Two weeks ago, we reported on Royal Caribbean’s Q3 earnings. The results were kind of melancholy. Not good, not bad, just ‘eh.’
Afterwards, UBS analyst Robin Farley interpreted the situation as ‘not terrible, not great, but perhaps a situation that seems to be fluctuating rapidly.’ Also stating that this is ‘the most uncertain we’ve ever felt.’
All of this seems to be brought on by Royal’s decision to reduce capacity in Europe in 2012. Keep in mind, however, that 2011 saw 11 ships alone sailing from Barcelona. And these are 11 huge ships. Not the typical European size ship. Norwegian Epic was among them. Of course there was going to be a bubble in Europe. Recent debt crisis’ over there probably popped that bubble. It should be no surprise that any line will want to limit berths sailing to Europe.
Just like they did in the Mid-2000’s when Alaska’s market capped out!
My guess. We’ll see a boom in North America markets, mostly out of the U.S.. Then in a few years, they’ll be a new hot spot that everyone sends their ship to.