Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has announced its second quarter results following a preliminary report in July (CIN no. 14).
For the quarter ended June 30, 1998, NCL reported net income of $1.6 million on revenues of $181.7 million, compared to a net loss of $8,000 on revenues of $156.8 million for the same period in 1997.
In other news, NCL announced that it will base its new ship, the 78,000-ton, 2,000-passenger Norwegian Sky, in Seattle for the 2000 Alaska summer season.
NCL will use the Port of Seattle as a homeport beginning May 7, 2000, for at least three years with exclusive use of Pier 66 on Sundays. NCL has committed to making at least 19 vessel calls per season and provision the Norwegian Sky in Seattle.
2nd Quarter
NCL attributed the revenue increase to the addition of the Norwegian Majesty and charter revenue from the Aida, which were added to the company’s fleet in September and October 1997. In addition, the Norwegian Wind’s revenue increased due to the lengthening, which offset reduced revenue for the Norwegian Dream which was out of service 45 days due to its lengthening.
NCL said that net ticket revenue per capacity day increased year over year due to higher ticket prices. However, the load factor suffered due to weak bookings on the Norway’s Atlantic crossing and on some European itineraries, according to NCL. And the Norwegian Star suffered from what the company called a “somewhat unfavorable perception of the ship as a consequence of its technical problems in 1997.”
The itinerary for the Norway in 1999 has been changed and the Norwegian Sea will replace the Norwegian Star out of Houston. For the six-month period ended June 30, 1998, NCL reported a net loss of $4.0 million on revenues of $335.6 million, compared to net income of $248,000 on revenues of $313.7 million for the same period in 1997.