Cruise stocks went down a little today following the latest news of the Costa Allegra being powerless and adrift in the Indian Ocean, after an engine room fire, in which no one has been reported to be hurt. At press time, Carnival Corporation traded in the range of $29.91, down slightly from Friday’s closing at $29.97. Royal Caribbean Cruises was trading in the range of $28.10 from closing at $28.49 on Friday.
With the Dow past 13,000, Carnival is still down significantly from Friday. Jan. 13, before the Concordia grounding, when it closed at $34.28, with Royal Caribbean only slightly down since then, when it closed at $28.75.
However, both stocks are down significantly from their 52-week highs of $43.75 for Carnival and $44.82 for Royal Caribbean, which have been attributed to uncertain market conditions caused by the economic crisis in Europe, recession in the U.S. and geopolitical situations in Northern Africa and the Middle East.