JimInBuffalo

On 8/17/2021 at 11:21 AM, ThxMomnDad said:

Wow!! I have a long way to go to catch up to you! We're booked on the Mardi Gras in March, which will be cruise number 7 (although we did have 2 cruise cancelled due to Covid).

Yes, we had 4 cruises cancelled due to COVID. Hopefully there wont be any more.

1 hour ago, ThxMomnDad said:

Wow!! I have a long way to go to catch up to you! We're booked on the Mardi Gras in March, which will be cruise number 7 (although we did have 2 cruise cancelled due to Covid).

Yes, we had 4 cruises cancelled due to COVID. Hopefully there wont be any more.

4 minutes ago, Mountain Traveler said:

My new wife and I boarded the Carnivale on December 16, 1979 for our honeymoon.  We booked months in advance and were able to get one of the few rooms with a double bed. 

WOW, That would have been funny if you had the bunk beds for a honeymoon! The beds look very short also.

Found these pictures from “The Victoria” on a cruise February 12, 1982 to Caracas, Venezuela.

From what I can find, the ship was build in 1936 and had quite a history before coming to the Chandris Line.

I would appreciate any comments regarding the ship and/or lines associated with it. The picture with the food is noted on the back of the picture as: “SPECIAL BUFFET NITE”

42 minutes ago, ThxMomnDad said:

Great pictures! And to think I used to think cruise ships that size were massive!!!

The first time I saw a cruise ship (in person) was when we were staying in Ocho Rios, Jamaica on our first vacation out of the U.S. in the mid 1970’s. We were in a high-rise hotel on the east side of the bay (Tortise Club?).

On the first morning, I woke up and opened the curtains. Of course, the night before, upon arrival, there was no ships in port. When I pulled back the drapes and saw what (at the time) was a huge ship. I was determined that I would start cruising. I couldn’t walk fast enough over to the other side of the bay to see it up close.

We are now up to 53 cruises and counting.

Thanks for your comments. I just found two more from the same sailing.

Found these pictures from a cruise on the Carnival “Carnivale” from November 1, 1979.

We we’re selected to be on the Oasis leaving Bayonne on 8/22/21. Most of the questions we have were addressed by RCL. Here is what we don’t know:

<> is there any need to take any formal wear? Our cruise is 6 nights and have no idea of what they’re planning 

<> on previous tests, we’re there any time limits for using the pools?

<> were any inside cabins used for guests? I am assuming that since there will be a fractional number on board, there will be an abundance of higher level rooms available. 
<>were the shows/entertainment on par with a regular cruise or were they limited in production?

We appreciate any feedback knowing that everything is fluid and nothing is guaranteed since changes are occurring daily. 
Hot and humid in Buffalo today with a high of 90 degrees F. 

I sold my stock on Feb. 24th. I had been seeing it rise and after the 3rd day in a row, it went over a total gain of over 200% for my total shares. I bought 200 shares or RCL and 200 shares of Carnival last March.

It has been quite a year watching this thread and seeing the opposing viewpoints.

I went with my gut, using money that I was not afraid of losing if it came to that. However, the stock and the market pulled through. I am not sure if I would do it again since I don’t normally trade individual stocks. I would rather stay with mutual funds. Again, after following the stocks prior to the pandemic and seeing what happened in March 2020 and knowing that people like me are going to cruise again as soon as it is possible, I am glad it bought when it did.

There were a lot of naysayers out there saying that the people buying the stock were crazy. Time will tell what happens from here on in. I am glad to be on the outside looking in and satisfied with my earnings.

-Jim (20 degrees in Buffalo today with lots of sunshine, getting warmer this week)

THANKS!

Hi, I will be on this cruise also. I am beginning to get nervous about the chances of it a actually happening. If the ship does not cruise the Mediterranean during the summer/fall, it wont need to come back to the Caribbean. Does anyone know where the ship is now?

3 hours ago, ECCruise said:

I would guess at least down 15-20%. 

And if you Lift and Shift 2 cruises, like we did yesterday, it is a gain for a 2021 sailing.  But the loss of a 2020 sailing for which the cruise line will never bank a penny of revenue.

This really is pretty basic.  Cruise lines are going to have a tough road to hoe. I would guess that 50-60% or more of people here on a forum for cruise addicts are reticent to cruise.  The general public that I have contact with (Spoiler: Not a scientific sample) runs about 80% negative.  And they think that people willing to cruise until this all sorts out are absolutely certifiable. 

Count me as one of the cruise addicts that is NOT reticent to cruise again. I will go tomorrow if it were available. I would like to hear from the other (un-scientific) cruisers who have the same inclination!

1 hour ago, XuGator said:

Its amazing that people are still trying to justify completely missing the mark on this stock by sharing even more data points and "target prices" which are the very reason they lost money in the first place. You can manage your portfolios as you please but many times stocks defy logic and defy "the fundamentals". Nobody can predict the market and people who claim they know the exact driving catalyst and forces behind movement never seem to fare well in the market. To each his own, I will continue to sit back and watch RCL and other travel industry stocks soar and continue to be thankful for the fearful who drive the prices down.

Amen, I am not trying to make any statements with my portfolio. I went into buying the stock based on my gut, at a level that I could afford to lose if it turned out that way. 

At this writing, I am + 139% but am staying with my original plan to keep it for a while longer since I did not expect early returns like we’re seeing. I fully thought that it was a longer-term investment based on the recent resumption of business in general. The ability of the cruise companies to get funding supports my assumption that they will survive and if everyone else is as ready as I am to go cruising again, they will thrive. 

I just booked two cruises this week for 2021. I am waiting to see what is available this summer and want to do 2-3 cruises.

I bought 200 shares each of RCL and CCL when they were both near the bottom. My plan is to hold on to them until I feel they have reached their apex and then sell 100 of each, holding 100 each for the OBC benefit. I really didn’t expect any increase when I originally purchased the stock until about 6 months out. I thought it would take that long for things to get sorted out.

As of Tuesday, the two stocks were up an aggregate 92.83%. 

I know we still have a long way to go. I just rescheduled one cruise and booked a new one for 2021. We have a Transatlantic in November that we will have to wait and see if it goes as planned. I expect to book a couple of cruises during the summer/fall once the schedules get firmed up. Yes, I am optimistic.

When I saw what happened to Norwegian this week, I was ready to buy some of their shares but thought I would wait a few days before getting in. It was amazing how fast they got someone to step up with financial backing to get the wolves away from the door. It is risky however to put up two ships and two islands as collateral.

All said, I would rather be without the stock and able to cruise right now if it were possible.

I’m doing the same thing

We did our first T/A last year from Barcelona and had a great time. We immediately signed up for another this year from Rome. Things have changed as you know but we are hopeful that everything will work out for the best and we can go as planned.

Anyway, what we liked best is:

<> Got to travel to Europe for a vacation before the cruise. I had never been to Europe so this was big for me.

<> The prices for everything were exceptionally low. Including the cruise, airfare, hotels, and the food while on land. (Basically, the explanation for everything is that you are traveling in the “low’ season.)

<> We paid for excursions from the ship (which we seldom do) and were extremely pleased with them. We did an excursion for every port (except CocoCay of course).

<> We did an East-to-West cruise so we had 6 days where we got an extra hour per day to make up for the time lost flying to Europe. This gave us a chance to catch up on some sleep and never had to worry about getting home with jet-lag.

<> We were on the RCL Rhapsody and found it to be well suited for the T/A cruise.

<> We were with several couples who either signed up with us or, after learning about the cruise, went along with us.

<> Even without getting any special perks, the overall cost of the cruise was one of the lowest we have ever taken.

<> The sea days were never boring and we found plenty to do on the ship. The meals were fine and there was ample entertainment on the ship.

<> The Rhapsody was equipped with a “Solarium “ that allowed us to use the pool with any weather. We actually had very good conditions during the entire cruise however.

<> Our cruise was in late November however, since we were crossing after we left the Canary Islands, we were quite far enough on a south Lattitude that the ambient temperature was very comfortable.

<> After crossing we stopped at CocoCay which had just recently opened (parts were still under construction). We found the island to be excellent and we very glad that it was on the itinerary.

The bottom line is that we really didn’t have anything that went wrong and with the companionship of our friends, had a great cruise.

An article in the New York Times this morning notes interesting dynamics regarding the markets’ strong performance in light of the historic free fall in the economy. The article by Neil Irwin states “ Some of the strongest performers in the market rally have been the companies most severely affected by the Coronavirus crisis, like cruise lines, hotel chains and airlines. That suggests “short squeeze” dynamics in which a small upturn forced investors betting against those companies to close out their positions, turning the small rally into a large one”

He continues “Stock prices are always based on what the world will look like in the future, not the present. In the global financial crisis, stock prices bottomed out in April of 2009. The economy did not begin expanding again until July. But current market pricing suggests that investors are counting on a speedy rebound.”

The CDC just cancelled all cruises for 100 days or/ sooner if the cruise lines can show that they are no longer a threat to the spread of the Coronavirus. Watch the stock on Monday. It’s going to take a hit!

1 hour ago, Schmoe38 said:

Have to take those “target prices” with a grain of salt as well as the average “hold” rating.

 

Think about it...if the target price is a valid number, why would any of the analysts have anything but a Buy on this stock. The “hold” rating is suspect in its own right, as it is rare to hear of an analyst issuing a Sell recommendation. They all want to be a part of any potential securities deals with these companies, and issuing a Sell recommendation at any time certainly reduces your chances of being on the short list. You can bet that some analysts may have a hold rating on file, but they really mean sell.
 

I have often thought that many times, the word “analyst” should be pronounced with a “hard A” as opposed to a “soft A”.

Yes, I agree , all of the comments have to be taken in context. I am not a day-trader or any kind of expert in stocks. I bought Shares in Royal and Carnival because of the OBC that they offer for shareholders (The RCL dividend is also nice, if it stays). I had looked at buying years ago but the price never came down low enough to make it worthwhile. Hopefully, those perks won’t change (much) or if the stock goes up enough, I may sell the shares in excess of 100 each and leave the rest there.

MT Newswires 4/9: RCL stock has an average “hold” rating among analysts with a target price of $109. Price $40.22 +$2.66 (7.08%) as market close 4/9

On 4/5/2020 at 1:49 PM, shipshape sam said:

Waiting for the dividend to be eliminated or reduced. 

There was an article yesterday on Reuter’s that was critical of RCL and others for not cutting their dividends.:

”While many U.S. companies are scaling back payouts after decades in which the amount of money paid to investors through buybacks and dividends more than tripled, some are maintaining their policies despite economic pain. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Haliburton, GM and McDonalds have all laid off staff, cut hours, or slashed salaries while maintaining payouts according to a review of regulatory filings, company announcements and company officials”.

“Royal Caribbean which has halted its cruises in response to the pandemic and borrowed to boost its liquidity to more than $3.6 Billion, said it began to layoff contract workers in mid-march, though the move does not affect its full-time employees.”

”The company has not suspended its remaining $600 million share buyback program, which expires in May OR its dividend, which totaled $602 million last year and is set quarterly.”

”Carnival Corp haas also laid off workers and has suspended dividends and buybacks as it raised more than $6 billion in capital markets to weather the Coronavirus storm”.

On 4/7/2020 at 4:53 PM, 4774Papa said:

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/07/carnival-stock-soars-after-saudi-sovereign-wealth-fund-discloses-stake.html

 

https://www.*****.com/2020/04/02/royal-caribbean-bolsters-financial-situation-348-billion-backup-financing

 

 

Good info. looks like another good day so far. The market likes good news about the flattening of the curve. Let’s hope for everyone’s sake that we continue to do the things that have helped the situation so far.

Good health to all,

-Jim

P.S. It snowed here this morning and I am more than ready to cruise again. Especially if its warm there.

RCL was up 21.4% for Monday as well. Norwegian gained 18.32%

According to the New York Times, 4/7/20: “Shares of cruise operator Carnival jumped by more than 20% (Monday) after Saudi Arabia’s State investment fund said it had acquired an 8% stake in the company”.