Royal Caribbean Bookings Bounced Back After Costliest Hurricane Season
Photo Credit: Royal Caribbean International's Majesty of the Seas delivered supplies to St. Maarten and St. Thomas after Hurricane Irma. The cruise operator still met its expectations for the third quarter, despite significant costs from the storm. Royal Caribbean International
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After the costliest hurricane season in its history, Royal Caribbean Cruises still saw profits increase and exceeded its own expectations for the quarter. The business appeared to recover quickly, but we are curious to find out if travelers will be willing to book Caribbean cruises during the peak time for storms next year.
Just a few months ago, Royal Caribbean Cruises chairman and CEO Richard Fain marveled at how well the year was going.
"In a normal year, we have a lot of pluses and minuses and they usually balance each other out," he told analysts. "But this year, we are experiencing many more positive forces than negative ones."
But then August and September came around and brought more than their share of minuses in the form of hurricanes including Harvey, Irma, Jose, and Maria.
"It's highly unusual to be hit with five major hurricanes in a row under any circumstances, but these storms were unusual for another reason as well," Fain said Tuesday during the company's third quarter earnings call. "Each of these storms followed a path that exac
