CCL, §1A diff (2019 → 2020)

Item 1A. Risk Factors. You should carefully consider the following discussion of material factors, events and uncertainties that make an investment in the Company’s securities risky and provide important information for the understanding of the “forward-looking” statements discussed in this Form 10-K and elsewhere. These risk factors should be read in conjunction with other information in this Form 10-K. The events and consequences discussed in these risk factors could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition, operating results and stock price. These risk factors do not identify all risks that the Company faces; operations could also be affected by factors, events, or uncertainties that are not presently known to the Company or that the Company currently does not consider to present material risks to its operations. In addition, the current global economic climate amplifies many of these risks. Some of the statements in this item and elsewhere in this document are “forward-looking statements.” For a discussion of those statements and of other factors to consider see the “Cautionary Note Concerning Factors That May Affect Future Results” section below. The ordering and lettering of the risk factors set forth below is not intended to reflect any Company indication of priority or likelihood. COVID-19 and Liquidity/Debt Related Risk Factors a. COVID-19 has had, and is expected to continue to have, a significant impact on our financial condition and operations, which impacts our ability to obtain acceptable financing to fund resulting reductions in cash from operations. The current, and uncertain future, impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, including its effect on the ability or desire of people to travel (including on cruises), is expected to continue to impact our results, operations, outlooks, plans, goals, reputation, litigation, cash flows, liquidity, and stock price. The COVID-19 global pandemic is having material negative impacts on all aspects of our business. We implemented a pause of our guest cruise operations in mid-March 2020 across all brands. Although we began the resumption of limited guest operations in September 2020 with cruises by Costa and in October 2020 with cruises by AIDA, as of January 14, 2021, none of our ships were operating with guests onboard. The pause with respect to these and other brands and ships may be prolonged. In addition, we have been, and will continue to be negatively impacted by related developments, including heightened governmental regulations, travel bans and travel advisories and restrictions and recommendations by the U.S. Department of State, the CDC and other governmental authorities. We incurred significant costs as we paused our guest cruise operations, provided air transportation to return our passengers to their home destinations, repatriated shipboard team members and assisted some of our crew that were unable to return home with food and housing. We will continue to incur COVID-19 related costs as we implement additional hygiene-related protocols to our ships, as well as prepare for the continued resumption of guest operations. In addition, the industry is subject to and may be further subject to enhanced health and hygiene requirements in attempts to counteract future outbreaks, and these requirements may be costly and take a significant amount of time to implement across our global cruise operations. In October 2020, the CDC announced a framework for a phased resumption of cruise ship passenger operations in U.S. waters. The current framework consists of several initial requirements that cruise ship operators such as us would need to follow prior to resuming guest operations, including those relating to testing and additional safeguards for crew members and the development of laboratory capacity needed to test future passengers. We are in the process of evaluating the CDC’s current framework and believe there are a significant number of requirements that must be evaluated in the context of our plans to resume operations. Further, the current framework is subject to additional technical instructions and orders from the CDC (including in connection with subsequent phases for resumption, which are expected to include simulated voyages and certification requirements) that are currently uncertain and will require further evaluation as we seek to resume operations. Implementing these initial and subsequent requirements may result in an increase in cost and take time before the resumption of our guest operations. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 on some of our ships, and the resulting illness and loss of life in certain instances, we have been the subject of negative publicity, which could have a long term impact on the appeal of our brands, which would diminish demand for vacations on our vessels. We cannot predict how long the negative impact of media attention on our brands will last, or the level of investment that will be required to address the concerns of potential travelers through marketing and pricing actions. We have received, and may continue to receive, lawsuits, other governmental investigations and other actions stemming from COVID-19. We cannot predict the quantum or outcome of any such proceedings, some of which could result in the imposition of civil and criminal penalties in the future, and the impact that they will have on our financial results, but any such impact may be material. We also remain subject to extensive, complex, and closely monitored obligations under the court-ordered environmental compliance plan supervised by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, as a result of the previously disclosed settlement agreement relating to the violation of probation conditions for a plea agreement entered into by Princess Cruises and the U.S. Department of Justice in 2016. We remain fully committed to satisfying those obligations. We have insurance coverage for certain liabilities, costs and expenses related to COVID-19 through our participation in Protection and Indemnity (“P&I”) clubs, including coverage for direct and incremental costs including, but not limited to, certain quarantine expenses and for certain liabilities to passengers and crew. P&I clubs are mutual indemnity associations owned by members. There is a $10 million deductible per occurrence (meaning per outbreak on a particular ship). We cannot assure you that we will receive insurance proceeds that will compensate us fully for our liabilities, costs and expenses that exceed the $10 million deductible under these policies. We have no insurance coverage for loss of revenues or earnings from our ships or other operations. In connection with our capacity optimization strategy, we have accelerated the removal of ships from our fleet in 2020 which were previously expected to be sold over the ensuing years. We have sold, expect to sell or have agreements for the disposal of various vessels. Some of these agreements for the disposal of vessels are for recycling. When we choose to dispose of a ship, there can be no assurance that there will be a viable buyer to purchase it at a price that exceeds our net book value, which could result in ship impairment charges and losses on ship disposals. The effects of COVID-19 on the operations of shipyards where our ships are under construction will result in a delay in ship deliveries. We cannot predict the timing of our complete return to service and when various ports will reopen to our ships. If we are delayed in recommencing guest cruise operations or there is a further pause in the resumption of limited guest operations, it could further negatively impact our liquidity. As our business is seasonal, the impact of a delay or further pause in the resumption of guest cruise operations will be heightened if such delay or pause occurs during the Northern Hemisphere summer months. Moreover, even as travel advisories and restrictions are lifted, demand for cruises may remain weak for a significant length of time and we cannot predict if and when each brand will return to pre-outbreak demand or fare pricing. In particular, our bookings may be negatively impacted by the adverse changes in the perceived or actual economic climate, including higher unemployment rates, declines in income levels and loss of personal wealth resulting from the impact of COVID-19. In addition, we cannot predict the impact COVID-19 will have on our partners, such as travel agencies, suppliers and other vendors, counterparties and joint ventures. We may be adversely impacted as a result of the adverse impact our partners, counterparties and joint ventures suffer. We have never previously experienced a complete cessation of our guest cruise operations, and as a consequence, our ability to be predictive regarding the impact of such a cessation on our brands and future prospects is uncertain. In particular, we cannot predict the impact on our financial performance and cash flows (including as required for cash refunds of deposits) as a result of the current pause in our guest cruise operations, which may be prolonged, and the public’s concern regarding the health and safety of travel, especially by cruise ship, and related decreases in demand for travel and cruising. Moreover, our ability to attract and retain guests and our ability to hire and the amounts we must pay our crew depends, in part, upon the perception and reputation of our company and our brands and the public’s concerns regarding the health and safety of travel generally, as well as regarding the cruising industry and our ships specifically. As a result of all of the foregoing, we have raised significant capital and expect to further raise additional capital, including equity. Our access to and cost of financing depend on, among other things, global economic conditions, conditions in the global financing markets, the availability of sufficient amounts of financing, our prospects and our credit ratings. As a result of COVID-19's effects on our operations, Moody's and S&P Global have downgraded our credit ratings to be non investment grade. If we are delayed in recommencing guest cruise operations or there is a further pause in the resumption of limited guest operations, our credit ratings were to be further downgraded, or general market conditions were to ascribe higher risk to our rating levels, our industry, or us, our access to capital and the cost of any debt or equity financing will be further negatively impacted. In addition, the terms of future debt agreements could include more restrictive covenants, or require incremental collateral, which may further restrict our business operations or be unavailable due to our covenant restrictions then in effect. There is no guarantee that debt or equity financings will be available in the future to fund our obligations, or that they will be available on terms consistent with our expectations. Additionally, the impact of COVID-19 on the financial markets may adversely impact our ability to raise funds. In addition, the COVID-19 outbreak has significantly increased economic and demand uncertainty. The current outbreak and continued spread of COVID-19 has caused a global recession, which could have a further adverse impact on our financial condition and operations. In past recessions, demand for our cruise vacations has been significantly negatively impacted which has resulted in lower occupancy rates and adverse pricing, with a corresponding increase in the use of credits and other means to attract travelers. Significant increases in unemployment in the U.S. and other regions due to the adoption of physical distancing and other policies to slow the spread of the virus have had, and are likely to continue to have, a negative impact on booking demand for our guest cruise operations, and these impacts could exist for an extensive period of time. The extent of the effects of the outbreak on our business and the cruising industry at large is highly uncertain and will ultimately depend on future developments, including, but not limited to, the duration and severity of the outbreak, the length of time it takes for demand and pricing to return and normal economic and operating conditions to resume. To the extent COVID-19 adversely affects our business, operations, financial condition and operating results, it may also have the effect of heightening many other risks. b. Our substantial debt could adversely affect our financial health and operating flexibility. We have a substantial amount of debt and significant debt service obligations. Our substantial debt could have important negative consequences for us. Our substantial debt could: •require us to dedicate a large portion of our cash flow from operations to service debt and fund repayments on our debt, thereby reducing the availability of our cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes; •increase our vulnerability to adverse general economic or industry conditions; •limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business or the industry in which we operate; •place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less debt; •make us more vulnerable to downturns in our business, the economy or the industry in which we operate; •limit our ability to raise additional debt or equity capital in the future to satisfy our requirements relating to working capital, capital expenditures, development projects, strategic initiatives or other purposes; •restrict us from making strategic acquisitions, introducing new technologies or exploiting business opportunities; •make it difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to our debt; and •expose us to the risk of increased interest rates as certain of our borrowings are (and may be in the future) at a variable rate of interest. c. Despite our leverage, we may incur more debt, which could adversely affect our business and prevent us from fulfilling our obligations with respect to our debt. We may be able to incur substantial additional debt in the future. Although the instruments governing our existing indebtedness contain restrictions on the incurrence of additional debt, these restrictions are subject to a number of significant qualifications and exceptions, and under certain circumstances, the amount of debt that could be incurred in compliance with these restrictions could be substantial and a portion of such debt currently is, and may in the future be, secured. The instruments governing our existing indebtedness do not prevent us from incurring liabilities that do not constitute “Indebtedness” as defined therein. If new debt is added to our existing debt levels, our business could be adversely affected, which may prevent us from fulfilling our obligations with respect to our debt. d. We are subject to restrictive debt covenants that may limit our ability to finance future operations and capital needs and to pursue business opportunities and activities. In addition, if we fail to comply with any of these restrictions, it could have a material adverse effect on the company. Certain of our debt instruments limit our flexibility in operating our business. For example, some of our debt instruments limit the ability of Carnival Corporation, Carnival plc and certain of their respective subsidiaries to, among other things: •incur or guarantee additional indebtedness; •pay dividends or distributions on, or redeem or repurchase capital stock and make other restricted payments; •make certain investments; •consummate certain asset sales; •engage in certain transactions with affiliates; •grant or assume certain liens; and •consolidate, merge or transfer all or substantially all of our assets. All of these limitations are subject to significant exceptions and qualifications. Despite these exceptions and qualifications, we cannot assure you that the operating and financial restrictions and covenants in certain of our debt instruments will not adversely affect our ability to finance our future operations or capital needs or engage in other business activities that may be in our interest. Any future indebtedness may include similar or other restrictive terms. In addition, many of our debt agreements contain one or more financial covenants that require us to maintain a minimum debt service coverage, maintain minimum shareholders equity and/or limit our debt to capital percentage. Our ability to comply with our debt covenants, including the financial maintenance covenants described above, and restrictions may be affected by events beyond our control, including prevailing economic, financial and industry conditions, such as the continued resumption of our guest cruise operations and our ability to issue additional equity. If we breach any of these covenants or restrictions, we could be in default under the terms of certain of our debt facilities and the relevant lenders could elect to declare the debt, together with accrued and unpaid interest and other fees, if any, immediately due and payable and proceed against any collateral, if any, securing that debt. If the debt under certain of our debt instruments that we enter into were to be accelerated, our assets may be insufficient to repay in full our debt. Borrowings under other debt instruments that contain cross-default provisions also may be accelerated or become payable on demand. In these circumstances, our assets may not be sufficient to repay in full our indebtedness then outstanding. e. We require a significant amount of cash to service our debt and sustain our operations. Our ability to generate cash depends on many factors beyond our control, and we may not be able to generate cash required to service our debt. Our ability to meet our debt service obligations or refinance our debt depends on our future operating and financial performance and ability to generate cash. This will be affected by our ability to successfully implement our business strategy, as well as general economic, financial, competitive, regulatory and other factors beyond our control, such as the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. If we cannot generate sufficient cash to meet our debt service obligations or fund our other business needs, we may, among other things, need to refinance all or a portion of our debt, obtain additional financing, delay planned capital expenditures or sell assets. We cannot assure you that we will be able to generate sufficient cash through any of the foregoing. If we are not able to refinance any of our debt, obtain additional financing or sell assets on commercially reasonable terms or at all, we may not be able to satisfy our obligations with respect to our debt. Refer to "Liquidity, Financial Condition and Capital Resources". f. Our variable rate indebtedness subjects us to interest rate risk, which could cause our debt service obligations to increase significantly. Borrowings under certain of our facilities are at variable rates of interest and expose us to interest rate risk. If interest rates increase, our debt service obligations on certain of our variable rate indebtedness will increase even though the amount borrowed remains the same, and our net income and cash flows, including cash available for servicing our indebtedness, will correspondingly decrease. In addition, in July 2017, the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”), announced that it will no longer persuade or compel banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021. It is unclear whether or not, at that time, a satisfactory replacement rate will be developed or if new methods of calculating LIBOR will be established such that it continues to exist after 2021. The U.S. Federal Reserve, in conjunction with the Alternative Reference Rates Committee, a steering committee comprised of, among other entities, large U.S. financial institutions, is considering replacing U.S. dollar LIBOR with a new index that measures the cost of borrowing cash overnight, backed by U.S. Treasury securities (“SOFR”). SOFR is observed and backward-looking, which stands in contrast with LIBOR under the current methodology, which is an estimated forward-looking rate and relies, to some degree, on the expert judgment of submitting panel members. Whether or not SOFR or any other potential alternative reference rate attains market traction as a LIBOR replacement rate remains in question. The consequences of these developments with respect to LIBOR cannot be entirely predicted but may result in the level of interest payments on the portion of our indebtedness that bears interest at variable rates to be affected, which may adversely impact the amount of our interest payments under such debt. We have entered into, and in the future we will continue to enter into, interest rate swaps that involve the exchange of floating for fixed-rate interest payments to reduce interest rate volatility. However, we may not maintain interest rate swaps with respect to all of our variable rate indebtedness, and any such swaps may not fully mitigate our interest rate risk, may prove disadvantageous, or may create additional risks. g. As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, we may be out of compliance with one or more maintenance covenants in certain of our debt facilities, for which we currently have amendments for the period through November 30, 2021 with the next testing date of February 28, 2022. Under the terms of certain of our debt facilities, we are required to maintain a minimum debt service coverage ratio (EBITDA to consolidated net interest charges for the most recently ended four fiscal quarters) of not less than 3.0 to 1.0 at the end of each fiscal quarter (the “Financial Covenant”). We have entered into supplemental agreements to amend our bank loans to extend existing amendments with respect to compliance with the Financial Covenant and to amend the Revolving Facility to include the Financial Covenant, in each case through the November 30, 2022 testing date and reduce the applicable covenant thresholds thereafter to 2.0 to 1.0 for the February 28, 2023 and May 31, 2023 testing dates, and 2.5 to 1.0 for the August 31, 2023 and November 30, 2023 testing dates, before reverting to 3.0 to 1.0 from the February 28, 2024 testing date onwards, or through their respective maturity dates. We are in the process of negotiating similar amendment extensions and threshold amendments under our funded export credit facilities (with aggregate indebtedness of $7.3 billion as of November 30, 2020) and our unfunded export credit facilities (which had an aggregate principal amount of $8.0 billion as of November 30, 2020) as the current amendments under such export credit facilities extend through November 30, 2021 or December 31, 2021, with the testing under such facilities recommencing on the February 28, 2022 testing date. Even though we expect to obtain further amendments under our export credit facilities with respect to the Financial Covenant (in particular in light of the additional debt holiday amendments that have been introduced by the European export credit agencies), if such amendments are not obtained we may not be in compliance with the Financial Covenant following November 30, 2021 with the next testing date of February 28, 2022 under our export credit facilities, or in future periods for certain agreements because of the pause and limited resumptions of our guest operations. In addition, under the terms of certain of our debt facilities, we are required to ensure that our debt as a percentage of capital does not exceed 65% at the end of each fiscal quarter (the “Debt to Capital Covenant”). While we were in compliance with the Debt to Capital Covenant as of November 30, 2020, we have entered into agreements to amend the Revolving Facility and the agreements governing our bank loans to increase the Debt to Capital Covenant to 75% for each quarterly testing date from November 30, 2021 to May 31, 2023, and thereafter declining ratably to 65% for the May 31, 2024 testing date and thereafter. We are in the process of negotiating similar amendments to our funded export credit facilities (with aggregate indebtedness of $7.3 billion as of November 30, 2020) and our unfunded export credit facilities (which had an aggregate principal amount of $8.0 billion as of November 30, 2020) to obtain amendments under the Debt to Capital Covenant (compliance with which is currently waived through November 30, 2021 or December 31, 2021, as applicable, with the next testing date of February 28, 2022). Even though we expect to obtain amendments under our export credit facilities with respect to the Debt to Capital Covenant (in particular in light of the additional debt holiday amendments that have been introduced by the European export credit agencies), if such amendments are not obtained we may be required to take certain actions, such as issuing additional equity and/or reducing our indebtedness, failing which we may not be in compliance with the Debt to Capital Covenant as of the February 28, 2022 testing date under our export credit facilities, or as of future testing dates for certain agreements, because of the pause and limited resumptions of our guest operations. The Financial Covenant and Debt to Capital Covenant amendments have led and may continue to lead to increased costs, increased interest rates, additional restrictive covenants and other lender protections that are, or may become, applicable to us under these debt facilities, and such increased costs, restrictions and modifications may vary among debt facilities. For example, in connection with the amendments to the Revolving Facility and agreements governing our bank loans described above, we have made certain changes to more closely align the financial covenants among the various facilities and agreements. In addition, we have agreed to additional restrictive covenants in such facilities and agreements with respect to debt incurrence, lien incurrence, restricted payments and investments that are substantially consistent with those contained in the indenture governing the 2026 Senior Unsecured Notes. Our ability to provide additional lender protections under these facilities, including the granting of security interests in certain collateral and the granting of guarantees with respect to certain outstanding debt, will be limited by the terms of such agreements as amended, and our other debt facilities. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain amendments in a timely manner, on acceptable terms or at all. If we were not able to obtain the financial covenant amendments described above under any one or more of these debt facilities, we would be in default of any such agreement. As a consequence, we would need to refinance or repay the applicable debt facility or facilities, and would be required to raise additional debt or equity capital, or divest assets, to refinance or repay such facility or facilities. If we were to be unable to obtain financial covenant amendments as may be required under any one or more of these debt facilities, there can be no assurance that we would be able to raise sufficient debt or equity capital, or divest assets, to refinance or repay such facility or facilities. With respect to each of the unfunded debt facilities, if we were unable to obtain amendments under such debt facilities, the relevant lender under such facility could terminate that facility. With respect to each of our funded debt facilities, if we were unable to obtain amendments or refinance or repay such debt facilities, it would lead to an event of default under such facilities, which could lead to an acceleration of the indebtedness under such debt facilities. In turn, this would lead to an event of default and potential acceleration of amounts due under all of our outstanding debt and derivative contract payables. As a result, the failure to obtain the financial covenant amendments described above would have a material adverse effect. h. The covenants in certain of our debt facilities may require us to secure those facilities in the future. Certain of our debt facilities contain provisions which may require that we provide a security interest in certain assets. In certain of our debt facilities, there is a requirement that if the credit rating of our senior indebtedness should fall below investment grade (which occurred on June 24, 2020) and at such time we have granted liens or security interests in respect of indebtedness in an amount exceeding 25% of our total assets (excluding for these purposes the value of any intangible assets) as shown in our most recent Consolidated Balance Sheet, then we will be required to provide a first-priority security interest in certain designated assets. In addition, under our export credit facilities, there is a requirement that if a security interest or lien is granted in respect of a vessel to secure borrowed money under certain other debt facilities, then a first-priority security interest will be required to be provided over certain designated vessels. If the events described above were to occur, we may be unable to comply with this requirement and expect to seek covenant amendments from the lenders under the relevant facilities. Any such amendment may lead to increased costs, increased interest rates, additional restrictive covenants and other available lender protections that would be applicable to us under these debt facilities, and such increased costs, restrictions and modifications may vary among debt facilities. Our ability to give additional lender protections under these facilities, including the granting of security interests in collateral, will be limited by the restrictions in our indebtedness and security interest we have already granted. If we were not able to obtain amendments, the occurrence of such events may result in an event of default under these facilities and other debt facilities that contain cross default provisions that would be triggered. Operating Risk Factors a.World events impacting the ability or desire of people to travel have and may continue to lead to a decline in demand for cruises. We have been and may continue to be impacted by the public’s concerns regarding the health, safety and security of travel, including government travel advisories and travel restrictions, political instability and civil unrest, terrorist attacks and other general concerns. Additionally, we have been and may continue to be impacted by heightened regulations around customs and border control, travel bans to and from certain geographical areas, government policies increasing the difficulty of travel and limitations on issuing international travel visas. We may also be impacted by adverse changes in the perceived or actual economic climate, such as global or regional recessions, higher unemployment and underemployment rates and declines in income levels. Furthermore, uncertainties resulting from the UK’s exit from the EU may impact our business. b. Incidents concerning our ships, guests or the cruise vacation industry as well as adverse weather conditions and other natural disasters have in the past and may, in the future, impact the satisfaction of our guests and crew and lead to reputational damage. Our operations involve the risk of incidents and media coverage thereof. Such incidents include, but are not limited to, the improper operation or maintenance of ships, motorcoaches and trains; guest and crew illnesses; mechanical failures, fires and collisions; repair delays, groundings and navigational errors; oil spills and other maritime and environmental issues as well as other incidents at sea or while in port or on land which may cause guest and crew discomfort, injury, or death. Although our commitment to the safety and comfort of our guests and crew is paramount to the success of our business, our ships have been involved in outbreaks, accidents and other incidents in the past and we may experience similar or other incidents in the future. Our ability to attract and retain guests and our ability to hire and the amounts we must pay our crew depend, in part, upon the perception and reputation of our company and our brands and the public’s concerns regarding the health and safety of travel generally, as well as regarding the cruising industry and our ships specifically. Our cruise ships, hotels, land tours, port and related commercial facilities and shore excursions may be impacted by adverse weather patterns or other natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, fires, tornadoes, tsunamis, typhoons and volcanic eruptions. It is possible that we could be forced to alter itineraries or cancel a cruise or a series of cruises or tours due to these or other types of disruptions. Changes in climate may increase the frequency and intensity of adverse weather patterns, make certain destinations less desirable or impact our business in other ways. In addition, these and any other events which impact the travel industry more generally may negatively impact our guests’ or crew’s ability or desire to travel to or from our ships and/or interrupt the supply of critical goods and services. c. Changes in and non-compliance with laws and regulations under which we operate, such as those relating to health, environment, safety and security, data privacy and protection, anti-corruption, economic sanctions, trade protection and tax have in the past and may, in the future, lead to litigation, enforcement actions, fines, penalties, and reputational damage. We are subject to numerous international, national, state and local laws, regulations, treaties and other legal requirements that govern health, environmental, safety and security matters in relation to our guests, crew and ships. These requirements change regularly, sometimes on a daily basis, depending on the itineraries of our ships and the ports and countries visited. Implementing these and any subsequent requirements may be costly and take time to implement across our global cruise operations. If we violate or fail to comply with any of these laws, regulations, treaties and other requirements we could be, and have previously been, fined or otherwise sanctioned by regulators. In addition, there is increased global focus on climate change, which may lead to additional regulatory requirements. We are subject to a court-ordered environmental compliance plan supervised by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which is operative until April 2022 and subjects our operations to additional review and other obligations. Failure to comply with the requirements of this environmental compliance plan or other special conditions of probation could result in fines, which the court has imposed in the past, and restrictions on our operations. We are subject to laws and requirements related to the treatment and protection of personal, sensitive and/or other regulated data in the jurisdictions where we operate. Various governments, agencies and regulatory organizations have enacted or are considering new rules and regulations. In the course of doing business, we collect guest, employee, company and other third-party data, including personally identifiable information and other sensitive data. Our operations subject us to potential liability under anti-corruption laws and regulations. We may also be affected by economic sanctions, trade protection laws, policies and other regulatory requirements affecting trade and investment. We are subject to compliance with tax laws, regulations and treaties in the jurisdictions in which we are incorporated or operate. These tax laws, regulations and treaties are subject to change at any time, which may result in substantially higher tax liabilities. Additionally, the relevant authorities’ interpretation of tax laws, regulations and treaties could differ materially from ours. d. Breaches in data security and lapses in data privacy as well as disruptions and other damages to our principal offices, information technology operations and system networks, including the recent ransomware incidents, and failure to keep pace with developments in technology may adversely impact our business operations, the satisfaction of our guests and crew and may lead to reputational damage. We have and may continue to be impacted by breaches in data security and lapses in data privacy, which occur from time to time. These can vary in scope and intent from motivated driven attacks to malicious attacks intended to disrupt or compromise our shoreside and shipboard operations by targeting our key operating systems. Breach or circumvention of our systems or the systems of third parties, including by ransomware or other attacks, results in disruptions to our business operations; unauthorized access to (or the loss of company access to) competitively sensitive, confidential or other critical data (including sensitive financial, medical or other personal or business information) or systems; loss of customers; financial losses; regulatory investigations, enforcement actions and fines; litigation and misuse or corruption of critical data and proprietary information, any of which could be material. On August 15, 2020, we detected a ransomware attack and unauthorized access to our information technology systems. We engaged a major cybersecurity firm to investigate the matter and notified law enforcement and applicable regulators of the incident. The incident investigation and remediation phases are complete and we have moved to the communication and reporting phases. We determined that the unauthorized third-party gained access to certain personal information relating to some guests, employees and crew for some of our operations. There is currently no indication of any misuse of this information and we have no reason to believe that the information from this attack will be misused going forward. On December 25, 2020, we detected a ransomware attack and unauthorized access to our information technology systems affecting two of our brands. We engaged a major cybersecurity firm to investigate the matter and notified law enforcement and applicable regulators of the incident. The incident investigation and remediation phases are in process, but at this time there is currently no indication of any misuse of information. While at this time we do not believe that these incidents will have a material adverse effect on our business, operations or financial results, no assurances can be given and we may be subject to future attacks or incidents that could have such a material adverse effect. Our principal offices, information technology operations, system networks and various remote work locations may be impacted by actual or threatened natural disasters (for example, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, fires, tornadoes, tsunamis, typhoons and volcanic eruptions) or other disruptive events. Our maritime and/or shoreside operations, including our ability to manage our inventory of cabins held for sale and set pricing, control costs, and serve our guests, depends on the reliability of our information technology operations and system networks as well as our ability to refine and update to more advanced systems and technologies. e. Ability to recruit, develop and retain qualified shipboard personnel who live away from home for extended periods of time may adversely impact our business operations, guest services and satisfaction. We hire a significant number of qualified shipboard personnel each year and, thus, our ability to adequately recruit, develop and retain these individuals is critical to our success. Incidents involving cruise ships, including COVID-19 outbreaks on our ships, and the related adverse media publicity, adverse economic conditions that negatively affect our profitability and increasing demand as a result of the industry’s projected growth could negatively impact our ability to recruit, develop and retain sufficient qualified shipboard personnel. f. Increases in fuel prices, changes in the types of fuel consumed and availability of fuel supply may adversely impact our scheduled itineraries and costs. We may be impacted, and have been impacted in the past, by economic, market and political conditions around the world, such as fuel demand, regulatory requirements, supply disruptions and related infrastructure needs, which make it difficult to predict the future price and availability of fuel. Future increases in the global price of fuel would increase the cost of our cruise ship operations as well as some of our other expenses, such as crew travel, freight and commodity prices. Increases in airfares, which could result from increases in the price of fuel, would increase our guests’ overall vacation costs as many of our guests depend on airlines to transport them to or from the airports near the ports where our cruises embark and disembark. As a result of changes in regulations, we consumed a larger percentage of low sulfur fuel in 2020, which will likely increase our fuel costs upon resumption of guest cruise operations. Additionally, certain of our ships are designed to use LNG as their primary fuel source. At this time, the marine LNG distribution infrastructure is in the early stages of development with a limited number of suppliers. g. Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates may adversely impact our financial results. We earn revenues, pay expenses, purchase and own assets and incur liabilities in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Additionally, our shipbuilding contracts are typically denominated in euros. Movements in foreign currency exchange rates will affect our financial results. h. Overcapacity and competition in the cruise and land-based vacation industry may lead to a decline in our cruise sales, pricing and destination options. We may be impacted by increases in capacity in the cruise and land-based vacation industry, which may result in capacity growth beyond demand, either globally or for a region, or for a particular itinerary. We face competition from other cruise brands on the basis of overall experience, destinations, types and sizes of ships and cabins, travel agent preferences and value. In addition, we compete with land-based vacation alternatives throughout the world on the basis of overall experience, destinations and value. i. Inability to implement our shipbuilding programs and ship repairs, maintenance and refurbishments may adversely impact our business operations and the satisfaction of our guests. We may be impacted by unforeseen events, such as work stoppages, insolvencies, “force majeure” events or other financial difficulties experienced by shipyards, their subcontractors and our suppliers. This may result in less shipyard availability resulting in delays or preventing the delivery of our ships under construction and/or the completion of the repair, maintenance, or refurbishment of our existing ships. This may lead to potential delays or cancellations of cruises. In addition, the prices of various commodities that are used in the construction of ships and for repair, maintenance and refurbishment of existing ships, such as steel, are subject to volatility. Cautionary Note Concerning Factors That May Affect Future Results Some of the statements, estimates or projections contained in this document are “forward-looking statements” that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions with respect to us, including some statements concerning future results, operations, outlooks, plans, goals, reputation, cash flows, liquidity and other events which have not yet occurred. These statements are intended to qualify for the safe harbors from liability provided by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements other than statements of historical facts are statements that could be deemed forward-looking. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about our business and the industry in which we operate and the beliefs and assumptions of our management. We have tried, whenever possible, to identify these statements by using words like “will,” “may,” “could,” “should,” “would,” “believe,” “depends,” “expect,” “goal,” “anticipate,” “forecast,” “project,” “future,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate,” “target,” “indicate,” “outlook,” and similar expressions of future intent or the negative of such terms. Forward-looking statements include those statements that relate to our outlook and financial position including, but not limited to, statements regarding: •Pricing •Estimates of ship depreciable lives and residual values •Booking levels •Goodwill, ship and trademark fair values •Occupancy •Liquidity and credit ratings •Interest, tax and fuel expenses •Adjusted earnings per share •Currency exchange rates •Impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus global pandemic on our financial condition and results of operations Certain of the risks we are exposed to are identified in this Item 1A. “Risk Factors.” This item contains important cautionary statements and a discussion of the known factors that we consider could materially affect the accuracy of our forward-looking statements and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial position. Additionally, many of these risks and uncertainties are currently amplified by and will continue to be amplified by, or in the future may be amplified by, the COVID-19 outbreak. It is not possible to predict or identify all such risks. There may be additional risks that we consider immaterial or which are unknown. Forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results. Subject to any continuing obligations under applicable law or any relevant stock exchange rules, we expressly disclaim any obligation to disseminate, after the date of this document, any updates or revisions to any such forward-looking statements to reflect any change in expectations or events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based. Item 1B.