Royal Caribbean's third quarter 2011 financial results were reported this morning and the good news is revenue yields, expenses and operating income are all better than expected for the quarter.  For the year, Royal Caribbean expects that its projections will remain stable.

Some of the key highlights include

• Net income for the quarter was $399.0 million, or $1.82 per share.  This is up from $350.2 million last year at this time
• Net Yields increased 5.3% (2.6% on a Constant-Currency basis.) NetCruise Costs per APCD (“NCC”) excluding fuel increased 2.5% (0.7% ona Constant-Currency basis.)

Royal Caribbean's 2012 outlook is described as: Though economic uncertainty is elevated and it is still early in the booking cycle, 2012 demand thus far has been solid. Booked load factors and pricing are both running ahead of this time last year,which supports the company’s expectation of continued yield accretion during 2012.

Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain commented on this quarter's results, "“It was gratifying to beat both our revenue and cost forecasts in the third quarter despite the turmoil in the worldwide financial markets.  The strength of our brands, combined with the value of our product, provides us with a high degree of economic resilience, and both our 2011 results and our 2012 booking patterns validate this.”