Royal Caribbean Project Sunshine

Could a new cruise ship or two be on the horizon

Hints were first made last year regarding the possibility of Royal Caribbean ordering new ships in the not so distant future that would join Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas within the line’s Oasis class.

It was thought the new ships may arrive just 6 months apart the first having her maiden voyage in late 2014 and then the second in the spring of 2015, however recent word from chairman, Richard Fain, suggests there would be no new arrivals until mid to late 2016.

During the recent Royal Caribbean financial results conference call, Royal Caribbean chairman hinted at the possibility that ships may well be on order but that they could be for either Royal Caribbean or its sister company, Celebrity Cruises.

Royal Caribbean Chairman Richard Fain spoke about the possibility, "We clearly are looking at that sort of thing.”I think what we're looking at is, we see that even in this market, we could get some very attractive returns from some of our vessels that have performed well."

"From 2012 through 2016, our berth capacity growth is less than 3%, and in fact, we don't have any ship deliveries in 2013 at all," he said. "But as we said before, we also can't stagnate. Given the long lead time for a new vessel, we're approaching the point where a new order could not be delivered until the middle to late 2016, by which time, we will be enjoying much better profitability and much improved credit metrics."

We will keep you updated on news about “Project Sunshine”