Forbes article says DCL loses $325 million

[LoveDaisy]

DCL loses $325 million

 

[insureman]

Great. Another excuse to raise prices.

 

[FastPasser.]

And that’s just in 2022, 1.2 billion since the pandemic started.

 

[Louise97]

It'd be interesting to see next year's results - that $325m loss is for Oct 2021 - Sept 2022. While sailings had started to resume by the start of the period, the occupancy levels would have been lower at first. It feels like the ships are filling up again (we were 75% on our May cruise in the Med), so the next set of results should be more comparable to pre-pandemic years?

 

[Kwami]

It'd be interesting to see next year's results - that $325m loss is for Oct 2021 - Sept 2022. While sailings had started to resume by the start of the period, the occupancy levels would have been lower at first. It feels like the ships are filling up again (we were 75% on our May cruise in the Med), so the next set of results should be more comparable to pre-pandemic years?

Yeah, sailings had barely restarted by October, 2021. The Dream was empty when I sailed in September, 2021 and it remained empty when I sailed again in February, 2022. So, I'm not surprised that Disney wasn't making money last year.

They're also spending a bunch of money on new ships. So, there's that.

 

[clarker99]

Post in thread 'DIS Shareholders and Stock Info ONLY'
https://www.disboards.com/threads/dis-shareholders-and-stock-info-only.3881254/post-64935843

I went through the reports. Click the link for data on the last few years. I posted it on the Stock/Shareholder thread.

 

[Cheburashka]

At least the directors were still able to get huge raises.

 

[clarker99]

Post in thread 'DIS Shareholders and Stock Info ONLY'
https://www.disboards.com/threads/dis-shareholders-and-stock-info-only.3881254/post-64937528

Also, tried to work out how the future looks for DCL with addition of the Wish and 3 more ships being added.

 

[RivShore]

Post in thread 'DIS Shareholders and Stock Info ONLY'
https://www.disboards.com/threads/dis-shareholders-and-stock-info-only.3881254/post-64935843

I went through the reports. Click the link for data on the last few years. I posted it on the Stock/Shareholder thread.

Thanks @clarker99, I tried to find that post of yours to post here but did not go back far enough. You were way ahead of Forbes!!

 

[DCLMP]

325 million sounds like pocket change for Disney. It's probably less than they have lost on their recent movies.

 

[peder]

I just skimmed the article, so I might have missed something. But there could be mismatches between depreciation schedule and useful life of a cruise ship, so the launch of the Wish might have been a bit of a drag on net earnings.

 

[FastPasser.]

It feels like the ships are filling up again (we were 75% on our May cruise in the Med

Agree, our July 8th Med cruise was 200 passengers away from selling out. We just booked five cabins for an early Dec Caribbean cruise and couldn’t get them close to each other. It appears well on its way to being full.

 

[dwg]

I did not read the article so just making a general comment about the cruise line losses. I am sure all of the cruise lines lost millions. But I think that these losses you are seeing ij these articles are not the entire story. I am sure that the cruise lines all have insurance that will cover some of the losses and what is not covered by insurance would be covered by government/taxpayers as they claim their losses on their tax returns. I am not crying for the cruise lines.

 

[CastawayCayLover]

I did not read the article so just making a general comment about the cruise line losses. I am sure all of the cruise lines lost millions. But I think that these losses you are seeing ij these articles are not the entire story. I am sure that the cruise lines all have insurance that will cover some of the losses and what is not covered by insurance would be covered by government/taxpayers as they claim their losses on their tax returns. I am not crying for the cruise lines.

I'm pretty sure any insurance or tax recoveries would have been reflected in the financial statements. I'm not saying anyone should be crying for the cruise lines, but the losses are real.

 

[DCLDVC1]

At least the directors were still able to get huge raises.

Unfortunately that's all that really matters.

 

[dwg]

I'm pretty sure any insurance or tax recoveries would have been reflected in the financial statements. I'm not saying anyone should be crying for the cruise lines, but the losses are real.

Yes, but they are not reflected in these articles which is the point of my comment.

 

[CastawayCayLover]

Yes, but they are not reflected in these articles which is the point of my comment.

The net losses reported in the article are net, after-tax losses.

 

[brentm77]

Great. Another excuse to raise prices.

You are almost certainly right, but it would be shortsighted. Since these numbers capture the post-pandemic ramp up, we don't really know how the line is doing today. But assuming they are still falling short of capacity regularly, raising prices is certainly not the answer. Focusing on providing proper value in relation to the already-above-market prices is the only appropriate response. For the first time ever, we have cruises booked on an alternative line in 2024. Even though we will always love DCL, it's a combination of prices outpacing inflation, a sense that the value isn't matching those prices anymore, and due to the lack of variety. Raising prices would only give us more reason to branch out, not draw us back. In addition to refocusing on the small things that made DCL better, mixing up itineraries and menus would go a long way, as opposed to sailing the same old routes or making them worse (Med cruises, I'm looking at you). DCL banked on repeating what worked over and over and over (all while slowly tweaking the formula in its favor), but maybe that strategy has run its course?

Does DCL even do any market research from their loyal customers beyond the limited surveys that are lacking in detail and have pressure to provide false information to avoid punishing hard workers? I sure feels like the line would be well served by taking a step back and listening more to its customers. As they are seeing in the parks, eventually your reputation from the past can only carry you so far and you can't cut or price your way to profit growth forever.

 

[Kwami]

Does DCL even do any market research from their loyal customers beyond the limited surveys that are lacking in detail and have pressure to provide false information to avoid punishing hard workers? I sure feels like the line would be well served by taking a step back and listening more to its customers. As they are seeing in the parks, eventually your reputation from the past can only carry you so far and you can't cut or price your way to profit growth forever.

Of course, they do additional market research. For example, they send some percentage of guests an additional, much longer survey after the end of the cruise. I've filled it out a few times. I'm sure that there's much more going on behind the scenes, too.

 

[brentm77]

Of course, they do additional market research. For example, they send some percentage of guests an additional, much longer survey after the end of the cruise. I've filled it out a few times. I'm sure that there's much more going on behind the scenes, too.

I would expect as much, I have just never seen anyone here mention being part of it, which surprises me with our many frequent cruisers. I have always had the impression from the shorter survey on the ship (without space to add additional comments) that they prefer to keep the feedback fenced in and controlled for whatever reason - maybe because demand was high enough that they figured they didn't need it. Even with the additional research, they still seem to miss some low-hanging fruit that irritates a high percentage of guests.

The bottom line is that I won't be surprised if demand doesn't come back to 100% or even dips if they keep on their current course. I said the same thing about the parks based on our own purchasing decisions and those of family members and friends, and was told there were plenty of other people to take our places. That turned out not to be true forever as we are now seeing demand in the parks struggling. I think the same thing will hold true for DCL if they aren't careful. DCL has pretty much just cut stuff for the past decade without really adding much. The themed cruises might be the exception, but we were very underwhelmed with the Pixar one and they cut in other areas (pirate night buffet) to offset some of the cost apparently. Again, I still love DCL. It's still a fabulous product. But it won't take much more cutting before it adds up to something less than fabulous.