General (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2019

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of PresentationThe Consolidated Statements of Income, the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income, the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and the Consolidated Statements of Shareholders’ Equity for the three and nine months ended August 31, 2019 and 2018, and the Consolidated Balance Sheet at August 31, 2019 are unaudited and, in the opinion of our management, contain all adjustments, consisting of only normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair statement. Our interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes included in the Carnival Corporation & plc 2018 joint Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Form 10-K”) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on January 28, 2019. Our operations are seasonal and results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results for the entire year.

Accounting Pronouncements

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) issued guidance, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”), which requires an entity to recognize the amount of revenue to which it expects to be entitled for the transfer of promised goods or services to customers. On December 1, 2018, we adopted this guidance using the modified retrospective method for all contracts as of the adoption date. Results for reporting periods beginning after December 1, 2018 are presented under ASC 606, while prior period amounts are not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with our historical accounting under ASC 605.

The impact of the adoption of ASC 606 on our consolidated financial statements primarily relates to the gross presentation of prepaid travel agent commissions (Consolidated Balance Sheet), shore excursions and other onboard revenues and costs (Consolidated Statement of Income) which were historically presented net. As of December 1, 2018, we recorded a cumulative effect adjustment of $24 million to retained earnings related to the accounting for our loyalty programs.

The following tables summarize the impacts of ASC 606 adoption on our consolidated financial statements:



	Three Months Ended August 31, 2019
(in millions)	Prior to adoption of ASC 606			Adjustments			As Reported
Consolidated Statement of Income
Onboard and other (Revenues)	$	1,407		$	449		$	1,855
Revenues (Total)	$	6,084		$	449		$	6,533
Onboard and other (Operating Costs and Expenses)	$	219		$	449		$	668
Operating Costs and Expenses (Total)	$	4,194		$	449		$	4,643
Operating Income	$	1,890		$	—		$	1,890
Net Income	$	1,780		$	—		$	1,780

	Nine Months Ended August 31, 2019
(in millions)	Prior to adoption of ASC 606			Adjustments			As Reported
Consolidated Statement of Income
Onboard and other (Revenues)	$	3,696		$	1,115		$	4,811
Revenues (Total)	$	14,929		$	1,115		$	16,043
Onboard and other (Operating Costs and Expenses)	$	506		$	1,115		$	1,620
Operating Costs and Expenses (Total)	$	12,137		$	1,115		$	13,252
Operating Income	$	2,791		$	—		$	2,791
Net Income	$	2,567		$	—		$	2,567

	At August 31, 2019
(in millions)	Prior to adoption of ASC 606			Adjustments			As Reported
Consolidated Balance Sheet
Prepaid expenses and other	$	488		$	147		$	635
Total current assets	$	2,565		$	147		$	2,712
Customer deposits	$	4,527		$	147		$	4,674
Total current liabilities	$	8,784		$	147		$	8,932

	Nine Months Ended August 31, 2019
(in millions)	Prior to adoption of ASC 606			Adjustments			As Reported
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
Prepaid expenses and other	$	(73	)	$	(147	)	$	(220	)
Customer deposits	$	262		$	147		$	409
Net cash provided by operating activities	$	4,414		$	—		$	4,414

The FASB issued amended guidance, Business Combinations - Clarifying the Definition of a Business, which assists entities with evaluating whether transactions should be accounted for as acquisitions (or disposals) of assets or businesses. On December 1, 2018, we adopted this guidance using the prospective transition method. The adoption of this guidance had no impact on our consolidated financial statements.

The FASB issued amended guidance, Statement of Cash Flows - Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, which clarifies how certain cash receipts and cash payments are presented and classified in the statement of cash flows. The amendments are aimed at reducing the existing diversity in practice. On December 1, 2018, we adopted this guidance using the retrospective method for each period presented. The adoption of this guidance had no impact on our consolidated financial statements.

The FASB issued amended guidance, Statement of Cash Flows - Restricted Cash. On December 1, 2018, we adopted this guidance using the retrospective method for each period presented. As a result, we now present restricted cash with cash and cash equivalents in the statement of cash flows. The reclassification of restricted cash balances from investing activities to changes in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash was not material for the period presented.

The FASB issued amended guidance, Service Concession Arrangements, which clarifies that the grantor in a service arrangement should be considered the customer of the operating entity in all cases. On December 1, 2018, we adopted this guidance using the modified retrospective method. The adoption of this guidance had no impact on our consolidated financial statements.

The FASB issued amended guidance, Derivatives and Hedging, which targeted improvements to accounting for hedging activities such as hedging strategies, effectiveness assessments and recognition of derivative gains or losses. On December 1, 2018, we early adopted this guidance using the modified retrospective approach, which did not have a material impact on our financial statements. At the time of adoption, we changed the method by which we assess effectiveness for outstanding net investment hedges from the forward method to the spot method. Under the spot method, the change in fair value of the hedging instrument attributable to hedge effectiveness remains in AOCI until the net investment is sold or liquidated, while the impact attributable to components excluded from the assessment of hedge effectiveness is recorded in interest expense, net of capitalized interest, on a systematic and rational basis. Previous gains or losses incurred under the forward method related to net investment hedges will remain in AOCI within the foreign currency translation adjustments component and will be reclassified to earnings when the net investment is sold or liquidated. As required by this guidance, we have also added certain disclosures about hedging activities and their effect on our consolidated financial statements.

The FASB issued guidance, Leases, which requires an entity to recognize both assets and liabilities arising from financing and operating leases, along with additional qualitative and quantitative disclosures. This guidance is required to be adopted by us in the first quarter of 2020 and must be applied using a modified retrospective approach which allows entities to either apply the new lease standard to the beginning of the earliest period presented or only to the current period consolidated financial statements. The initial adoption of this guidance is expected to increase both our total assets and total liabilities, reflecting the lease rights and obligations arising from our lease arrangements, and will require additional disclosures. We are evaluating certain contractual arrangements to determine if they contain an implicit right to use an asset that would qualify as a leasing arrangement under the new guidance.

The FASB issued amended guidance, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal-Use Software, which requires a customer in a cloud computing arrangement that is a service contract to follow the internal-use software guidance to determine which implementation costs to capitalize as assets or expense as incurred. The expense related to deferred implementation costs is required to be presented in the same income statement line item as the related hosting fees. Additionally, the payments for deferred implementation costs are required to be presented in the same line item in the statement of cash flows as payments for the related hosting fees. This guidance is required to be adopted by us in the first quarter of 2021 and must be applied using either a prospective or a retrospective approach. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact this guidance will have on our consolidated financial statements.

Revenue from Contract with Customer

Guest cruise deposits represent unearned revenues and are initially included in customer deposit liabilities when received. Customer deposits are subsequently recognized as cruise revenues, together with revenues from onboard and other activities, and all associated direct costs and expenses of a voyage are recognized as cruise costs and expenses, upon completion of voyages with durations of ten nights or less and on a pro rata basis for voyages in excess of ten nights. The impact of recognizing these shorter duration cruise revenues and costs and expenses on a completed voyage basis versus on a pro rata basis is not significant. Certain of our product offerings are bundled and we allocate the value of the bundled services and goods between passenger ticket revenues, onboard and other revenues and tour and other revenues based upon the estimated standalone selling prices of those goods and services.

Future travel discount vouchers are included as a reduction of cruise passenger ticket revenues when such vouchers are utilized. Guest cancellation fees are recognized in cruise passenger ticket revenues at the time of cancellation.

Our sale to guests of air and other transportation to and from airports near the home ports of our ships are included in cruise passenger ticket revenues, and the related cost of purchasing these services are included in cruise transportation costs. The proceeds that we collect from the sales of third-party shore excursions are included in onboard and other revenues and the related costs are included in onboard and other costs. The amounts collected on behalf of our onboard concessionaires, net of

the amounts remitted to them, are included in onboard and other cruise revenues as concession revenues. All of these amounts are recognized on a completed voyage or pro rata basis as discussed above.

Cruise passenger ticket revenues include fees, taxes and charges collected by us from our guests. A portion of these fees, taxes and charges vary with guest head counts and are directly imposed on a revenue-producing arrangement. This portion of the fees, taxes and charges is expensed in commissions, transportation and other costs when the corresponding revenues are recognized. For the three and nine months ended August 31, the fees, taxes and charges included in passenger ticket revenues and commissions, transportation and other costs were $186 million and $503 million in 2019 and $174 million and $465 million in 2018. The remaining portion of fees, taxes and charges are also included in cruise passenger ticket revenues and are expensed in other ship operating expenses when the corresponding revenues are recognized.

Revenues and expenses from our hotel and transportation operations, which are included in our Tour and Other segment, are recognized at the time the services are performed or expenses are incurred. Revenues from the long-term leasing of ships, which are also included in our Tour and Other segment, are recognized ratably over the term of the agreement.