MIAMI, Jan. 25 -- Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL; OSE)
announced today a 16% increase in net income to $383.9 million in 1999, up
from $330.8 million in 1998. Earnings per share was $2.06, or 13% higher than
the previous year. Since both years experienced non-recurring items,
comparable EPS was $2.15 in 1999 versus $1.93 in 1998.

Revenues were $2.5 billion, as compared to $2.6 billion in 1998. The slight
decline in revenues was due primarily to a 3% decrease in capacity in 1999.
This decrease was the result of the sale of Song of America and service
outages in the first half of the year.

On a comparable basis, earnings for the fourth quarter of 1999 increased to
$.21 per share compared to $.17 per share in 1998. Reported net income for
the fourth quarter of 1999 was $38.3 million or $.19 per share, which includes
a $3.3 million non-recurring item. Reported net income for the fourth quarter
of 1998 was $23.4 million or $0.12 per share, which includes a $9 million
non-recurring item. Revenues for the fourth quarter of 1999 were $584.0
million, up from $575.1 million in 1998.

"We are pleased with our earnings growth in 1999, especially in a year of
reduced capacity," said Richard D. Fain, chairman and chief executive officer.
"Continued focus on yield management and cost control have proven effective,
enabling us to report record earnings once again. We are particularly pleased
with the introduction of Voyager of the Seas. We had always anticipated the
ship would be a success, and are very happy with the positive press she has
received. We look forward to continuing our tradition of product innovation
with the delivery of Celebrity's Millennium in June of this year."

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is a global cruise company operating two cruise
brands, Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises. The brands'
combined fleet currently consists of 17 vessels; 10 additional vessels are on
order for delivery through 2004. For additional information about Royal
Caribbean, visit the company's Internet sites on the World Wide Web at
http://www.royalcaribbean.com,
http://www.celebrity-cruises.com
or
http://www.rclinvestor.com.

Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking statements. Such
forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may
cause the actual results, performances or achievements to differ materially
from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in such
forward-looking statements. Such factors include general economic and
business conditions, changes in cruise industry competition, weather and other
factors described in further detail in Royal Caribbean's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(unaudited, in thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
Fourth Quarter Ended Year Ended
December 31, December 31,
1999 1998 1999 1998
Revenues $583,982 $575,148 $2,546,152 $2,636,291
Expenses
Operating 366,231 379,627 1,496,252 1,593,728
Marketing, selling
and administrative 100,337 83,717 371,817 359,214
Depreciation
and amortization 51,965 47,655 197,909 194,614
518,533 510,999 2,065,978 2,147,556
Operating Income 65,449 64,149 480,174 488,735
Other Income (Expense)
Interest income 3,554 3,463 8,182 15,912
Interest expense, net
of capitalized
interest (30,638) (39,489) (130,625) (167,869)
Other income (expense) (27) (4,698) 26,122 (6,008)
(27,111) (40,724) (96,321) (157,965)
Net Income $38,338 $23,425 $383,853 $330,770
Earnings per Share
Basic $0.19 $0.12 $2.15 $1.90
Diluted $0.19 $0.12 $2.06 $1.83
STATISTICS
Fourth Quarter Year to Date
1999 1998 1999 1998
Occupancy as a
percentage of total
capacity 102.9% 101.6% 104.7% 105.2%
Passenger Cruise
Days 2,896,743 2,811,302 11,227,196 11,607,906