MIAMI, Jan. 25 -- Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL; OSE)
announced today a 16% increase in net income to $445 million in 2000, from the
prior year's $384 million. Earnings per share were $2.31, up from $2.06 in
1999, on revenues of $2.9 billion versus $2.5 billion the prior year. Results
for 1999 include $17.3 million in charges for non-recurring items. Net
revenue yields (net revenues per available passenger cruise day) for 2000 were
the same as in 1999.

Revenues for the fourth quarter were $642 million, up 10% from $584 million
in 1999. The increase in revenues was due primarily to the increase in
capacity in the quarter, partially offset by a change in yields. Net revenue
yields for the quarter were down 7%, primarily due to the introduction of
several new itineraries, and the impact of the Millennium New Year's event,
which positively affected both the fourth quarter of 1999 and the first
quarter of 2000. Net income for the quarter was $30 million, as compared with
$38 million in the fourth quarter of 1999. Earnings per share were $0.16,
versus $0.19 the prior year.

The company also announced the completion of a $360 million 5-year term loan
with a group of European banks. This facility can be utilized during 2001 and
bears interest at LIBOR plus one percent.

"It is a pleasure to again report record earnings. Our core products
continue to perform well, allowing us to introduce new itineraries and develop
new markets for future growth," said Richard D. Fain, chairman and CEO of
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

"Looking forward to 2001, we expect that we will continue to experience a
competitive pricing environment but nevertheless are anticipating a very
exciting year. The wave season is off to a good start and we have set a
number of new booking records during the past two weeks."

"We recently introduced a new TV campaign for Royal Caribbean International
that allows the consumer to experience virtual cruise vacations through our
enhanced website. Early response to the new campaign has been very good."

"In March we will introduce our next class of ships with Radiance of the
Seas. She will have many of the dining and entertainment options of our
Voyager-class ships, but will also have her own unique features. These
include a 10-story glass-enclosed centrum, glass elevators facing the sea and
more outside staterooms than any other ship in the Royal Caribbean
International fleet, making her an ideal ship from which to view the natural
beauty of Alaska during her inaugural season."

"Guests on Radiance of the Seas and our other ships sailing in Alaska will
be able to take advantage of our new land/cruise packages through Royal
Celebrity Tours. We offer 13 cruise-tour packages, most of which include
segments traveling on our new glass-domed rail cars, which are the largest in
the world."

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is a global cruise vacation company that
operates Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Royal Celebrity
Tours. Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises have a combined
total of 19 ships in service and 10 under construction or on firm order. Royal
Celebrity Tours operates cruisetour vacations in Alaska utilizing the world's
largest glass-domed railcars. Additional information can be found on
www.royalcaribbean.com
or
www.celebritycruises.com.

The company has scheduled a conference call at 10:00 a.m. today to discuss
its earnings. This call can be listened to, either live or on a delayed
basis, on the company's investor relations web site at
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.
(Financial Tables Follow)
ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(unaudited, dollars in thousands, except per share data)
Fourth Quarter Ended Year Ended
December 31, December 31,
2000 1999 2000 1999
Revenues $642,118 $583,982 $2,865,846 $2,546,152
Expenses
Operating 413,794 366,231 1,652,459 1,496,252
Marketing,
selling and
administrative 103,460 100,337 412,799 371,817
Depreciation and
amortization 62,323 51,965 231,048 197,909
579,577 518,533 2,296,306 2,065,978
Operating Income 62,541 65,449 569,540 480,174
Other Income
(Expense)
Interest income 3,003 3,554 7,922 8,182
Interest expense,
net of
capitalized
interest (51,463) (30,638) (154,328) (130,625)
Other income
(expense) 15,999 (27) 22,229 26,122
(32,461) (27,111) (124,177) (96,321)
Net Income $30,080 $38,338 $445,363 $383,853
Earnings Per Share
Basic $0.16 $0.19 $2.34 $2.15
Diluted $0.16 $0.19 $2.31 $2.06
Weighted Average
Shares Outstanding
Basic 192,092,748 180,827,364 189,397,021 172,318,798
Diluted 193,105,881 184,341,622 192,934,538 186,456,392
STATISTICS
Fourth Quarter Year Ended December 31,
2000 1999 2000 1999
Occupancy as a percentage
of total capacity 100.1% 102.9% 104.4% 104.7%
Guest Cruise Days 3,400,856 2,896,743 13,019,811 11,227,196