Uk cruisers and carnival shares

[jimpod]

Anyone from the UK have any experience of buying Carnival shares? Is it easy enough and how easy is it to get the OBC? Is there a qualifying period before the OBC will be given? Have a wee bit of extra cash and thought this could be a good way to go.

[paul929207]

Carnival Corp is traded on the London Stock Exchange, so you can buy it just like any other UK stock.

No holding period. Here is the details of the plan [url]http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=140690&p=irol-sharebenefit[/url]

[Omega1]

We bought 100 shares last year - the minimum to obtain on board credit. We bought the shares through a broker recommended by our bank. It was very easy and all done over the phone. There is no qualifying period and we had OBC applied retrospectively to two cruises we had already booked.

[marylizcat]

[quote name='jimpod']Anyone from the UK have any experience of buying Carnival shares? Is it easy enough and how easy is it to get the OBC? Is there a qualifying period before the OBC will be given? Have a wee bit of extra cash and thought this could be a good way to go.[/quote]
We bought ours through RBS online sharedealing. Cheaper than through a real life broker. Your bank should have something similar if you check their website.

[msg_girl]

I bought mine through my SIPP and was able to get my 40% tax back!!! Worth considering if you have a SIPP. G.

[WeeCountyMan]

I've looked at them over the past couple of years - have come to the conclusion they are not a good deal unless you plan to do lot of Princess cruises.

They were around the £20 price mark per share last time I looked - you need to get a lot of OBC to recoup £2,000.

[url]http://www.digitallook.com/companyresearch/52275/Carnival/company_research.html[/url]

They dropped dramatically just after the Costa line tragedy - but have come back again.

You can of course sell them off once your cruising days are over - might even make a profit.

I'm entitled to claim extra (free) OBC for so called veteran (prior military service) status - a better option for me.

[WeeCountyMan]

[quote name='msg_girl']I bought mine through my SIPP and was able to get my 40% tax back!!! Worth considering if you have a SIPP. G.[/quote]

Excuse my ignorance - what is a SIPP ?

[caribill]

[quote name='WeeCountyMan']Excuse my ignorance - what is a SIPP ?[/quote]

[URL="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/wiki/Self-invested_personal_pension"][COLOR=#0645ad]Self-invested personal pension[/COLOR][/URL], a type of United Kingdom pension plan.

[caribill]

[quote name='WeeCountyMan']I've looked at them over the past couple of years - have come to the conclusion they are not a good deal unless you plan to do lot of Princess cruises.

They were around the £20 price mark per share last time I looked - you need to get a lot of OBC to recoup £2,000.
[/quote]

One should not buy this stock (or any other stock) unless one believes it is a good investment choice.

The idea is not to buy the stock and get all the investment back by cruising many times (at a cost that is far more than the stock cost), but to make some money on the stock investment and get a bonus dividend every time you cruise on a Carnival owned ship.

[paul929207]

[quote name='caribill']One should not buy this stock (or any other stock) unless one believes it is a good investment choice.

The idea is not to buy the stock and get all the investment back by cruising many times (at a cost that is far more than the stock cost), but to make some money on the stock investment and get a bonus dividend every time you cruise on a Carnival owned ship.[/QUOTE]
I think you need to look at why you are buying the stock. If you take a 7 night cruise every year or two, then you should look at Carnival Corp. as an investment and only purchase it if you expect the stock to do well over time. The OBC would just be a plus.

On the other hand, of, like many on these boards, you take multiple cruises each year and many are longer cruises, then you may want to buy the stock for the OBC. We bought it three years ago. By the end of 2012, we will have recouped our entire purchase price in OBC. And, we still own the stock, which has gone up a little over the three years.