CNBC "Mad Money" Interview with Frank Del Rio - today

[Travelcat2]

Those of you not in the Pacific time zone (in the U.S.) can likely still see this program (6 pm East coast time).  I took a few notes.  They may be all over the place but I'm hopeful that others can add to them when you hear the interview.

 

NCLH has "18 months liquidity"

 

They expect to sail in 2020 (he would not say when)

 

Stock went up 8% today

 

In terms of sanitation, "not all cruise lines are created equal"

 

He credits taking immediate action (not allowing people from some countries to board)

 

Two ships were loading passengers on March 13th - when the edict came down to stop cruising.  He told onboard management to "let them have lunch", open the bar and disembark them afterwards.

 

50% of customers asked for cash back for canceled cruises and 50% asked for FCC's.  One third of those requesting FCC's have already rebooked for 2020 and 2021.  

 

He said that he does not "believe in discounting".  However, they need to be competitive.  There has been some discounts in the "mid single digits".

 

He discussed being ahead on different yields.  He totally lot me there.  Something about best % so far......

 

I was advised on another thread that the host "Cramer" is anti cruising but he would not hesitate to sail on a NCLH ship.

 

 

 

That's all for now.

Edited May 7, 2020 by Travelcat2

[DaveFr]

Good summary Jackie. However I don’t think time zones are your strong suit. 😂 3 PM PDT is 6 PM EDT. CNBC will probably repeat the program later tonight.

 

Dave

Edited May 7, 2020 by DaveFr

[greykitty]

I saw the show live (5:00 pm CDT LOL) and only wish Mr. del Rio had been able to join via Zoom - I love watching expressions during an interview.  I did think he made a good spokesperson for his line.  I was happy to learn that NCLH is consulting with Dr. Gottlieb, formerly with the FDA, regarding protocols going forward (I saw this earlier in the press).

 

He was very adroit, as he should have been IMO, in not committing to anything overly specific, but this was not the arena for such nitty gritty questions.  I was a little surprised at Mr. Kramer - he seemed to be lobbing more softballs than usual.  I was waiting to hear a little more about non-reducible expenses during the next 18 months - guessing I was wondering if Mr. Kramer was going to ask about possible cold layups or sales of any ships, but again, probably not the arena.

 

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by greykitty

[cwn]

2 minutes ago, DaveFr said:

Good summary Jackie. However I don’t think time zones are your strong suit. 😂 3 PM PDT is 6 PM EDT. CNBC will probably repeat the program later tonight.

 

Dave

I agree with Dave...good recap TC.....I thought Cramer kind of laughed when he said he would cruise with Regent, but I didn't catch the exact words. I thought Cramer was more pro than against cruising, at least he didn't grill Del Rio. It was on CT at 5:10. 

[Travelcat2]

26 minutes ago, DaveFr said:

Good summary Jackie. However I don’t think time zones are your strong suit. 😂 3 PM PDT is 6 PM EDT. CNBC will probably repeat the program later tonight.

 

Dave

 

Think that I was going too fast, however, our Comcast system allows us to look for shows for the following two weeks.  According to the schedule, Shark Tank is scheduled to be on CNBC at 6:00 p.m.

Edited May 7, 2020 by Travelcat2

[greykitty]

5 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Think that I was going to fast, however, our Comcast system allows us to look for shows for the following two weeks.  According to the schedule, Shark Tank is scheduled to be on CNBC at 6:00 p.m.

Those recording might want to look for Mad Money with Jim Cramer.   5:00 pm CT, 6:00 pm ET.  I'm sure it'll be rerun, or may even be on demand in certain systems.

Edited May 7, 2020 by greykitty

[Snore42]

Coincidentally Dr Gottlieb is now on CNBC doing an interview.  

[Dolebludger]

TC2, 

 

Thank you for posting this. As we are on Mountain Time, we missed it. While I don’t claim to be a financial or economic guru, it strikes me that NCLH has taken on a lot of very high interest debt, which could be a problem. As for discounting, it doesn’t seem that the NCL line needs to, from the ads I’ve seen. They are almost offering to PAY US to book! As for RSSC and Oceania, he may well be forced to  do so. We’ll just have to wait and see how market forces drive this.

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

We watched Frank DelRio with Cramer. I thought Cramer made it easy for DelRio to sell his goods. But because I love Regent, I was a happy camper. 
sheila

[Travelcat2]

Another thing that he stated was that by March 23rd, all passengers were back home safe and sound.

 

I'm hoping that someone can comment about the "yields" that were discussed (in plain high school English please).

[greykitty]

I'd have to listen again, but did you mean when he talked about load factors?

 

“We’ve got the youngest fleet in the marketplace. Customers are still booking,” he explained. “It’s hard to believe ... but today we are only slightly below in load factors compared to where we were at this time last year for ... 2021 sailings. So our loyal guests are still behind us, pricing remains strong and it’s a question of how soon we can get back to doing what we do best.”

 

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/07/norwegian-cruise-line-ceo-we-expect-to-sail-sometime-in-2020.html

[Travelcat2]

16 minutes ago, greykitty said:

I'd have to listen again, but did you mean when he talked about load factors?

 

“We’ve got the youngest fleet in the marketplace. Customers are still booking,” he explained. “It’s hard to believe ... but today we are only slightly below in load factors compared to where we were at this time last year for ... 2021 sailings. So our loyal guests are still behind us, pricing remains strong and it’s a question of how soon we can get back to doing what we do best.”

 

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/07/norwegian-cruise-line-ceo-we-expect-to-sail-sometime-in-2020.html

 

Thank you so much for posting that.  It is what I needed to know.  I suspect that you would fit right in with Regent cruisers.  Unlike what you read on the boards, we are a mellow, fun group of people - not full of ourselves and do not discuss money.  Most of what we discuss is our cruising adventures (and Regent).  I believe that Regent has one of the highest percentage of returning passengers of any cruise line.

 

To be fair, Crystal also has a lot of returning passengers and they are doing the best job of sending emails to prior guests giving us recipes, etc. from their kitchens/bars which is really appreciated.

[John G]

28 minutes ago, greykitty said:

I'd have to listen again, but did you mean when he talked about load factors?

 

“We’ve got the youngest fleet in the marketplace. Customers are still booking,” he explained. “It’s hard to believe ... but today we are only slightly below in load factors compared to where we were at this time last year for ... 2021 sailings. So our loyal guests are still behind us, pricing remains strong and it’s a question of how soon we can get back to doing what we do best.”

 

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/07/norwegian-cruise-line-ceo-we-expect-to-sail-sometime-in-2020.html

 

Thanks for the link to the interview!

 

Actually, I believed he said they led the industry in ticket yield and onboard revenue yield. In other words, they extract more cash from passengers than other cruise lines.

 

I found it interest that he said NCLH did have cases of Covid-19 onboard some of their ships (very few, but still some). I thought I had read on these boards they didn’t have any, but maybe that was just that Regent didn’t have any.

 

[greykitty]

John G, thanks!  I did catch that reference to a few cases of COVID-19.  I still have the feeling most cruise executives feel it's a case of 'there but for the grace of God I go'.  I could see Mr. del Rio prides himself on the cleanliness of his ships - but even they have had, per this forum, more than one case of Noro-based code red voyages or the much mentioned 'ships cough'. 

 

It's almost impossible to guard totally against infectious illnesses, no matter how great your protocol.  But, maybe the attention to mitigating disease transmission will stand NCLH in good stead in developing plans with the CDC.  

[greykitty]

21 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Thank you so much for posting that.  It is what I needed to know.  I suspect that you would fit right in with Regent cruisers.  Unlike what you read on the boards, we are a mellow, fun group of people - not full of ourselves and do not discuss money.  Most of what we discuss is our cruising adventures (and Regent).  I believe that Regent has one of the highest percentage of returning passengers of any cruise line.

 

To be fair, Crystal also has a lot of returning passengers and they are doing the best job of sending emails to prior guests giving us recipes, etc. from their kitchens/bars which is really appreciated.

Carnival/John Heald seem to be providing some fun with the 'drink of the day' as well.  It's good to see a lot of the lines really working at keeping in touch with regular cruisers for entertaining moments, as well as hard info on cancellations and refund processes, etc.  Sure, it's good business, but nice to see the effort made.

 

I've mentioned my neighbors have really enjoyed their cruises on various lines - sounds like very often a real sense of comradery grows among most of the passengers.  Aways a few sour apples, they say, but easy enough to avoid.  

[Dolebludger]

Well, here’s a problem as I see it. The main source of NCLH;s revenue probably comes from NCL cruise line, on which we would never cruise unless in “the Haven “ on a ship that has separate dining and lounge facilities (which not all NCL ships with a “Haven” have).  So I really doubt that the majority of NCL’s passenger capacity (as last I saw it) is going to pass CDC muster. For “social distancing”.  I doubt that a mega ship (like over 2000 guests)  will ever be allowed in A US port , without MAJOR  modifications to increase space.passenger ratio, I could be wrong of course, but I put my money on it!  And if the CDC doesn’t put population reducing  requirements on mega ships, the free market will. Mega ships were the “cash cows” of cruise lines. I think (and hope) that mega ships will soon be a thing of the past.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

All it will take to fill mega-ships is an effective vaccine and free booze packages.

 

And they would likely be mostly filled with just the free booze!

[Caroldoll]

50 minutes ago, Ragnar Danneskjold said:

All it will take to fill mega-ships is an effective vaccine and free booze packages.

 

And they would likely be mostly filled with just the free booze!

LOL you have a good outlook.  

 

The free booze would be a good thing, but we don't drink that heavily.  Always welcome though.  We cruise NCL also so not always included.

 

The vaccine, in my opinion, having been in medicine will probably (probably) be available late this year, late October/November.  I believe they are really fast tracking it.  Means a lot to a lot of industries.

[Dolebludger]

Caroldoll. 
Well, we do drink a lot. And my wife (also named Carol) uses medical marijuana, which is totally legal here in Colorado. But no amount of booze or pot  would make us happy on an NCL ship unless we were in “the Haven” on one of the ships that has separate dining and included lounge. Otherwise, we wouldn’t board an NCL ship— even if they paid us to do so. We disliked crowds and  lines even before the pandemic. So we moved from a city to rural Colorado years ago, before anybody ever heard of Covid 19.  But, if we were to pay for a suite in the Haven like that, we might as well take Regent. I am all for the continuation of Regent much as it was before (but it may need to cut its prices a bit).  But NCL? We don’t really care what happens to it;  we don’t wish anybody any harm, but we aren’t going to book on NCL regardless of what happens to it. And FDR saying “feed them, give them some drinks, and tell them to leave the ship” tells me he is a real NCL guy. Not my kind of guy at all.

Edited May 8, 2020 by Dolebludger

[cruiseluv]

I just saw in Youtube the interview. Mr Del Rio talks a good game, and I hope it'll all come to fruition. It was all well and good until the end, when he threw others in the cruise industry (Hello Princess!) under the bus. Mr Del Rio gloated that "Norwegian was not involved in all that riff-raff". Really Mr Del Rio?? A more humble approach would have been to say "But for the grace of God go I". He did admit there had been cases of Covid on his ships, though not many. So, it seems he (the company) was lucky , that's all. He's not a person I could admire, sounds like an opportunistic mercenary. 

[Dolebludger]

Let;s just face it! Whether it is Covid 19 or some other disease it spreads in crowded situations. And NCL  cruise ships are the “kings of crowded” situations.  They have the lowest space/passenger ratios of most cruise lines, meaning they  among the  most crowded. I don’t have comparable figures for Carnival and RCI which aren’t good either. Now, this comment has nothing to do with Regent, which is greatly uncrowded,. But It is a strange marriage of NCL with Regent,  Regent isn’t involved with that Princess “riff-raff” but NCL certainly is a “riff-raff” line, perhaps a a notch or two below Princess. I cannot see how the same company can  successfully operate a line like NCL (which is the worst cruise line we have experienced) and Regent, which has been the best. If FDR wants to experience “riff-raff”, he need only book an NCL Cruise other than in the Haven. 

[boblerm]

 

[Travelcat2]

7 hours ago, cruiseluv said:

I just saw in Youtube the interview. Mr Del Rio talks a good game, and I hope it'll all come to fruition. It was all well and good until the end, when he threw others in the cruise industry (Hello Princess!) under the bus. Mr Del Rio gloated that "Norwegian was not involved in all that riff-raff". Really Mr Del Rio?? A more humble approach would have been to say "But for the grace of God go I". He did admit there had been cases of Covid on his ships, though not many. So, it seems he (the company) was lucky , that's all. He's not a person I could admire, sounds like an opportunistic mercenary. 

 

I understand how FDR comes across - especially on television.  He seems like the wine that was named for him "Benevolent Dictator".  I felt quite negatively about this man when he unfairly bashed me on CC several years ago.  It was not until we spoke on the phone (and later had lunch with him in Miami) that we saw the other side of him.  In our opinion, his priorities are in the right place.  His family is definitely first - above his job.  IMHO, his second priority is the cruise line(s) that he is running.  

 

What I find confusing is that since being CEO of NCLH, one cannot differentiate whether he is speaking of of a specific cruise line or all of them bundled together.  For instance, is the 50% that requested FCC's and 50% that requested a refund calculated for NCL, Oceania and Regent combined?  And, what about the 30% of us that received FCC's that have booked new cruises?  I have to assume that these references were about all three products.

 

Also IMHO, Princess deserves the bad press that they are receiving.  I doubt if Royal Caribbean wants to be associated with that debacle (that cost so many lives) either.  Carnival (Princess) caused much of the concern that surrounds cruise ships.  While I understand that they did everything wrong - it was a 'novel" virus so there were no protections in place.  Still, when people begin to get sick, it behooves any cruise line to put "Code Red" into place rather than allowing passengers to keep partying - not knowing what was going on.  This is clearly what Princess did and is what they are being sued for.   

 

Dolebludger - had to laugh when you posted that FDR was a real NCL guy.  In reality, his love is Oceania.  It took a long time for him to feel "almost" the same way about Regent.  So, while I have never discussed it with him, I suspect that NCL is a business that he is responsible for and wants it to be the best that it can be but may not have the deep feelings for NCL as he does for Oceania and Regent.  

 

I posted this just to give a glimpse into the other side of Mr. Del Rio.

[PaulMCO]

Typical NCL comments:

 

Asked whether he had any ships that we sailing when the no cruise order came.  He hesitated and then said maybe a few.  I am sure as CEO during a crisis he knew exactly which ships were at sea.  Oceania, Marina was specifically  lost a sea with no ports wiling to accept her.

 

Discounting -- another misstatement  --- Oceania late in 2020 are being discounted almost 20%.

 

I wish Cramer has the balls to ask him about the numerous Class action law suits about misstatements made about Covid.

Edited May 8, 2020 by PaulMCO

[Travelcat2]

Some more detail:

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/nclh-can-go-18-months-plus-no-revenue-scenario-del-rio?NL=ST-004&Issue=ST-004_20200508_ST-004_654&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&utm_campaign=STRADE_News_Seatrade Cruise News Weekly Headline_News_NL_05082020_589&utm_emailname=STRADE_News_Seatrade Cruise News Weekly Headline_News_NL_05082020_589&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&utm_MDMContactID=4915f0a6-8273-44ab-a2af-556bd5e86347&utm_campaigntype=Newsletter&utm_sub=Seatrade Cruise News Latest Headlines&eM=03d7b19d70e0e0befdf078a6a782fbcc81b29d80e6afbe4a9873308e038262dc&eventSeriesCode=ES_SEATRDCRSCTNT&eventEditionCode=MTM00SCC&SessionCode=Seatrade Cruise News Weekly (Newsletter)