.03 per share, compared to a loss of $392.80 million or $1.80 per share, prior year. 

Adjusted net income was $50.0 million, or $0.23 per share, for the quarter. In the prior year quarter, the company recorded an impairment of Pullmantur related assets of $385.44 million.

Total revenues increased to $1.85 billion, from $1.81 billion, prior year. Analysts expected revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter.

Royal Caribbean currently estimates its 2014 adjusted earnings per share will be in the range of $3.20 to $3.40. Analysts expect the company to report fiscal 2014 earnings per share of $3.17.

Royal Caribbean will hold a conference call on January 27, 2014 at 10am to discuss its fourth quarter 2013 financial results.

The call will be available on-line at the company's investor relations web site, www.rclinvestor.com. To listen to the call by phone, please dial (877) 663-9606 in the US and Canada. International phone calls should be made to (706) 758-4628. There is no passcode or meeting number. A replay of the webcast will be available at the same site for a month following the call.

Royal Caribbean reported its third quarter fiscal results today of a net income of $377.9 million or $1.71 per share, compared with $367.8 million or $1.68 per share last year.

Royal Caribbean attributes the increase in revenue compared to last year to close-in demand in Europe and Asia as well as good cost control, despite cost impacts from the Celebrity Millenium unscheduled drydock.

Booked load factors are ahead of this time last year in all four quarters of 2014, according to the company. It forecast that 2014 should be the fifth consecutive year for yield growth.

Prices for the first quarter are in-line with the same time this year and are up for the second, third and fourth quarters.

Royal Caribbean Chairman Richard Fain commented on the company's results, "We are beginning to see the payoff from our efforts to improve returns during these challenging times. We have a ways to go, but our strategy and our investments are driving higher revenues and achieving cost efficiencies that bode well for 2014 and beyond. We are especially grateful for our employees' dedication to our profitability improvement initiatives."

Overseas, things are looking good for Royal Caribbean with booked load factors and rates both up significantly year-over-year for Europe.  Asian bookings are up “considerably” despite a continued territorial dispute between China and Japan.

Advance bookings for Alaska cruises are also “providing encouragement for yield improvement.”

Royal Caribbean has scheduled a conference call for Thursday, October 24, 2013 at 10am Eastern time to announce the results of it's third quarter fiscal calendar earnings.

If you're interested in hearing the results live, you can listen on-line at Royal Caribbean's investor relations web site, www.rclinvestor.com. To listen to the call by phone, please dial (877) 663-9606 in the US and Canada. International phone calls should be made to (706) 758-4628. A replay of the webcast will be available at the same site for a month following the call.

Royal Caribbean reported a second-quarter net income of $24.7 million, or $0.11 per share, which is better than a net loss of $3.7 million last year during the same time.  

Royal Caribbean noted that its earnings during the quarter include an impact of $0.05 per share related to the Grandeur fire and a non-cash charge of $0.07 per share accounting correction related to the company's affinity credit card program.

For the full year outlook, Royal Caribbean's outlook remains essentially unchanged from the previous update in May.  The impact of the Grandeur of the Seas fire and the strengthening of the US dollar have already been accounted for.

Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain was happy about the results, "It is rewarding to see things coming together. While the operating environment has been frustrating, our bookings trajectory is looking good and I'm thrilled to see our cost initiatives beginning to pay off. Exploiting this positive momentum will help us take our returns and our profitability to the next level."

Total revenues increased to $1.88 billion, from $1.82 billion last year. Analysts expected revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter.  In addition, 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit of $0.09 per share for the quarter, which Royal Caribbean came out ahead of. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Royal Caribbean will hold a conference call on July 25, 2013 at 10am to discuss its second quarter 2013 financial results.

The call will be available on-line at the company's investor relations web site, www.rclinvestor.com. To listen to the call by phone, please dial (877) 663-9606 in the US and Canada. International phone calls should be made to (706) 758-4628. There is no passcode or meeting number. A replay of the webcast will be available at the same site for a month following the call.

Royal Caribbean reported its first quarter 2013 financial results today with almost double net income this year compared to the same period in 2012.

Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain was excited to report the news, "It was a gratifying first quarter. Ticket revenues were better than expected, costs were well controlled and it was encouraging to see record guest satisfaction and noticeable improvements in onboard spending as a result of our revitalization efforts."

Royal Caribbean's first quarter 2013 net income was $76.2 million ($0.35 per share) compared to $47.0 million ($0.21 per share) in the first quarter of 2012.

Both onboard revenue and ticket pricing improved, contributing to a Net Yield increase of 3.6% on a Constant-Currency basis. NCC excluding fuel were also better than anticipated, primarily due to timing, and declined 0.5% on a Constant-Currency basis.

Bunker pricing net of hedging for the first quarter was $699 per metric ton and consumption was 5,000 metric tons lower than expected at 345,900 metric tons. Versus the first quarter of 2012, fuel consumption per APCD was 1.2% lower.  

Look forward to the rest of 2013, Royal Caribbean's booking volumes are averaging 5% ahead of last year.  Bookings from North America have remained strong since the beginning of the year, even with the company's expectations of "modest disruption" of demand for Caribbean cruises thanks to negative media coverage.  Demand in Europe increased in early February and Royal Caribbean expects pricing improvement for the region this year. Demand from China has weakened somewhat due to itinerary changes related to the territorial dispute with Japan.

Royal Caribbean will hold a conference call on April 25, 2013 at 10am to discuss its first quarter 2013 financial results.

The call will be available on-line at the company's investor relations web site, www.rclinvestor.com. To listen to the call by phone, please dial (877) 663-9606 in the US and Canada. International phone calls should be made to (706) 758-4628. There is no passcode or meeting number. A replay of the webcast will be available at the same site for a month following the call.

Royal Caribbean has released its fourth quarter 2012 fiscal results as well as its full year 2012 results and provided an initial outlook for 2013.

In the fourth quarter of 2012, Royal Caribbean announced net income before impairment charges of $21.1 million, or $0.10 per share, versus income of $36.6 million, or $0.17 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2011. During the quarter the company recorded non-cash impairment charges totaling $413.9 million related to the company’s Pullmantur brand.

The good news is close-in bookings and onboard spending in the fourth quarter were stronger than expected and that resulted in a Net Yield increase of 1.8% on a Constant-Currency basis versus prior guidance of just 1%.

For the full year of 2012, net income before impairment charges was $432.2 million, or $1.97 per share, versus income of $607.4 million, or $2.77 per share for full year 2011.

Looking forward to the fiscal year of 2013, booking activity in the fourth quarter 2012 was lower than the same time last year due to the aftermath of super-storm Sandy. However, Royal Caribbean has seen much stronger bookings since the beginning of the WAVE season in January, which shows demand to be at a healthy level.

In fact, Royal Caribbean is seeing booking volume running about 20% ahead of this same time last year.  Booking volumes are exceeding those during the same period in 2011 and in the aggregate, forward booked load factors and pricing are higher than at this time in both 2011 and 2012.

Royal Caribbean Chairman Richard Fain commented that Royal Caribbean is doing well in North America but not as well in Europe, "Looking forward, we see a tale of two continents; North America is doing well, while parts of Europe continue to be a challenge. Nonetheless, we are encouraged that the former will countervail the latter allowing us to drive meaningful yield growth in 2013."