Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL), the world’s second largest cruise shipping company, said that both bookings and prices are lower now than a year ago as a result of the cOVID19 crisis.
Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, the company started the year in a strong booked position and at higher prices on a prior year comparable basis. “Given the impact of COVID-19, booking volumes for the remainder of 2020 are meaningfully lower than the same time last year at prices that are down low-single digits,” RCCL said in a statement.
Due to the suspension in sailings, booking trends reflect elevated cancellations for 2020 and more typical levels for 2021 and beyond. Although still early in the booking cycle, the booked position for 2021 is within historical ranges when compared to same time last year with 2021 prices up mid-single digits compared to 2020.
The company has instituted several programs in order to best serve its guests: for cancelled cruises, guests are offered the choice of future cruise credits valued at 125% of the initial cruise fare paid in lieu of providing cash refunds. As of April 30, 2020, approximately 45% of the guests have requested cash refunds.
For non-cancelled cruises, the company has implemented a "Cruise with Confidence" policy.
As of March 31, 2020, the company had $2.4 billion in customer deposits. This includes approximately $0.8 billion of future cruise credits related to previously announced voyage cancellations through June 11, 2020.
The company also continues to take future bookings for 2020, 2021 and 2022, and receive new customer deposits and final payments on these bookings.