Ctrip, Royal Caribbean Cruises to End SkySea Joint Venture
Royal Caribbean Cruises and Ctrip announced today that they are ending the SkySea Cruise Line joint venture. TUI AG's Marella Cruises has agreed to purchase Golden Era, with delivery expected in December, 2018.
As a result of this transaction, TUI Cruises will now retain Mein Schiff 2 in its fleet, rather than selling it to Marella Cruises, giving TUI Cruises increased capacity in the strong German market.
After the sale of Golden Era, it is expected that SkySea will wind down its business operations before the end of 2018. The companies expect that favorable business conditions in China and elsewhere will allow them to absorb most SkySea employees into available positions at RCL and Ctrip.
Through its Royal Caribbean International brand, RCL will continue to serve the Chinese market, with the largest fleet deployment in the region and a strong collaborative relationship with Ctrip.
Royal Caribbean expects the impact of the transactions to fall in a range of $0.12 to $0.15 a share in FY2018. The loss will be excluded from 2018 Adjusted Net Income.
Royal Caribbean Cruises is a global cruise vacation company that owns and operates three global brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises. It's a 50 percent joint venture owner of the German brand TUI Cruises, a 49 per-cent shareholder in the Spanish brand Pullmantur and a 36 percent shareholder in the Chinese brand SkySea Cruises.
Together, these brands operate a combined total of 49 ships with an additional thirteen on order as of December 31, 2017.
