Cruisers like us are always wondering: Do cruise companies make a profit?
Starting with the premise that they aren’t in business to lose money, the obvious answer is yes. Confirmation comes with the news that Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines Ltd. – which owns Royal, Celebrity, Azamara and others – announced profits of two cents a share for the fourth quarter of 2009.
Okay, so it’s not a fortune. Okay, so it could be attributable, almost entirely, to lower fuel costs during those three months. Okay, Celebrity’s Solstice-class ships contributed to the profits, too. And okay, so it’s not likely to have a big impact on we the cruisers, at least in the near future.
However, analysts had been predicting a loss for the fourth quarter, and Royal, according to comments from the Royal people, bookings in early 2010 are up, especially in the higher-priced European market. That could explain the trend we are seeing to higher cruise prices.
In any case, the good health of the cruise industry is good news for cruisers. You don’t have to worry about your favorite ship going to the scrap yard, or wherever it is that old ships go, and the more people cruising the more competitive the pricing.
That’s it, we’re done.