RetiredandTravel

One would think so not many people going to sell those houses with 3% mortgages. Hope this isn't pushed too far. Got ya. So its a win if the reduced interest expense's positive impact on the stock price offsets the dilution? I'm not very familiar with RCLs bond structures. If I'm a bond holder with a 12% coupon unless I'm obligated I'm only going to be interested in selling at the yield that RCL bonds are currently trading at (premium over 100). If the bonds aren't callable or maturing can RCL just pay back the bonds at par or would they have to entice the bondholders to sell with paying a premium, any differential between the yield currently and the 12% coupon? RCL did issue a private convert a while back. Hopefully they can soon just pay off some debt without refinancing. Interesting conversation. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/royal-caribbean-group-announces-pricing-and-upsizing-of-1-billion-senior-convertible-notes-offering-to-refinance-existing-convertible-notes-301597445.html

We tip based on the tipping etiquette in the country we are visiting. Tips are included on these cruises so its totally up to the discretion of the individual. We would not tip in a manner that would garner some type of favor like the maitre de to get a better table. Considering that many cruise employees annual compensation is possibly equal to or less than what we spend on a 14 day cruise we tend to tip. That's our choice and we generally tip at the end. This isn't our practice but I don't see how tipping a porter or bar tender on an all inclusive ship is a form of bribery. Maybe the bartender gets your drink faster? Back in the day on our first Regent cruise tipping wasn't allowed you gave the money to a fund. I think this is the best policy and the cruise line should encourage it for good performance.

No FT subscription? no problem. I wish CC gave more time to edit. https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/recent-developments-in-hedge-funds-treasury-futures-and-repo-positions-20230830.html

How would they take out the debt with 10-12% coupon? How is diluting the stock a win for existing share holders? I'm wondering how impactful hedge funds are in recent US Treasury yield movements. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/fed-economists-sound-alarm-hedge-funds-gaming-us-treasuries-2023-09-13/ https://www.ft.com/content/b51edf3e-3d2b-4963-9ae7-92bc69992e24 The Oracle of Columbus strikes again HPD that oil chart looks pretty similar to the 10 year note. (except this AM)

Smart move. The extra internet is nice also. have fun

People who are in Concierge suites or higher and are Regent Society Silver (21+ nights) get a priority in booking specialty restaurants, they get to book earlier. Honestly if you are not in these categories you may have to take what you can get. In both cases log on and reserve your tables at the earliest dates. One of our favorite restaurants is Sette Mari (Italian) during evenings at the La Veranda location. Sette Mari is full waiter service and menu with an extra buffet, some people think its just a buffet. Sette Mari is first come first served. Once full they will turn you away. We always get to Sette Mari when it opens at 6:30 to be guarantied of getting a table, the second seating is around 8. As mentioned, in any restaurant if you give them a heads its someone's birthday they will try an make your evening special. Restaurant menus are posted on the TVs in the afternoon to help you make your decision. Enjoy your trip.

Hopefully Regent figures this out for you Techno. I doesn't seem fair that you pay for the excursions but none are available. Thanks jlh. We have another Regent cruise on our schedule but have only done two. The Japan cruise was at or near 100% and Europe in the 50% range. Maybe there is some room for Techno.

We are staying at the Rosewood Georgia (also AMEX P) next May but have no actual experience. Thanks for the Joe Fortes recommendation. Anyone eat at St Lawrence or "Black & Blue"? Looks like a fun town.

Todays WSJ https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/options-individual-investors-risk-gambling-a97bee1a?mod=Searchresults_pos1&page=1

If they are completely sold out does that mean the buses are at 100% or do they target a lower number?

This is why I don't trade any more. My years of experience have been negated by my years of seeing things go wrong. Now a big picture guy. 🤠 I'm certainly not an expert on oil markets but I do know supply and demand is very important and from the news reports I'm guessing the Saudi's aren't going to make any efforts to help out #46.

My impression is that Regent has a much better offering of "included" tours. Hopefully this is because SS is newer to the all inclusive game and will improve. We do like the SALT excursions but they are generally at an extra cost.

Same here. Currently my biggest concern is increasing oil prices. Possibly not good for stocks, bonds or cruise stocks.

and these folks. https://news.wttw.com/2023/07/05/chicago-s-pension-debt-continues-rise-increasing-174-billion-2022-354-billion-city https://www.forbes.com/sites/mayrarodriguezvalladares/2021/01/26/of-americas-biggest-cities-new-york-city-is-in-the-worst-fiscal-health/?sh=461cee8416f8

and how about Uncle Sam? Looks like next weeks auction is almost 300 billioney. That's a weekly auction. https://www.treasurydirect.gov/auctions/upcoming/ Put/Calls get a little lofty https://www.cboe.com/us/options/market_statistics/daily/

Agreed on Villa Serbelloni. Beautiful hotel, one of our top vacation memories.

Summer 2025 is now on the SS website.

This is very odd (& disgusting), it leaves me wondering if it wasn't a guest who brought in the pizza. Possibly the room was being worked on. I'm sure you know this but there are many more complimentary wines available not on that list and you can ask for any one of them at any time. Enjoy your trip.

Agree, if the tour guide isn't engaged (rarely happens) I'm not going to leave a tip, if exceptional I'll leave more. My NY Strip Steak has gone from $14 > $20/lb, so I should probably consider more than $5 in the future. 🙄

We generally tip in the local currency. At least $5 each to the tour guide & driver. Maybe more. I'm always surprised at the number of people who don't tip.

I would guess they (RCL++) plan on retiring the debt as is matures, but that's a complete guess. Is there a long lead time for building a ship? Did SS make commitments on some of these new ships after Covid? Altman Z score is just a complicated way to try to predict companies ability to pay debt. If you want to get in the weeds see attached. Quote "According to studies, the model showed an accuracy of 72% in predicting bankruptcy two years before it occurred, and it returned a false positive of 6%." https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/commercial-lending/altmans-z-score-model/ HPD I agree on the larger ships. I've looked at Cunard Queens Grill a few times, we may take that back from Europe instead on flying some time. A booze cruise if you will. I'm a big fan of "tips for travelers" overviews on cruises and he loves it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csBWGPMsqfY

Thanks I did eventually find some, the ones further out said nothing found. First review https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=1527 Terry have any of these cruise operators discussed their plans to pay off the debt?

Cool. There is a point that the luxury market will set saturated. Fancy marketing on their website but I still haven't been able to get an actual cruise schedule. ☹️

+1

Someone told me that the new RCL ship is 7k for 7 nights for a veranda Caribbean cruise. There are a lot of things that aren't included. The new ship is the attraction I guess. I find SS and SB to be about the same price (adjusting for air & excursions) for mid level veranda. We prefer the dining options on SS so unless the itinerary is much much better we are going with SS for now. We watched the Nova preview with Barbara M. and have been following Tucson's trip report, it is a beautiful ship very forward thinking. Japan is great.