Federal Judge considers sanctions affecting Carnival that could affect cruises

[sfaaa]

1 minute ago, coevan said:

fines are not based on P&L's but the violation, so what carnival makes is irrelevant. 

And legal precedents, not raw or biased emotions.

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, sfaaa said:

Please fact check before you do your tax return. I'd assume the court judgement when released will explain the reason for $20M fine amount free of any lynching emotion exhibiting by some here.

The settlement document states that since the $20 million is a criminal fine, the company cannot make any adjustment to their income based on this fine.  It is not tax deductible, nor is it a valid business expense.

[chengkp75]

The whole settlement agreement includes some significant penalties should Carnival not meet certain benchmarks in their implementation of their ECP, starting with $1 million/day and going to $10 million/day, open ended until compliance is met.  I believe that the DOJ and the judge feel that this will more actively incentivize Carnival to make the necessary core changes to their culture that are required by the settlement, rather than a one time fine.  The benchmarks are to be reviewed by the DOJ, the judge, the court appointed monitor, the third party auditors, and "interested parties" such as the USCG and some groups who have filed as victims of the pollution violations, to determine whether compliance is met.  This is going to put a lot of outside, visible, pressure on Carnival to actually do something, or get slapped with daily fines.  And since the "back channel" attempt by Carnival with their retired USCG admiral was part of the probation violation, lots of these "interested parties" will be having a whole lot of input, and the judge won't be too lenient in "changing definitions" as Carnival wanted before.

[sfaaa]

6 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

The settlement document states that since the $20 million is a criminal fine, the company cannot make any adjustment to their income based on this fine.  It is not tax deductible, nor is it a valid business expense.

Correct and with a contigency reserve likely set up and money already set aside to pay the fine. It's a new day and new page going forward for Carnival and Wall Street investors.

[CynCyn]

8 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

And how many of these ‘changes’ really help the environment versus increase the company’s bottom line with the excuse of helping the environment. These fixes seem disingenuous to me.

[RoperDK]

3 minutes ago, CynCyn said:

And how many of these ‘changes’ really help the environment versus increase the company’s bottom line with the excuse of helping the environment. These fixes seem disingenuous to me.

 

Agree. Mixed feelings here.  Suites not getting upgraded toiletries.  I need a straw for certain acidic drinks.  I don't care if it's plastic or whatever is a "green" material. Cereal not coming in individual boxes.  I keep some in the cabin for snacks.  How stale will the big dispenser cereals taste?  No olive picks or drink umbrellas?  How do we have our olives and fruit delivered for our drinks?  Will they just not be offered?  If they do away with bottled water I have a big problem.  The water onboard while tasty and potable has a lot of sodium in it.  I use bottled water to keep from swelling up like a balloon. I'll wait to see what is truly offered onboard.  I am flexible, but don't scale back even more in the name of the environment.  We are intelligent people and can see through the "stuff" .       

[declansdad]

58 minutes ago, CynCyn said:

And how many of these ‘changes’ really help the environment versus increase the company’s bottom line with the excuse of helping the environment. These fixes seem disingenuous to me.

 

Would it matter to you what they said/did?

[CynCyn]

10 minutes ago, declansdad said:

 

Would it matter to you what they said/did?

Of course it would.  It matters to me that instead of fixing the problems when ordered, they violated probation.  It bothers me that they are putting out PR that they hope people will believe fixes the problem.  It bothers me that they use the opportunity to further cut service and it bothers me that you make an assumption that I would not care what they said or did.  If they cared about the environment they would have followed the rules.

 

i would applaud them for making real and lasting change by committing to new processes, training, and internal audits/inspections. 

[declansdad]

Just now, CynCyn said:

Of course it would.  It matters to me that instead of fixing the problems when ordered, they violated probation.  It bothers me that they are putting out PR that they hope people will believe fixes the problem.  It bothers me that they use the opportunity to further cut service and it bothers me that you make an assumption that I would not care what they said or did.  If they cared about the environment they would have followed the rules.

 

i would applaud them for making real and lasting change by committing to new processes, training, and internal audits/inspections. 

 

 

Cuts to service?

 

There is nothing wrong with what they announced and there is nothing saying that they aren't doing or going to do.

[CynCyn]

9 minutes ago, declansdad said:

 

 

Cuts to service?

 

There is nothing wrong with what they announced and there is nothing saying that they aren't doing or going to do.

I am glad you feel that way.  I feel differently.  I am entitled to my opinion as you are entitled to yours.  Since we obviously disagree, let’s agree to disagree.  

[Organized Chaos]

4 hours ago, twodaywonder said:

You are incorrect. This happen today.

 

We've known they made a deal with federal prosecutors for about a week now, but the details of that deal were not released until today. And the news that the judge actually accepted the deal didn't break until late this evening.

 

4 hours ago, coevan said:

fines are not based on P&L's but the violation, so what carnival makes is irrelevant. 

 

No one here is saying the fine that's been levied is in correlation with Carnival's revenue. They're saying compared to what the company profited last year, the levied fine isn't as substantial as some believe it should be.

 

4 hours ago, sfaaa said:

And legal precedents, not raw or biased emotions.

 

We are not the judge, the lawyers, or representatives from the DOJ. We are allowed to insert emotions into our opinions of this matter. And opinions are what people are here to give. I'm sorry you're having such a hard time accepting that.

[Cafedumonde]

I’m just glad they got off relatively unscathed and that the snarky judge is out by the end of the year.  

[ontheweb]

11 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

The whole settlement agreement includes some significant penalties should Carnival not meet certain benchmarks in their implementation of their ECP, starting with $1 million/day and going to $10 million/day, open ended until compliance is met.  I believe that the DOJ and the judge feel that this will more actively incentivize Carnival to make the necessary core changes to their culture that are required by the settlement, rather than a one time fine.  The benchmarks are to be reviewed by the DOJ, the judge, the court appointed monitor, the third party auditors, and "interested parties" such as the USCG and some groups who have filed as victims of the pollution violations, to determine whether compliance is met.  This is going to put a lot of outside, visible, pressure on Carnival to actually do something, or get slapped with daily fines.  And since the "back channel" attempt by Carnival with their retired USCG admiral was part of the probation violation, lots of these "interested parties" will be having a whole lot of input, and the judge won't be too lenient in "changing definitions" as Carnival wanted before.

And only time will tell if this really brings about a change in the corporate culture. Eliminating straws and cereal boxes is such a small step that really should not be counted.

 

Does anyone know if the corporate bigwigs were there as the judge requested?

[jimbo5544]

Before it goes away, wanted to say this thread was one of the best and most interesting I have witnessed here on CC.  With much emotion and interest, kudo’s to all for keeping it civil.

[elcuchio24]

1 minute ago, jimbo5544 said:

Before it goes away, wanted to say this thread was one of the best and most interesting I have witnessed here on CC.  With much emotion and interest, kudo’s to all for keeping it civil.

 

Well said Jimbo!

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

And only time will tell if this really brings about a change in the corporate culture. Eliminating straws and cereal boxes is such a small step that really should not be counted.

 

Does anyone know if the corporate bigwigs were there as the judge requested?

Based on the article from the Miami Herald picture, both Mickey and Arnold were in attendance.  

[Swampbabe]

9 hours ago, Cafedumonde said:

I’m just glad they got off relatively unscathed and that the snarky judge is out by the end of the year.  

You really don’t understand how the federal judiciary works, do you? She has a lifetime appointment, she leaves when SHE wants to.

 

You’re okay with dumping oil, gray water, and plastic in the ocean?

Edited June 4, 2019 by Swampbabe

[Host Carolyn]

As per my earlier post I am closing this thread.  Will leave new one pinned for today so people can find it.