Royal Caribbean Announces Proposed Offering Of $3.3 Billion Senior Secured Notes

Independence of the Seas

Royal Caribbean Cruises today announced that it has commenced a private offering of senior secured notes to be issued by the company in separate series of notes due 2023 and 2025, for an aggregate principal amount of $3.3 billion.

The Notes and the related guarantees will be secured by 28 of the company’s vessels and material intellectual property of the company. The obligations under the Notes and the related guarantees will be secured by the collateral in an amount not to exceed permitted capacity under the company’s existing indebtedness.

The company expects to use the net proceeds from the offering of the Notes to repay its $2.35 billion 364-day senior secured term loan agreement with Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., as the administrative agent and collateral agent and the other lenders’ party thereto entered into on March 23, 2020. The company expects to use the remaining net proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include repayment of additional indebtedness.

Carnival Cruise Line and EA Sports parting ways

Carnival Cruise Line is phasing out a partnership with video game maker EA Sports that put the EA brand on a number of sports bars on Carnival ships.

The brand will no longer appear on new sports bars built as part of Funship 2.0 renovations, starting with the Carnival Miracle in March.

Carnival and EA Sports, a brand of Electronic Arts, Inc., first collaborated in 2011 when Carnival put EA Sports Bars on the Carnival Magic and Carnival Liberty. They have since been installed on other ships such as Carnival Dream and Carnival Sunshine.

The existing bars branded as EA will continue under that name, spokesman Vance Gulliksen said. “Going forward, any additional sports bars introduced on our ships will not be EA Sports branded. While we will continue to feature sports bars, which are a popular feature on our ships, over time the EA brand will be phased out,” he said.

The bar on the Carnival Miracle, named Sports Bar, will be installed during a two-week drydock in March that will include a host of Funship 2.0 features such as RedFrog Pub, Alchemy Bar, Seuss at Sea, Hasbro the Game Show, Cherry On Top and more.

The Miracle operates year-round from Long Beach, Calif.

Carnival enters marketing partnership with casino operator

By Tom Stieghorst

Carnival Cruise Lines said club members at 18 casinos run by Penn National Gaming will get offers of complimentary cruises, starting in April.

The offers will be based on the level of play and are part of a marketing alliance between the two companies.

Penn National Gaming operates casinos and racetracks throughout the U.S., including the M Resort near Las Vegas and several Hollywood-branded casinos.

Gaye Gullo, Penn’s corporate vice president of marketing, said the Carnival offers would be another tool to reward loyalty to its casinos.

A joint announcement of the deal did not say how many player club members would be targeted in the marketing program.