8-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K CURRENT REPORT Pursuant To Section 13 or 15(d) of The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Date of report (Date of earliest event reported): October 22, 2007 ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)
Republic of Liberia
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation)
1-11884	98-0081645
(Commission File Number)	(IRS Employer Identification No.)
1050 Caribbean Way, Miami, Florida	33132
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)	(Zip Code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: 305-539-6000
Not Applicable
(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

o Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

o Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

The following is provided pursuant to Item 2.02 of Form 8-K, “Results of Operations and Financial Conditions” and Item 7.01 of Form 8-K, “Regulation FD Disclosure.”

 

Item 2.02 Results of Operations and Financial Condition.

Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure.

On October 22, 2007, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. issued a press release entitled “Royal Caribbean Reports Record Third Quarter 2007 Earnings.” A copy of this press release is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this report. This information shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and is not incorporated by reference into any filing of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., whether made before or after the filing of this report, regardless of any general incorporation language in the filing, except as expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing.

 

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits

Exhibit 99.1 - Press release entitled “Royal Caribbean Reports Record Third Quarter 2007 Earnings” dated October 22, 2007.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

		ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD.
Date:	October 22, 2007	By:	/s/ Brian J. Rice
			Name:	Brian J. Rice
			Title:	Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

EX-99.1

Exhibit 99.1

Contact: Lynn Martenstein or Greg Johnson

(305) 539-6570 or (305) 539-6153

For Immediate Release

ROYAL CARIBBEAN REPORTS RECORD THIRD QUARTER 2007 EARNINGS

MIAMI – October 22, 2007 – Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE/OSX: RCL) today announced record net income for the third quarter 2007 of $395.0 million, or $1.84 per share, compared to net income of $345.4 million, or $1.63 per share, in 2006. These results were better than expected mainly due to stronger late bookings driving better yields. Revenues for the third quarter 2007 increased to $2.0 billion from revenues of $1.6 billion in the third quarter 2006. The company also raised its EPS guidance for the year to the high end of its previous guidance despite higher crude oil prices.

“It was a very encouraging finish for the quarter and augurs well for upcoming periods,” said Richard Fain, chairman and chief executive officer. “It is very satisfying that, despite higher fuel prices and other challenges, we produced record results.”

Key metrics for the third quarter 2007 were within expected ranges as follows:

• Net Yields on a comparable basis (i.e. excluding Pullmantur) increased 1.6% over the third quarter of 2006. Including Pullmantur, Net Yields increased 4.1%.

• Net Cruise Costs per APCD on a comparable basis increased 0.1%. Including Pullmantur, Net Cruise Costs per APCD increased 6.7%.

• Fuel prices were up 7.1% versus the third quarter of 2006, but cost per APCD was down about 1.9% mainly due to energy saving and other fuel initiatives. The average at-the-pump price for the quarter was $473 per metric ton versus $442 per metric ton in 2006.

• Excluding fuel, Net Cruise Costs per APCD on a comparable basis increased 1.0%. Including Pullmantur, Net Cruise Costs per APCD increased 8.6%.

Outlook – 2007

The company provided the following estimates for the full year and fourth quarter 2007. The “Comparable” estimates exclude Pullmantur, while the “Including Pullmantur” estimates are for the entire combined group.

	Fourth Quarter 2007		Full Year 2007
	Comparable	Including Pullmantur	Comparable	Including Pullmantur
Capacity	4.7%	13.6%	4.8%	12.4%
Net Yields	≈ 2%	≈ 9%	≈ Flat	≈ 3%
Net Cruise Costs per APCD	≈ 2%	8% to 9%	≈ Flat	5% to 6%
Net Cruise Costs per APCD, excluding Fuel	≈ 2%	≈ 10%	Flat to 1%	7% to 8%

The company expects to have a 12.4% increase in capacity in 2007, driven by Pullmantur, the April delivery of Liberty of the Seas, and a full year of Freedom of the Seas.

“Building on a solid third quarter, we are encouraged by the strength of our late-season European itineraries, and the continuing recovery in the Caribbean pricing environment,” Fain said.

The company does not forecast fuel prices and its cost guidance for fuel is based on current “at-the-pump” prices including any hedge impacts. If fuel prices for the rest of the quarter remain at today’s level, the company’s fuel costs for the quarter will be $137 million or $440 per metric ton. The company is 42% hedged for the quarter and a 10% change in the market price of fuel results in an $8 million change in fuel costs for the fourth quarter 2007.

	Fourth Quarter 2007	Full Year 2007
Depreciation and Amortization	$125 to $130 Million	$485 to $490 Million
Interest Expense	$83 to $88 Million	$334 to $339 Million
Earnings Per Share	$0.32 to $0.37	$2.80 to $2.85

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Based on these estimates, and assuming that fuel prices remain at today’s level, the company expects its full year 2007 earnings per share to be $2.80 to $2.85, and expects fourth quarter 2007 earnings per share to be $0.32 to $0.37.

Outlook – 2008

Looking into early 2008, booking levels and ticket prices are up nicely in the first quarter 2008 versus levels achieved at the same time last year. The company expects that Net Yields for the first quarter 2008 will increase around mid-single digits compared to 2007. Because Pullmantur will be included in all of 2007, it will no longer be shown separately.

For the full year 2008, overall booking levels and ticket prices are up versus levels achieved at the same time last year. While it is still too early to quantify projections for the full year 2008, management is optimistic that the current demand environment will result in positive yield performance for the full year.

Fuel prices remain volatile and have risen significantly in recent months. However, the company has taken a number of actions to reduce energy consumption and fuel expense. The resulting savings are nearly sufficient to offset this rise in fuel prices. As a result, even at today’s fuel prices, the company’s 2008 fuel costs per APCD would be roughly comparable with 2007. If fuel prices for 2008 remain at today’s level, fuel costs for the first quarter would be $132 million or $436 per metric ton. The corresponding figures for the full year would be $560 million and $452 per metric ton. The company is 44% hedged for the first quarter of next year and 38% for the full year. A 10% change in the market price of fuel would result in $7 million and $35 million changes in fuel costs for the first quarter 2008 and full year 2008, respectively.

As of September 30, 2007, liquidity was $1.6 billion, comprising $0.4 billion in cash and cash equivalents and $1.2 billion in available credit on the company’s unsecured revolving credit facility.

Projected capital expenditures for 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, are estimated to be $1.3 billion, $1.8 billion, $2.0 billion, $2.2 billion, and $1.0 billion, respectively. Projected

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capacity increases for the same five years are estimated at 12.4%, 6.4%, 9.3%, 11.4%, and 6.4%, respectively.

The company has scheduled a conference call at 10 a.m. Eastern Standard 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

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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 Cruises, Azamara Cruises and CDF Croisieres de France. The company has a combined total of 35 ships in service and seven 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

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www.royalcaribbean.com, www.celebrity.com, www.pullmantur.es, www.azamaracruises.com or www.rclinvestor.com.

Certain statements in this news release are 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. Such factors include general economic and business conditions, vacation industry competition, including cruise vacation industry competition, changes in vacation industry capacity, including over capacity in the cruise vacation industry, the impact of tax laws and regulations affecting our business or our principal shareholders, the impact of changes in other laws and regulations affecting our business, the impact of pending or threatened litigation, the delivery of scheduled new ships, emergency ship repairs, 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, the unavailability of air service, armed conflict, terrorist attacks and the resulting concerns over safety and security aspects of traveling, the impact of the spread of contagious diseases, our ability to obtain financing on terms that are favorable or consistent with our expectations, changes in our stock price or principal shareholders, the impact of changes in operating and financing costs, including changes in foreign currency, interest rates, fuel, food, payroll, insurance and security costs, the implementation of regulations in the United States requiring United States citizens to obtain passports for travel to additional foreign destinations, 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 news 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

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