Carnival Cruises 2009 Annual Report Download - page 49

of common stock, cash, or a combination thereof. Our debt, excluding short-term borrowings, has a
weighted-average maturity of five years. See Note 5 in the accompanying consolidated financial statements
for additional information regarding these contractual cash obligations.
(b) Represents cash outflows for certain of our long-term liabilities that could be reasonably estimated. The
primary outflows are for estimates of our employee benefit plan obligations, crew and guest claims,
uncertain income tax position liabilities, certain deferred income taxes, derivative contracts payable and
other long-term liabilities. Deferred income and certain deferred income taxes have been excluded from the
table because they do not require a cash settlement in the future.
(c) Our shipbuilding contractual obligations are legal commitments and, accordingly, cannot be cancelled
without cause by us or the shipyards, and such cancellation will subject the defaulting party to significant
contractual liquidating damage payments. See Note 6 in the accompanying consolidated financial statements
for additional information regarding these contractual cash obligations.
(d) Represents legally-binding commitments to purchase inventory and other goods and services made in the
normal course of business to meet operational requirements. Many of our contracts contain clauses that
allow us to terminate the contract with notice, either with or without a termination penalty. Termination
penalties are generally an amount less than the original obligation. Historically, we have not had any
significant defaults of our contractual obligations or incurred significant penalties for termination of our
contractual obligations.
(e) Fixed rate interest payments represent cash outflows for fixed interest payments, excluding interest swapped
from a fixed rate to a floating rate. Floating rate interest payments represent forecasted cash outflows for
interest payments on floating rate debt, including interest swapped from a fixed rate to a floating rate, using
the November 30, 2009 forward interest rates for the remaining terms of the loans.
(f) Amounts payable in foreign currencies, which are usually euro and sterling, are based on the November 30,
2009 exchange rates.
In June 2006, the Boards of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to an aggregate of $1 billion of Carnival
Corporation common stock and Carnival plc ordinary shares subject to certain restrictions. On September 19, 2007,
the Boards of Directors increased the remaining $578 million general repurchase authorization back to $1
billion. During fiscal 2009, there were no repurchases under the general repurchase authorization and at January 28,
2010, the remaining availability pursuant to our general repurchase authorization was $787 million. It is not our
present intention to repurchase shares under the general repurchase authorization, however, it is possible we will
make repurchases under our “Stock Swap” programs as discussed below. The general repurchase authorization does
not have an expiration date and may be discontinued by our Boards of Directors at any time. However, all the
Carnival plc share repurchase authorizations require annual shareholder approval.
In addition to the general repurchase authorization, the Boards of Directors have authorized the repurchase
of up to 19.2 million Carnival plc ordinary shares and up to 25 million shares of Carnival Corporation common
stock under the “Stock Swap” programs. We use these “Stock Swap” programs in situations where we can obtain
an economic benefit because either Carnival Corporation common stock or Carnival plc ordinary shares are
trading at a price that is at a premium or discount to the price of Carnival plc ordinary shares or Carnival
Corporation common stock, as the case may be. Accordingly, if we sell either shares of Carnival Corporation
common stock or Carnival plc ordinary shares, we use the net proceeds to repurchase Carnival plc ordinary
shares or Carnival Corporation common stock, as the case may be, on at least an equivalent basis, with the
remaining net proceeds, if any, used for general corporate purposes. Finally, under the “Stock Swap” programs,
the sales of the Carnival Corporation common stock and Carnival plc ordinary shares have been registered under
the Securities Act of 1933 and such shares of common stock and ordinary shares have been and will be sold at
market prices.
At November 30, 2009, as adjusted for the voluntary cancellation of our $579 million export credit facility
for P&O Cruises’ Azura after year end, we had liquidity of $6.3 billion. Our liquidity consisted of $214 million
of cash and cash equivalents, excluding cash on hand of $324 million used for current operations, $2.4 billion
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