Carnival Cruises 2007 Annual Report Download - page 34

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION
AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
CARNIVAL CORPORATION & PLC | 31
CAUTIONARY NOTE CONCERNING FACTORS
THAT MAY AFFECT FUTURE RESULTS
Some of the statements contained in this 2007 Annual
Report are “forward-looking statements” that involve risks,
uncertainties and assumptions with respect to us, including
some statements concerning future results, outlook, plans,
goals 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. We
have tried, whenever possible, to identify these statements by
using words like “will,” “may,” “believe,” “expect,” “antici-
pate,” “forecast,” “future,” “intends,” “plan,” and “estimate”
and similar expressions.
Because forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties, there are many factors that could cause our
actual results, performance or achievements to differ materi-
ally from those expressed or implied in this 2007 Annual
Report. Forward-looking statements include those statements
which may impact the forecasting of our earnings per share,
net revenue yields, booking levels, pricing, occupancy, operat-
ing, financing and/or tax costs, fuel costs, costs per available
lower berth day (“ALBD”), estimates of ship depreciable lives
and residual values, outlook or business prospects. These
factors include, but are not limited to, the following:
฀ •฀฀general฀economic฀and฀business฀conditions฀and฀percep-
tions of these conditions that may adversely impact the
levels of our potential vacationers’ discretionary income
and this group’s confidence in the U.S. and other econo-
mies and, consequently reduce our cruise brands’ net
revenue yields;
฀ •฀฀the฀international฀political฀climate,฀armed฀conflicts,฀terror-
ist attacks and threats thereof, availability and pricing of
air service and other world events, and their impact on
the demand for cruises;
฀ •฀฀conditions฀in฀the฀cruise฀and฀land-based฀vacation฀indus-
tries, including competition from other cruise ship opera-
tors and providers of other vacation alternatives and over
capacity offered by cruise ship and land-based vacation
alternatives;
฀ •฀฀accidents,฀adverse฀weather฀conditions฀or฀natural฀disasters,฀
such as hurricanes and earthquakes and other incidents
(including machinery and equipment failures or improper
operation thereof) which could cause the alteration of
itineraries or cancellation of a cruise or series of cruises,
and the impact of the spread of contagious diseases,
affecting the health, safety, security and/or vacation
satisfaction of guests;
฀ •฀฀adverse฀publicity฀concerning฀the฀cruise฀industry฀in฀gen-
eral, or us in particular, could impact the demand for
our cruises;
฀ •฀฀lack฀of฀acceptance฀of฀new฀itineraries,฀products฀and฀
services by our guests;
฀ •฀฀changing฀consumer฀preferences,฀which฀may,฀among฀
other things, adversely impact the demand for cruises;
฀ •฀฀the฀impact฀of฀changes฀in฀and฀compliance฀with฀laws฀and฀
regulations relating to environmental, health, safety, secu-
rity, tax and other regulatory regimes under which we
operate, including the implementation of U.S. regulations
requiring U.S. citizens to obtain passports for sea travel
to or from additional foreign destinations;
฀ •฀฀the฀impact฀of฀increased฀global฀fuel฀demand,฀a฀weakening฀
U.S. dollar, fuel supply disruptions and/or other events on
our ships’ fuel expenses;
฀ •฀฀the฀impact฀of฀changes฀in฀operating฀and฀financing฀costs,฀
including changes in foreign currency exchange rates
and interest rates and food, insurance, payroll and
security costs;
฀ •฀฀our฀ability฀to฀implement฀our฀shipbuilding฀programs,฀
including purchasing ships for our North American cruise
brands from European shipyards on terms that are favor-
able or consistent with our expectations;
฀ •฀฀our฀ability฀to฀implement฀our฀brand฀strategies฀and฀to฀con-
tinue to operate and expand our business internationally;
฀ •฀฀our฀future฀operating฀cash฀flow฀may฀not฀be฀sufficient฀to฀
fund future obligations, and we may not be able to obtain
financing, if necessary, on terms that are favorable or
consistent with our expectations;
฀ •฀฀our฀ability฀to฀attract฀and฀retain฀qualified฀shipboard฀crew฀
and maintain good relations with employee unions;
฀ •฀฀continuing฀financial฀viability฀of฀our฀travel฀agent฀distribu-
tion system and air service providers;
฀ •฀฀the฀impact฀of฀our฀self-insuring฀against฀various฀risks฀or฀
our inability to obtain insurance for certain risks at
reasonable rates;
฀ •฀฀disruptions฀and฀other฀impairments฀to฀our฀information฀
technology networks;