Majestic Research

Travel Weekly

Oasis erodes pricing for other RCCL ships, says research firm

By Johanna Jainchill
Published: November 18, 2009

The Oasis of the Seas is hurting pricing for other ships owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., according to equity research firm Majestic Research.

Celebrity’s Solstice-class and Royal Caribbean International’s Freedom-class cruise ships have experienced price cannibalization with the introduction of the Oasis, said Majestic.

In a note to investors, Majestic Research leisure analyst Matthew Jacob said pricing for Freedom-class ships was 7% higher than RCCL’s other ships in the first quarter of 2010, down from 27% during the third quarter of 2009, the last full quarter prior to the Oasis launch.

Solstice-class premiums declined to 30% in the first quarter of 2010, down from 68% in the third quarter of 2009.

“While some investors are expecting Oasis to have a halo effect (lifting bookings across all RCCL ships), it appears that the ship is actually cannibalizing the rest of RCCL’s fleet,” Jacob said.

Jacob also said that Oasis pricing was beginning to drop for the first quarter of 2010.

“The Oasis is garnering initially high premiums for the quarter because of the honeymoon period accompanying the launch of a new ship,” Jacob said.

“We expect the ship to continue to generate strong premiums throughout most of 2010; however, we expect Oasis’ premiums to drop significantly over time, as we have seen with other recent new ship introductions.”