Royal Caribbean Reports Third Quarter Results

MIAMI, Nov. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE,
OSE: RCL) today announced earnings for the third quarter of 2009 and provided
guidance for the fourth quarter and full year.

Key Highlights
-- Third quarter 2009 net income was $230.4 million, or $1.07 per share,
compared to net income of $411.9 million, or $1.92 per share in 2008.
The results were better than the company's most recent guidance of
$0.95
to $1.00 per share, driven primarily by the strength of close-in
bookings.
-- Net Yields for the third quarter decreased 16.5% versus 2008, somewhat
better than the company's previous guidance of down approximately 18%.
-- Net Cruise Costs per APCD ("NCC") for the third quarter decreased
10.0%
versus 2008. NCC, excluding bunker for the third quarter declined 3.8%
versus 2008.
-- The company projects net yields to decline 7% to 8% in the fourth
quarter and approximately 14% for the full year.
-- Earnings per share ("EPS") estimates for the full year are expected to
be approximately $0.70 and are expected to be a slight loss in the
fourth quarter.

-- The company took delivery of the widely anticipated Oasis of the Seas
on
October 28th.

"Like many other travel companies, we saw more strength than we expected
during our peak season but have been experiencing more pricing pressure on
some of our traditionally softer fall season sailings," said Richard D. Fain,
chairman and chief executive officer. Fain continued, "Overall though, the
business environment is largely unchanged and stable. We expect the yield
deficit to continue to improve in the fourth quarter and we remain optimistic
that 2010 will bring year-over-year yield improvement."

Third Quarter 2009 Results
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. today announced net income for the third quarter
2009 of $230.4 million, or $1.07 per share, compared to net income of $411.9
million, or $1.92 per share, in 2008.

Revenues were $1.8 billion, versus $2.1 billion in the third quarter of 2008.
Net Yields decreased 16.5% from the prior year or 14.5% after adjusting for
year over year changes in currency. Net yields improved approximately one and
a half percentage points from the company's previous guidance, mainly as a
result of the strength of close-in bookings. As was announced during the
second quarter, the H1N1 virus had a negative impact on yields of
approximately two percentage points during the third quarter.

NCC decreased 10.0% from the prior year or 8.8% after adjusting for changes in
currency. NCC, excluding fuel, declined 3.8% from the prior year or 2.2% after
adjusting for changes in currency.

Fuel costs were in-line with the company's previous calculations. Third
quarter pricing averaged $460 per metric ton and consumption was 318.2
thousand metric tons.

Revenue Environment
The company reported that booking volume since mid-September was up about 40%
compared to same period last year, with favorable comparison for cruises
departing both in the fourth quarter and next year. "While the pricing
environment is still not what we'd like it to be, we're pleased to see solid
growth in our order book and a rapidly diminishing gap in year-over-year
booked volume comparisons," said Brian J. Rice, executive vice president and
chief financial officer.

The company expects fourth quarter Net Yields to decline approximately 7% to
8%, slightly worse than its previous forecast of down mid-single digits.
"During the fourth quarter, we historically source a disproportionate number
of our guests from Florida," said Rice. "As a consequence of the weaker
economy in the state, we do not anticipate the same strength of close-in
bookings in the fourth quarter as we saw in the third quarter."

The company noted that its new ships, Royal Caribbean's Oasis-class and
Celebrity's Solstice-class vessels, continue to command significant premiums
and volumes. Oasis of the Seas will enter service on December 1, 2009;
Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Equinox are already in service, with
Celebrity Eclipse debuting in April of 2010.

For the full year the company maintained its projection for Net Yields to
decline approximately 14%, or 12% to 13% after adjusting for changes in
currency.

The company affirmed its earlier outlook for year-over-year improvements in
net revenue yields in the first quarter and for the full year of 2010.

Expense Guidance
NCC are forecasted to decrease approximately 10% for the fourth quarter and
the full year. After adjusting for changes in currency, NCC are forecasted to
decline approximately 12% in the fourth quarter and 8% to 9% for the full
year.

Excluding fuel, NCC are expected to decline 7% to 8% for the fourth quarter
and approximately 6% to 7% for the full year.

While it is early in the annual planning process, the company did comment that
it anticipates flat NCC, excluding fuel, for full year 2010. Efficiencies on
the new hardware, sustainable cost reductions completed in 2008 and 2009 and
having attained initial critical mass in its international operations are all
factors that will support this goal.

Fuel Expense
The company does not forecast fuel price changes and its cost calculations are
based on current at-the-pump prices net of hedging impacts. Based on today's
fuel prices the company has included $158 million and $596 million of fuel
expense in its fourth quarter and full year 2009 guidance, respectively.

The company's fuel consumption is currently 40% hedged for the fourth quarter.
In keeping with its previously disclosed hedging strategy, forecasted
consumption is now 50% hedged in 2010, 50% hedged in 2011 and 10% hedged in
2012.

Fourth Quarter 2009
-------------------
Fuel Consumption 323,000 mt
Fuel Expenses $158 Million
Percent Hedged (forward consumption) 40%
Impact of 10% change in fuel prices $9 Million

Forward Guidance Summary
The company provided the following estimates for the fourth quarter and full
year 2009. Except for earnings per share, all estimates are as compared to the
fourth quarter and full year 2008, respectively.

Fourth Quarter 2009 Full Year 2009
------------------- --------------
EPS Approx. ($0.05) Approx. $0.70
Capacity 7.5% 5.1%
Net Yields (7%) - (8%) Approx. (14%)
Net Cruise Costs per APCD Approx. (10%) Approx. (10%)
Net Cruise Costs per APCD,
excluding Fuel (7%) - (8%) (6%) - (7%)
Depreciation and
Amortization Approx. $150 Million $565 to $570 Million
Interest Expense Approx. $80 Million Approx. $305 Million

Liquidity and Financing Arrangements
As of September 30, 2009, liquidity was $1.1 billion, including cash and the
undrawn portion of the company's unsecured revolving credit facility.

Capital Expenditures and Capacity Guidance
Based on current ship orders, projected capital expenditures for 2009, 2010,
2011 and 2012, estimates are unchanged at $2.1 billion, $2.2 billion, $1.0
billion, and $1.0 billion, respectively.

Capacity increases for the same four years are 5.1%, 11.6%, 8.8% and 2.7%,
respectively.

The company took delivery of the Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the
Seas on October 28th. The vessel was funded with a 12-year amortizing
unsecured facility that matures in 2021. Oasis of the Seas' launch continues
to be one of the most widely anticipated and reported vessel deliveries of all
time and the company expects an acceleration of media coverage and buzz when
the vessel arrives in Florida on November 11th.

Conference Call Scheduled
The company has scheduled a conference call at 10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time
today to discuss its earnings. This call can be heard, either live or on a
delayed basis, on the company's investor relations web site at
www.rclinvestor.com.

Terminology

Available Passenger Cruise Days ("APCD")
APCDs are our measurement of capacity and represent double occupancy per cabin
multiplied by the number of cruise days for the period.

Gross Cruise Costs
Gross Cruise Costs represent the sum of total cruise operating expenses plus
marketing, selling and administrative expenses.

Gross Yields
Gross Yields represent total revenues per APCD.

Net Cruise Costs
Net Cruise Costs represent Gross Cruise Costs excluding commissions,
transportation and other expenses and onboard and other expenses. In
measuring our ability to control costs in a manner that positively impacts net
income, we believe changes in Net Cruise Costs to be the most relevant
indicator of our performance. We have not provided a quantitative
reconciliation of projected Gross Cruise Costs to projected Net Cruise Costs
due to the significant uncertainty in projecting the costs deducted to arrive
at this measure. Accordingly, we do not believe that reconciling information
for such projected figures would be meaningful.

Net Debt-to-Capital
Net Debt-to-Capital is a ratio which represents total long-term debt,
including current portion of long-term debt, less cash and cash equivalents
("Net Debt") divided by the sum of Net Debt and total shareholders' equity.
We believe Net Debt and Net Debt-to-Capital, along with total long-term debt
and shareholders' equity are useful measures of our capital structure.

Net Revenues
Net Revenues represent total revenues less commissions, transportation and
other expenses and onboard and other expenses.

Net Yields
Net Yields represent Net Revenues per APCD. We utilize Net Revenues and Net
Yields to manage our business on a day-to-day basis as we believe that it is
the most relevant measure of our pricing performance because it reflects the
cruise revenues earned by us net of our most significant variable costs, which
are commissions, transportation and other expenses and onboard and other
expenses. We have not provided a quantitative reconciliation of projected
Gross Yields to projected Net Yields due to the significant uncertainty in
projecting the costs deducted to arrive at this measure. Accordingly, we do
not believe that reconciling information for such projected figures would be
meaningful.

Occupancy
Occupancy, in accordance with cruise vacation industry practice, is calculated
by dividing Passenger Cruise Days by APCD. A percentage in excess of 100%
indicates that three or more passengers occupied some cabins.

Passenger Cruise Days
Passenger Cruise Days represent the number of passengers carried for the
period multiplied by the number of days of their respective cruises.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is a global cruise vacation company that operates
Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Pullmantur, Azamara Cruises
and CDF Croisieres de France. The company has a combined total of 39 ships in
service and four under construction. It also offers unique land-tour
vacations in Alaska, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America and New
Zealand. Additional information can be found on www.royalcaribbean.com,
www.celebrity.com, www.pullmantur.es, www.azamaracruises.com or
www.rclinvestor.com.

Certain statements in this release constitute forward-looking statements under
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as
"anticipate", "believe", "could", "estimate", "expect", "goal", "intend",
"may", "plan", "project", "seek", "should", "will", and similar expressions
are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements do not guarantee future performance and may involve risks,
uncertainties and other factors, which could cause our actual results,
performance or achievements to differ materially from the future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied in those forward-looking
statements. Examples of these risks, uncertainties and other factors include,
but are not limited to the following: the adverse impact of the worldwide
economic downturn on the demand for cruises, the impact of the economic
downturn on the availability of our credit facility and our ability to
generate cash flows from operations or obtain new borrowings from the credit
or capital markets in amounts sufficient to satisfy our capital expenditures,
debt repayments and other financing needs, the impact of disruptions in the
global financial markets on the ability of our counterparties and others to
perform their obligations to us, the uncertainties of conducting business
internationally and expanding into new markets, the volatility in fuel prices
and foreign exchange rates, the impact of changes in operating and financing
costs, including changes in foreign currency, interest rates, fuel, food,
payroll, airfare for our shipboard personnel, insurance and security costs,
impact of problems encountered at shipyards and their subcontractors including
insolvency or financial difficulties, vacation industry competition and
changes in industry capacity and overcapacity, the impact of compliance with
or changes in tax, environmental, health, safety and other laws and
regulations affecting our business or our principal shareholders, the impact
of pending or threatened litigation, enforcement actions, fines or penalties,
the impact of delayed or cancelled ship orders, the impact of emergency ship
repairs, including the related lost revenue, the impact on prices of new ships
due to shortages in available shipyard facilities, component parts and
shipyard consolidations, negative incidents involving cruise ships including
those involving the health and safety of passengers, reduced consumer demand
for cruises as a result of any number of reasons, including geo-political and
economic uncertainties and the unavailability or cost of air service, the
international political climate, fears of terrorist and pirate attacks, armed
conflict and the resulting concerns over safety and security aspects of
traveling, the impact of the spread of contagious diseases, the impact of
changes or disruptions to external distribution channels for our guest
bookings, the loss of key personnel or our inability to retain or recruit
qualified personnel, changes in our stock price or principal shareholders,
uncertainties of a foreign legal system as we are not incorporated in the
United States, the unavailability of ports of call, weather, and other factors
described in further detail in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.'s filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. The above examples are not exhaustive and
new risks emerge from time to time. We undertake no obligation to publicly
update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. In addition, certain financial
measures in this release constitute non-GAAP financial measures as defined by
Regulation G. A reconciliation of these items can be found on our investor
relations website at www.rclinvestor.com.

Financial Tables Follow

ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(unaudited, in thousands, except per share data)

Quarter Ended Nine Months Ended
September 30, September 30,
--------------- ---------------
2009 2008 2009 2008
---- ---- ---- ----
Passenger ticket
Revenues $1,270,610 $1,498,221 $3,176,473 $3,676,201
Onboard and
other revenues 492,932 565,168 1,261,686 1,400,047
------- ------- --------- ---------
Total
revenues 1,763,542 2,063,389 4,438,159 5,076,248
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Cruise operating expenses:
Commissions,
transportation
and other 303,969 375,638 772,350 918,313
Onboard and other 152,579 168,145 348,336 363,980
Payroll and related 171,164 170,269 505,376 487,851
Food 88,394 90,432 254,710 255,530
Fuel 146,254 207,274 437,617 539,807
Other operating 253,726 263,903 715,468 763,365
------- ------- ------- -------
Total cruise
Operating expenses 1,116,086 1,275,661 3,033,857 3,328,846
Marketing,
selling and
administrative
expenses 196,594 191,115 576,344 592,604
Depreciation and
amortization
expenses 144,021 134,706 421,802 386,373
------- ------- ------- -------
Operating Income 306,841 461,907 406,156 768,425
------- ------- ------- -------
Other income (expense):
Interest income 2,225 5,620 5,114 11,143
Interest expense, net of
interest capitalized (73,912) (80,560) (221,701) (239,594)
Other (expense) income (4,762) 24,920 (30,501) 32,269
------ ------ ------- ------
(76,449) (50,020) (247,088) (196,182)
------- ------- -------- --------
Net Income $ 230,392 $ 411,887 $ 159,068 $ 572,243
======== ======== ======== ========

Earnings Per Share:
Basic $ 1.08 $ 1.93 $ 0.74 $ 2.68
===== ===== ===== =====
Diluted $ 1.07 $ 1.92 $ 0.74 $ 2.67
===== ===== ===== =====
Weighted-Average
Shares Outstanding:
Basic 213,839 213,524 213,769 213,445
======= ======= ======= =======
Diluted 215,669 214,172 214,773 214,334
======= ======= ======= =======

STATISTICS
Quarter Ended Nine Months Ended
September 30, September 30,
------------- -------------
2009 2008 2009 2008
---- ---- ---- ----

Passengers Carried 1,046,943 1,072,358 2,958,219 3,093,748
Passenger Cruise Days 7,545,314 7,487,096 21,105,895 20,719,165
APCD 7,157,608 6,945,217 20,486,192 19,640,167
Occupancy 105.4% 107.8% 103.0% 105.5%

ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(in thousands, except share data)

As of
-----
September 30, December 31,
2009 2008
---- ----
(unaudited)
Assets
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents $ 285,863 $ 402,878
Trade and other receivables, net 334,666 271,287
Inventories 109,663 96,077
Prepaid expenses and other assets 185,360 125,160
Derivative financial instruments 105,084 81,935
------- ------
Total current assets 1,020,636 977,337

Property and equipment, net 14,203,910 13,878,998
Goodwill 803,189 779,246
Other assets 1,158,560 827,729
--------- -------
$17,186,295 $16,463,310
=========== ===========
Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity
Current liabilities
Current portion of long-term debt $ 667,608 $ 471,893
Accounts payable 270,472 245,225
Accrued interest 145,586 128,879
Accrued expenses and other liabilities 513,345 687,369
Customer deposits 1,002,488 968,520
Hedged firm commitments 163,318 172,339
------- -------
Total current liabilities 2,762,817 2,674,225
Long-term debt 6,628,442 6,539,510
Other long-term liabilities 351,290 446,563

Commitments and contingencies

Shareholders' equity
Preferred stock ($0.01 par value;
20,000,000 shares authorized;
none outstanding) - -
Common stock ($0.01 par value;
500,000,000 shares authorized;
224,213,977 and 223,899,076 shares
issued, September 30, 2009 2,242 2,239
and December 31, 2008, respectively)
Paid-in capital 2,969,663 2,952,540
Retained earnings 4,751,597 4,592,529
Accumulated other comprehensive
income (loss) 133,947 (319,936)
Treasury stock (10,308,683 and
11,076,701 common shares at cost,
September 30, 2009 and December 31,
2008, respectively) (413,703) (424,360)
-------- --------
Total shareholders' equity 7,443,746 6,803,012
--------- ---------
$17,186,295 $16,463,310
=========== ===========

ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(unaudited, in thousands)

Nine Months Ended
September 30,
-------------
2009 2008
---- ----

Operating Activities
Net income $159,068 $572,243
Adjustments:
Depreciation and amortization 421,802 386,373
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Increase in trade and other receivables, net (18,029) (16,835)
Increase in inventories (12,539) (18,528)
Increase in prepaid expenses and other assets (9,433) (9,165)
Increase (decrease) in accounts payable 21,915 (1,652)
Increase in accrued interest 16,706 5,682
Increase in accrued expenses and other
liabilities 31,623 61,648
Increase in customer deposits 13,840 73,404
Other, net 38,826 (8,406)
------ ------
Net cash provided by operating activities 663,779 1,044,764
------- ---------

Investing Activities
Purchases of property and equipment (1,153,090) (1,413,347)
Cash received on settlement of
derivative financial instruments 105,964 256,338
Loans and equity contributions to
unconsolidated affiliates (181,683) (41,429)
Proceeds from the sale of
Celebrity Galaxy 290,928 -
Other, net (100) (11,317)
---- -------
Net cash used in investing activities (937,981) (1,209,755)
-------- ----------

Financing Activities
Debt proceeds 992,463 1,143,682
Debt issuance costs (35,819) (13,400)
Repayments of debt (804,356) (762,826)
Dividends paid - (128,045)
Proceeds from exercise of
common stock options 290 3,656
Other, net 3,827 (4,318)
----- ------
Net cash provided by
financing activities 156,405 238,749
------- -------

Effect of exchange rate
changes on cash 782 (2,579)

Net (decrease) increase in cash
and cash equivalents (117,015) 71,179
Cash and cash equivalents at
beginning of period 402,878 230,784
------- -------
Cash and cash equivalents
at end of period $285,863 $301,963
======== ========

Supplemental Disclosure
Cash paid during the period for:
Interest, net of amount capitalized $205,873 $226,172
======== ========

ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD.
NON-GAAP RECONCILING INFORMATION
(unaudited)

Gross Yields and Net Yields were calculated as follows
(in thousands, except APCD and Yields):

Quarter Ended Nine Months Ended
September 30, September 30,
------------- -----------------
2009 2008 2009 2008
---- ---- ---- ----
Passenger ticket
revenues $1,270,610 $1,498,221 $ 3,176,473 $ 3,676,201
Onboard and other
revenues 492,932 565,168 1,261,686 1,400,047
------- ------- --------- ---------
Total revenues 1,763,542 2,063,389 4,438,159 5,076,248
========= ========= ========= =========
Less:
Commissions,
and other 303,969 375,638 772,350 918,313
Onboard and
other 152,579 168,145 348,336 363,980
------- ------- ------- -------
Net revenues $1,306,994 $1,519,606 $ 3,317,473 $ 3,793,955
========== ========== ========== ==========

APCD 7,157,608 6,945,217 20,486,192 19,640,167
Gross Yields $ 246.39 $ 297.09 $ 216.64 $ 258.46
Net Yields $ 182.60 $ 218.80 $ 161.94 $ 193.17

Gross Cruise Costs and Net Cruise Costs were calculated as follows
(in thousands, except APCD and costs per APCD):

Quarter Ended Nine Months Ended
September 30, September 30,
------------- -----------------
2009 2008 2009 2008
---- ---- ---- ----
Total cruise
operating
expenses $1,116,086 $ 1,275,661 $ 3,033,857 $ 3,328,846
Marketing,
selling and
administrative
expenses 196,594 191,115 576,344 592,604
------- ------- ------- -------
Gross Cruise Costs 1,312,680 1,466,776 3,610,201 3,921,450
========= ========= ========= =========
Less:
Commissions,
transportation
and other 303,969 375,638 772,350 918,313
Onboard and
other 152,579 168,145 348,336 363,980
------- ------- ------- -------
Net Cruise Costs $ 856,132 $ 922,993 $ 2,489,515 $ 2,639,157
======== ======== ========== ==========

APCD 7,157,608 6,945,217 20,486,192 19,640,167
Gross Cruise
Costs per APCD $ 183.40 $ 211.19 $ 176.23 $ 199.66
Net Cruise Costs
per APCD $ 119.61 $ 132.90 $ 121.52 $ 134.38

Net Debt-to-Capital was calculated as follows (in thousands):
As of
September 30, December 31,
------------- ------------
2009 2008
---- ----
Long-term debt,
net of current
portion $ 6,628,442 $ 6,539,510
Current portion
of long-term
debt 667,608 471,893
------- -------
Total debt 7,296,050 7,011,403
Less: Cash and
cash equivalents 285,863 402,878
------- -------
Net Debt $ 7,010,187 $ 6,608,525
========== ==========

Total
shareholders'
equity $7,443,746 $6,803,012
Total debt 7,296,050 7,011,403
--------- ---------
Total debt and
shareholders'
equity 14,739,796 13,814,415
========== ==========
Debt-to-Capital 49.5% 50.8%
Net Debt 7,010,187 6,608,525
--------- ---------
Net Debt and
shareholders'
equity $14,453,933 $13,411,537
=========== ===========
Net Debt-to-
Capital 48.5% 49.3%

SOURCE Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Ian Bailey of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., +1-305-982-2625