Is anyone following CCL?

[lizf]

Wow! After talking DH into buying shares last week for future cruise credit, then watching the price go down, which is my luck, look now!!!!!!! Up over $2.00 today. It is now worth more than we paid for it. Hurray!!!!!!!! Rah, rah, rah, rah, rah.:D

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Yes, I have been watching. Their quarterly meeting this morning was still good with growing profits. I could kick myself for not listening to my gut to buy more last week when it dipped down to the $36 something:o Oh well, I am just glad to see it going up.:)

[RuthC]

Down! I need it to go down! Just for a little while, then it can go right back up again.

I'm planning to buy, but my funds won't be freed up until 6/30. All I need is to have it drop until then.

Why? Oh why didn't I buy when it was at $22!!!!!:eek: (My broker talked me out of it. NEW broker says ok.)

[lizf]

Ruth- You sound like me usually. I always seem to do the wrong thing. Buying when its high and selling when its low. Darn. I just wish the stock market would close for the day before it turns and heads south because I said something good about it.

[rkacruiser]

The 2nd Quarter Conference Call this morning was a better report than I had expected. The news that the Board of Directors had approved of an additional $1 Billion dollar buyback of shares and that the EPS was 2 cents per share better than the analysts had predicted are among the reasons, I think, for the up-side swing in price today.

 

I was impressed by what Mr. Arison had to say about trying to find ways to cut costs. For example, he said that they had found that the costs to embark passengers on Carnival Cruise Lines were higher than on Princess or HAL. Therefore, Carnival adoped the procedures used by HAL and Princess. Also, they were interested in finding small savings--like $50,000 or $100,000--as well as larger amounts.

 

Having attended the Annual Meeting in Coral Gables in April, in my opinion, CCL is a well run company and the executives that I met are down to earth, common sense type of people.

[tomc]

Also, they were interested in finding small savings--like $50,000 or $100,000.

Small savings. I think I'm doing good if I can shave $200 off a cabin, or find enough deposit cans over the course of the year to pay my onboard internet charges. Fifty, hunded grand, small peanuts. ;)

[lizf]

Too funny, Tom.:D

[HeatherInFlorida]

It doesn't help that CCL was listed as one of the top 10 stocks to dump last week in a banner headline on AOL. I took a look to see why and they pretty much sited the increase in oil prices which would indicate any cruise line stock should be a "sell", but CCL was the one they named.

 

I don't have CCL ... instead we got RCL last year for the credits on our upcoming cruise. Good news is CCL was up $2 on Friday so that's good. The "Scouter" rating is only a "4" though while RCL is an "8". Who knows why:confused: ?

[CruisinTexans]

Eventhough CCL was up a little last week it is still down almost $18 in the last month or so. Price of fuel was one reason cited, another was increased unsold inventory in the Carribean. I think now is a good time to buy. It may take a year for it to go back to the high $50s but I think it will. It's got a good dividend and you do get the great shareholder's benefit of shipboard credit.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

another was increased unsold inventory in the Carribean. I think now is a good time to buy.

 

What I cannot understand is this statement from the cruiselines. I have a friend here at work that decided he wanted to take his family and extended family on a Westerdan Caribbean cruise in the end of July. Yes, it it not that far away. but I tried to find something in any of the lines and most are practically FULL. He also uses my TA and I spoke to her today and she has been working on it for 4 days and can barely find anything except inside and extremely expensive. She quoted me some of the prices she found for him and they were outragious. Would you believe several hundred more than I am paying for a 10 day S Suite and this is only for a small balcony :eek:

[Timethief]

Okay, I'll admit it -- I never really considered investing in CCL (or any other cruiseline), and it never crossed my mind that doing so might get me something for my vacation. So, I'll do some checking into the stock, but what are the shipboard benefits for stockholders?

 

Thanks for showing me a whole other side to the cruise business.

 

Keep Smiling!!!

[MBeamTX]

What I cannot understand is this statement from the cruiselines. I have a friend here at work that decided he wanted to take his family and extended family on a Westerdan Caribbean cruise in the end of July. Yes, it it not that far away. but I tried to find something in any of the lines and most are practically FULL. He also uses my TA and I spoke to her today and she has been working on it for 4 days and can barely find anything except inside and extremely expensive. She quoted me some of the prices she found for him and they were outragious. Would you believe several hundred more than I am paying for a 10 day S Suite and this is only for a small balcony :eek:

 

I'm not an industry analyst and I don't even own any cruise line stock. But that doesn't stop me from having an opinion or theory. :D

 

I have the impression that there are fewer ships in the Caribbean this summer than in past years - the result of high demand in Alaska and Europe, plus the experience of last year's hurricanes. HAL doesn't have a single ship back in the Caribbean until mid-October. I've noted that RCI seems to be keeping some ships in Alaska later this year. Some of their European deployments aren't returning until November instead of September.

 

It may all be part of an overall strategy to raise prices in the Caribbean, where the competition has been pretty intense these last few years because of all of the newbuilds. Overall prices have gone up, I know, but fuel costs are a big factor, and the per diems are still a lot lower in the Caribbean than elsewhere.

 

What do others think? Are the cruise lines pulling back from the Caribbean?

 

Susan

[HeatherInFlorida]

...................

What do others think? Are the cruise lines pulling back from the Caribbean?

 

Susan

 

Yes, Susan, they absolutely are pulling back from cruising the Caribbean during the peak season at least ... taking a bit of risk toward the end of the season. Certainly both Celebrity and HAL have no presence in the Caribbean this summer. Given the hurricanes of the last 2 years and the hysterical reactions of some passengers when they weren't able to go to the exact itinerary they signed up for, I imagine that some cruise lines just decided it wasn't worth it when they could cruise other itineraries without all the hassles involved. We'll see what happens in coming years.

[Twaincruisers]

From what I have read in both the trades and consumer news, August and September have been affected by past hurricane seasons, but overall in the Caribbean many Carnival cruisers are more impacted by their fuel costs at home, etc, and are having trouble springing for a cruise. Couldn't tell it by our experience--the Fascination was full a week ago and we can't find a good price on the Imagination for mid-July.