Tag Archives: Independence of the Seas

Royal Caribbean Group Raising $900 Million to Refinance Debt

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Royal Caribbean Group announced on Monday that it has commenced a private offering of senior convertible notes to be issued by the company due 2025 in an aggregate principal amount of up to $900 million.

In addition, the company intends to grant the initial purchasers an option to purchase up to an additional $135 million principal amount of Convertible Notes.

“The purpose of the offering is to replace some of the existing near-term maturities of convertible bonds with new longer-term convertible bonds in a manner which is non-dilutive to shareholders as described,” said Naftali Holtz, Chief Financial Officer of Royal Caribbean Group.

The cruise company said it intends to use the proceeds from the sale of the Convertible Notes to repurchase a portion of its 2.875% convertible senior notes due November 15, 2023, and 4.25% convertible senior notes due June 15, 2023, through open-market purchases, privately negotiated transactions, tender offers or otherwise. The Company intends to retire any Existing Convertible Notes so purchased.

“The proposed transaction proactively addresses the near-term maturity of our existing convertible notes,” said Holtz. “With the proceeds of this offering, our intention is to opportunistically repurchase the existing convertible notes, and we have the option to settle the remaining notes in cash to address our convertible debt maturities in a manner that is net neutral to our outstanding shares and share equivalents.”

The Convertible Notes will be convertible at the holder’s option in certain circumstances. Upon conversion, the company may satisfy its conversion obligation by paying or delivering, at its election, as applicable, cash, shares of its common stock or a combination of cash and shares of its common stock.

Mask Requirement Dropped for Vaccinated Guests on Royal Caribbean

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Independence of the Seas Photo credit for Spacejunkie2

Face masks are soon to be optional for fully vaccinated guests sailing from the U.S. on cruise ships from Royal Caribbean International.

The cruise line made changes to the Healthy Sail Center section of its website following the news it will participate in the CDC’s new voluntary program for cruise ships,.

The mask mandate becomes optional on sailings from the U.S. and Puerto Rico on Feb. 25.

The company said it expects unvaccinated children to continue wearing masks indoors and in crowded settings. Masks are required for all children while at the Adventure Ocean youth program. Guests under 2 do not have to wear a mask at any time.

Masks are also optional at the company’s private destinations, Perfect Day at CocoCay and Labadee. Royal Caribbean said that at other ports, guests are advised to follow local regulations. Masks should also be worn at the cruise terminal during the boarding and screening process, as well as during disembarkation. Guests under 2 do not have to wear a mask at any time.

As for sailings in Europe, which are set to start this spring, Royal Caribbean said it has yet to determine its health and safety protocols for cruises in that region, with news coming soon. 

Royal Caribbean Details Low COVID-19 Case Numbers

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Independence of the Seas in Southampton

Independence of the Seas in Southampton, UK. Photo credit Spacejunkie2

Since restarting operations in 2020, Royal Caribbean Group has carried approximately 1.3 million guests, with about 2,500 guests testing positive for COVID-19, for a positivity rate of 0.19 per cent.

Those numbers were shared by President and CEO Jason Liberty on the company’s year-end and fourth-quarter earnings call on Friday.

“This positivity rate is still a small fraction of what it is in society at large, and nearly all cases onboard were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms,” Liberty said.

“Our rigorous health and safety protocols with 100% per cent vaccination rate among our crew and close to 100 per cent vaccination rate among our guests provide a safe environment where we can fulfil our mission of delivering amazing vacations. And our guests are responding by providing record Net Promoter Scores for us, exceeding their expectations,” he added.

Michael Bayley, president and CEO of the Royal Caribbean International brand, also said that while the Omicron variant did impact crew aboard, most crews had no symptoms.

“99 per cent of the crew positivity was asymptomatic and the 1 per cent was extremely mild symptoms. I mean, it really was remarkable in many ways. But the impact on the crew was effectively 0, except to take them out of operation for the period of their quarantine,” Bayley said.