Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCC) has announced that first-quarter earnings will exceed analyst expectations due to strong bookings and improved prices. RCC said last week it expects to earn between $0.25 and $0.30 per share in the first quarter, compared to $0.27 a year ago. Analysts were on average looking for RCC to break even. RCC also said that it expects net yield to be down between seven and eight percent for the first quarter compared to a year ago, and that the second and third quarters will also be down seven to eight percent year-over-year.