Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

v3.20.2
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

2.   Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Liquidity and Management’s Plan

Due to the continued spread of COVID-19, growing travel restrictions and limited access to ports around the world, in March 2020, the Company implemented a voluntary suspension of all cruise voyages across its three brands, which has subsequently been extended through December 31, 2020. Additionally, Regent has suspended its 2021 World Cruise along with voyages departing through April 2021 on one ship and voyages in Australia through February 2021, Oceania Cruises has cancelled its World Cruise through May 18, 2021 and voyages in Australia through February 2021, and Norwegian has cancelled all voyages aboard three of its ships through March 30, 2021. On March 14, 2020, concurrent with our and the broader cruise industry’s original suspension, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) issued a No Sail Order through April 13, 2020, which was subsequently extended through October 31, 2020. On October 30, 2020, the CDC issued a Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (the “Conditional Order”) that introduces a phased approach for the resumption of passenger cruises. These phases include:

the establishment of laboratory testing of crew onboard cruise ships in U.S. waters;
simulated voyages designed to test a cruise ship operator’s ability to mitigate COVID-19 on cruise ships;
a certification process; and
a return to passenger voyages in a manner that mitigates the risk of COVID-19 introduction, transmission or spread among passenger and crew onboard ships and ashore to communities.

The Conditional Order replaces the CDC’s No Sail Order that expired on October 31, 2020 and will remain in effect until the earlier of a) the expiration of the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ declaration that COVID-19 constitutes a public health emergency, b) the CDC Director rescinds or modifies the Conditional Order based on specific public health or other considerations, or c) November 1, 2021.

While the Conditional Order is an important step on the path to the safer and healthier resumption of cruising in the U.S., many uncertainties remain as to the specifics and timing of implementation, administration and costs of the requirements of the Conditional Order, some of which may be significant. Additionally, pursuant to the Conditional Order, the CDC may issue additional requirements through technical instructions or orders as needed and the phases described above may be subject to change based on public health considerations, including the trajectory of the pandemic and the ability of cruise ship operators to successfully employ measures that mitigate the risk of COVID-19. The duration of any voluntary suspensions we have implemented and the resumption of operations both inside and outside of the United States will be dependent, in part, on our ability to comply with the Conditional Order, the severity and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lifting of various travel restrictions and travel bans issued by various countries and communities around the world, as well as the availability of ports.

We continue to expect a gradual phased relaunch of our ships after the voyage suspension period, with our ships initially operating at reduced occupancy levels. The timing for bringing our ships back to service and percentage of fleet in service will depend on a number of factors including, but not limited to, the duration and extent of the COVID-19 pandemic, including further resurgences of COVID-19, our ability to comply with the Conditional Order, port availability, travel restrictions and advisories and our ability to re-staff our ships and implement new health and safety protocols. Significant events affecting travel, including COVID-19, typically have an impact on demand for cruise vacations, with the full extent of the impact generally determined by the length of time the event influences travel decisions. We believe the ongoing effects of COVID-19 on our operations and global bookings have had, and will continue to have, a significant impact on our financial results and liquidity, and such negative impact may continue well beyond the containment of the pandemic. Due to the unknown duration and extent of the COVID-19 pandemic, travel restrictions and advisories, uncertainties around our ability to comply with the Conditional Order, the potential unavailability of ports and/or destinations, unknown cancellations and timing of redeployments and a general impact on consumer sentiment regarding cruise travel, we cannot predict when our full fleet will be back in service at historical occupancy levels and, accordingly, the full effect on our financial performance and financial condition cannot be quantified at this time; however, we will report a net loss for the year ending December 31, 2020.

Since March 2020, we have taken several actions to bolster our financial condition while our global cruise voyages are suspended. In March 2020, NCLC borrowed the full amount of $1.55 billion under its $875 million Revolving Loan Facility and its then existing $675 million Epic Credit Facility, dated as of March 5, 2020. We have taken additional measures to improve our liquidity by refinancing existing debt amortization, including under our agreements with export credit agencies and related governments, and by extending the maturities and refinancing amortization under other agreements, which has resulted in approximately $1.6 billion of payment deferrals. See Note 8 – “Long-Term Debt” for further information. Through September 30, 2020, the Company received additional financing through various debt financings and equity offerings in May and July 2020 totaling $3.9 billion in gross proceeds. See Note 8 – “Long-Term Debt” for further information on the debt financings. The equity offerings resulted in 60,984,848 shares being issued in exchange for gross proceeds of $747.5 million. The Company has also undertaken several proactive cost reduction and cash conservation measures to mitigate the financial and operational impacts of COVID-19, through the reduction of capital expenditures and operating expenses, including food, fuel, insurance, port charges and reduced crew manning of vessels during the suspension, resulting in lower crew payroll expense.

In accordance with Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-15, Presentation of Financial Statements—Going Concern (Subtopic 205-40): Disclosure of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern, the Company has evaluated whether there are conditions and events, considered in the aggregate, that raise substantial doubt

about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the consolidated financial statements are issued. The quantitative liquidity analysis reflects management’s principal assumptions related to (i) the Company’s ability to operate and redeployment of the fleet not currently in service, (ii) forecasted cash collections for future voyages and (iii) forecasted liquidity requirements for ongoing operations. Based on the actions the Company has taken as described above and our resulting current resources, the Company has alleviated the substantial doubt previously disclosed and has sufficient liquidity to satisfy our obligations over the next twelve months and maintain minimum levels of liquidity as required by certain of our debt agreements.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements are unaudited and, in our opinion, contain all normal recurring adjustments necessary for a fair statement of the results for the periods presented.

Our operations are seasonal and results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results for the entire fiscal year. Historically, demand for cruises has been strongest during the Northern Hemisphere’s summer months; however, our cruise voyages were completely suspended during the summer months of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019, which are included in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC, as updated by our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on July 8, 2020.

Reclassifications

 

Certain amounts in prior periods have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation.

Earnings (Loss) Per Share

A reconciliation between basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share was as follows (in thousands, except share and per share data):

Three Months Ended

Nine Months Ended

September 30, 

September 30, 

    

2020

    

2019

    

2020

    

2019

Net income (loss)

$

(677,366)

$

450,584

$

(3,273,581)

$

808,931

Basic weighted-average shares outstanding

 

271,435,350

 

214,207,716

 

241,578,995

 

215,614,098

Dilutive effect of share awards

 

 

1,291,746

 

 

1,435,957

Diluted weighted-average shares outstanding

 

271,435,350

 

215,499,462

 

241,578,995

 

217,050,055

Basic earnings (loss) per share

$

(2.50)

$

2.10

$

(13.55)

$

3.75

Diluted earnings (loss) per share

$

(2.50)

$

2.09

$

(13.55)

$

3.73

For the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, a total of 124.0 million and 3.5 million shares, respectively, and for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, a total of 63.4 million and 4.2 million shares, respectively, have been excluded from diluted weighted-average shares outstanding because the effect of including them would have been anti-dilutive.

Foreign Currency

The majority of our transactions are settled in U.S. dollars. We remeasure assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies at exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet date. Gains or losses resulting from transactions denominated in other currencies are recognized in our consolidated statements of operations within other income, net. We recognized a loss of $12.3 million and a gain of $9.9 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and a loss of $2.6 million and a gain of $5.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, related to transactions denominated in other currencies.

Depreciation and Amortization Expense

The amortization of deferred financing fees is included in depreciation and amortization expense in the consolidated statements of cash flows; however, for purposes of the consolidated statements of operations they are included in interest expense, net.

Recently Issued Accounting Guidance

In August 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU No. 2020-06, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40) Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity (“ASU 2020-06”),- which reduces the number of accounting models for convertible debt instruments and enhances transparency in disclosures. One model which is being eliminated is the bifurcation of embedded conversion features that are not accounted for separately as derivatives. A convertible debt instrument previously accounted for under this model will be accounted for as a single liability measured at its amortized cost. Adoption of the provisions of ASU 2020-06 are required for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021; however, early adoption is permitted. We will early adopt this guidance on January 1, 2021 on a modified retrospective basis. As a result of the adoption, the beneficial conversion feature on the Private Exchangeable Notes (as defined and discussed in Note 8 – “Long-Term Debt”) which is included in additional paid-in-capital will be reclassified to long-term debt. Any related interest which has been recognized will be adjusted through retained earnings. Additional disclosures will be added as necessary.

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting (“ASU 2020-04”), which provided guidance to alleviate the burden in accounting for reference rate reform by allowing certain expedients and exceptions in applying GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships and other transactions impacted by reference rate reform. The provisions apply only to those transactions that reference LIBOR or another reference rate expected to be discontinued due to reference rate reform. Adoption of the provisions of ASU 2020-04 are optional and are effective from March 12, 2020 through December 31, 2022. We are currently evaluating the impact of ASU 2020-04 on our consolidated financial statements.