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gpcruisedude posted:
They should drop the Star brand and shut it down! Then NCL could take all the Star ships and use them in their fleet and have a division in the Far East.

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Originally posted by gpcruisedude:
If Star really is in big trouble, maybe they should just get out of the Cruise business and just be the owners of NCL. They should drop the Star brand and shut it down! Then NCL could take all the Star ships and use them in their fleet and have a division in the Far East.

I believe just by having one brand they would be stronger than ever, but hey who knows whats going to happen!!

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I'm not sure that would be too wise. I think Asia will emerge as the next major cruise market, and I would hope that Star would be there to take advantage of it.

In fact Carnival is actively looking to enter Asia, probably with a new brand. As I'm sure you know, Carnival does not enter any market unless they are pretty damn sure they can be successful.

In the long run Carnival entering Asia could be a good thing for Star. Star Cruises is already a well known and established brand, and by adding something new from Carnival it only will increase awareness of cruising in general. Star could actually take advantage of that if they play their cards right.

Star Cruises Q4 loss widens on write-offs
It posts US$129m loss in Q4, expects recovery in Q1 04
February 23, 2004

(HONG KONG) Star Cruises, the world's No 3 cruise line operator, said 2003 fourth-quarter losses widened after it wrote off the values of some of its older ships.

The company posted a loss of US$129 million (S$217.6 million), or 2.56 cents a share, in the three months ended Dec 31, compared with US$19 million, or 0.41 cents a share, in the year earlier.

It wrote US$95.5 million off its books on older ships it plans to sell.

Star Cruises, partly owned by Malaysia's Resorts World Bhd, is trying to recover from a slump in its Asian business caused by the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in the region last year.

Apart from this, a storm in Germany damaged one of the vessels being built in a shipyard for the company.

The company expects a recovery in its Asian business this quarter.

'We expect first-quarter 2004 performance in Asia to recover to the level achieved in the first quarter of 2003,' the company said in an e-mailed statement in Singapore, without giving details. Star Cruises posted a net profit of US$681,000 in the first quarter of 2003.

Without the write-off and provisions for legal expenses, the company would have posted a lower fourth-quarter loss of US$14.8 million, the company said.

For the full year, Star Cruises posted a net loss of US$101 million, or 2.04 cents a share, compared with a profit of US$73 million, or 1.65 cents a share. Sales rose 2.8 per cent to US$1.6 billion. – Bloomberg

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As you can see from this, Star is confident of a recovery.

As for the Pride of America, she is in dry dock. The engines don't seem to be damaged, a few of them have already been fired up. The pods seem to have escaped damage as well. The electrical systems may need replacing, well, at least the controls do, which are very sensitive. Furniture and other fixtures in the finished cabins flooded will have to be replaced. The hull itself is undamaged, however there are many dents where the vessel hit the wharf. Some windows are also dented. All in all it may be possible that she will enter service at the end of this year, if all goes well. No news reports have been released since detailing damage and timeframes.

The Norway is still at Lloyd Weft and will be used to train staff for the Pride of America. No news whether she’ll re-enter service after this.

The two newbuilds at Meyer Werft will still be constructed, as far as I know.

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Originally posted by gpcruisedude:
The fact that Carnival not entering a market unless they are sure they can succeed, well thats not 100% true! Their is ONE time they did and it was a disaster...Fiesta Marina Cruises ring a bell?? And the ship Fiesta Marina(ex Carnivale) now sailing as the Topaz! That was a misjudgement if I ever saw one! I'm not totally sure why Fiesta Marina failed, but as far as I know it's one time Carnival was wrong!

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Yes, this is true, as is the Crystal Palace hotel in Nassau and Carnival Air Lines... three failures for Carnival in 30+ years, and minor ones at that. Certainly not every business is 100% on the mark 100% of the time. I'm not saying Carnival is perfect, but they usually don't enter a market unless they are reasonably sure they can succeed. If there are uncertainties then they will go about it gradually, like with one older ship as was the case with CARNIVALE and Fiesta.