Princess/RCCL merger
Dec 13th, 2001, 12:44 PM
#1
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Princess/RCCL merger
What's the official word on this merger? Did it actually happen or is it still in the works? I have heard varying reports. Some say it's a done deal with all the offices moving to RCCL's more spacious office in Miami. I've heard other's say that the merger hasn't happened, that the government will likely intervene (anti-trust) and that Carnival will likely try to make a purchase.<BR><BR>What does anyone know? How this merger expected to affect the itineraries? Will the two companies continue to operate separately etc?<BR>Thanks<BR>
Dec 13th, 2001, 03:13 PM
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As far as I know it is going to be live Carnival company owning Carnival, Cunard, Holland, Windstar, etc. <BR>They will still all operate like separate cruise companies with thier own individual identities. The big difference will be in the corporite operations. It should have no real affect on the customer. The only difference I think is that they are supposed to have thier service on board more simalar to each other.<BR><BR>This is just my understanding from what we have recieved from the companies. ( I am a travel agent)
Dec 13th, 2001, 08:31 PM
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Melissa you live in a dream land if you don't think another corporate merger will not affect it's patrons. Look around as more and more of these mega corporations buy up the little guy (not just cruise lines) there is less competition. That breeds poor performance and quality of product. For example "MSN", Emron, etc... It does nothing for us but cause less jobs, poorer service, and more money in a fewer peoples hands. So tell me agin why it won't affect any of us. Please look around you the economy is going to sh+t.
Dec 13th, 2001, 10:19 PM
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Xman .....<BR><BR>Don't be so negative.<BR><BR>Did the RCCL/Celebrity affect you or any one else for that matter? .... No.<BR><BR>These mergers will positively affect cruise line profits since they will be able to purchase food and commodities at a much lower price.<BR><BR>Granted there will be office workers laid off, but as more an more passengers sail these employees will be hired back. Only 14% of the people in the U.S. have taken a cruise. New marketing strategy due to these mergers will mean more people sailing. This will make it more profitable for us travel agents and also for all cruise line suppliers. More business, more employees.<BR><BR>There should be no escalation in cruise prices, as in the past with other acquisitions.<BR><BR>These mergers will only help the economy and indirectly affect you positively.<BR><BR>Businesses that operate with their finger up you know where, never survive. Look at Premier and Renaissance.<BR><BR>I doubt very much that Carnival will present a hostile bid. RCCL will be Princess and Princess will be RCCL and will operate independently.<BR><BR>Keep cruisin'<BR><BR>Paul
Dec 13th, 2001, 10:24 PM
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To answer Tracey,<BR><BR>The West Coast office, the Midwest Office and the Eastern office will stay and will be much larger. Most operating independently.<BR><BR>The merger is OK with the U.S. Government and the discussion will continue with the foreign governments. The principals do not forsee a problem. <BR><BR>Paul
Dec 14th, 2001, 10:00 AM
#6
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Paul your affiliation with the cruise industry has skewed your view on standard business economics. Companys acquire other companys to raise profit and eliminate competition. On the short term it will benefit the public because of "Penetration Pricing". This means they will drop their prices to attract more customers and adversely affect their competition. Once they have cornered more of the market they can raise prices and drop incentives thereby raising the profit share and appealing to their share holders. This kind of practice has been going on since businesses were formed. Anti-trust laws were established in the late 1800's and early 1900's to avoid this. With more of a government lassaiz faire position these companys are now forcing out there competitors. So in the end run mergers in most cases only benefit the investors and not the patrons. Again, Paul you seem to know your ships and lines but not your macro economics.
Dec 14th, 2001, 12:17 PM
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xman:<BR><BR>I thought this was supposed to be a cruise dialogue, but if we're onto economics, I think you should find a new place to hide. I imagine your next cruise will drop you at a port where you can join in an anti-globalization protest. The books are full of stories of businesses who thought they could do no wrong (like Enron) and ended up killing themselves in the process. If Carnival owns HAL, and they come off as being as different as night and day, why fear this merger? Paul is right, in the end this will create more jobs while simultaneously keeping prices in check.
Dec 15th, 2001, 03:38 PM
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Econ major to put it bluntly, your grades must suck. You are using Enron in an example how foolish can you be. Look around. Thanks to your kind of mentality the economy is failing miserably. Over the past several years copoate mergers have risen at an exponential rate. Unemployment is at an all time high in the past six years. The Fed has dropped the rate eleven times and it still isn't helping. Retail sales are at an all time low in ten years. The majority of the problems can be directly attributable to consolidation and corporte mergers,which ALWAYS eliminate jobs! Also how does having less competition promote price reduction? It can't and never will. Your teachers must cringe when you walk in to the room. When the company you work for is aquired they won't need two business analysts so while you're looking for a new job tell me how mergers benefit the workforce.<BR><BR>So this is about cruise lines and how they are going to be a part of this. Amerger of this size does affect us because of pricing, service, etc... And these cruise lines also think they can do know wrong. If you are going to cite an example, like Enron. Use it in the correct context of the situation. By the way I was an econ major to. Dolt! And Paul I hope you have stock in RCCL.
Dec 15th, 2001, 03:58 PM
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xman, I won't get into insulting you. I'm self-employed as a lawyer, so I'm not too worried about getting fired. You're just proving that statistics are the stock in trade of people wanting to mislead -- worst in six years, worst in ten years -- great! Compare this year to the immediately preceding period, which was the best in U.S. history. As I said, just look at the various lines now owned by Carnival, and explain why we'll be left with one indistinguishable blob after this current merger.
Dec 16th, 2001, 09:38 AM
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First of all Paul, I'm a realist. Second of all econmajor you just made my point (by the way my aplogies for the insult, that was out of line). Everything has a "Product life cycle". As an econ major I'm sure you have heard of that. And one point or another it will reach it's apex and then fall. It is inevitable. The question is what speeds or slows this process down. It has been proven in many models that corporate acquistions only benefit one party. The one acquiring. It does not benefit the user/patron. Only the company and shareholders. I am just sick and tired of hearing how foolishly people believe that this kind of act will benefit them. It over 90 percent of the cases it does more damage than good. I would just like to see some of the old style and class of yesteryear prevail over today's economic greed.
Dec 16th, 2001, 01:28 PM
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"I would just like to see some of the old style and class of yesteryear prevail over today's economic greed." If you're referring to classy business people, xman, robber barrons have been around forever. If you're referring to refined cruising, then let's face it, the market speaks -- I don't disagree with you, but all of the lines still afloat (pardon the pun) do lots of research and try to sell into the largest part of the market. Sad but true -- so we either cruise 21st century style and enjoy it, or find other ways to vacation.<BR>
Dec 16th, 2001, 06:14 PM
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Econ major, this seems to be one of those cyclical arguements that no one will ever win. What I was referring to was the attention to detail, the level of service, and the respect that was once paid to be people that traveled the cruise lines. Now like many other things you are a number on the larger cruise lines. And mergers only make this poor attitude worse. These mergers don't help to promote any of those values which were once prevalent and part of a well run business. And now the robber barons of yester year are faceless corporations that can hide behind foreign registry (which makes it worse because they are harder to hold accountable for their action/inaction).
