Q – Don’t know if you can answer this but, as a CPA, I am really curious about the profit, if any, that cruise lines can make from the spending guests do once aboard the ship. My wife and I have never sailed any of the line son the Top Ten List, but we have sailed Carnival, Norwegian, and are interested in upgrading to Royal Caribbean. By the way – is this really an upgrade? If not, what do you recommend since we travel with our kids and we require a large ship with lid’s facilities. Sorry, I digress, so I’ve looked over the public filings of these cruise lines but couldn’t locate the information I was curious about. I’d really love to know how much profit these lines are making from their gift shops, drinks, shore excursions and the other intended profit centers on their ships. I’ve tried to discuss this with their on-board staff and got no where, as you might imagine. Sorry for rambling. Really enjoy cruisetruth. I wonder why no one knows about it.
A – Dear Rambles – There are, according to the experts at Price-Waterhouse, three questions here:
01 – Norwegian had the highest net revenue per passenger of the three lines at $67.88 per passenger. Royal Caribbean and Carnival were $46.65 and $41.46 respectively per day. All three lines were able to lower their per passenger operating expenses with Carnival coming in at $157.27 per passenger per day. These are all publicly held companies so their financials are available, as you know.
02 – We would recommend that your “upgrade” be to the Celebrity line, the upscale sister to Royal Caribbean.
03 – We don’t advertise or hire PR representation so we remain fairly unknown. Sort of like the singer Rodriquez, who everyone should know.
