Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd (RCCL), the world’s second largest cruise shipping group, is expecting 2019 to become even better for the company than this year, which should be record breaking in terms of financial performance.

"While 2018 is proving to be another record year, 2019 is shaping up to be even better," said Richard D. Fain, chairman and CEO. 

"I can't recall ever starting a new year with such an exciting blueprint.  Our brands are strong; our new ships are awesome; our existing ship upgrades are powerful; our tech is exciting; our people are psyched; and our other new products are opening new horizons,” he said in a statement

The company is experiencing strong early booking trends for 2019. Booked load factors and rates are higher than same time last year across all core products while the booking window has continued to extend. 

The market response to Symphony of the Seas, Azamara Pursuit and Celebrity Edge has been excellent.  While these ships are being introduced this year, 2019 will see the benefit of their full year of operations in various markets as they sail in both North America and Europe. 

These three vessels together with Spectrum of the Seas, which will be introduced in June 2019 in Shanghai, are supporting a solid outlook for 2019.  While still early in the booking cycle, the view for 2019 is encouraging and the company expects another year of solid yield and earnings growth. 

 

Regarding Silversea's consolidation, as mentioned above, while the bottom line impact in the near term is expected to be immaterial, we expect higher average yields for the company and higher costs per berth.