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General | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2016
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] |
General | General Description of Business We are a global cruise company. As of September 30, 2016, we own and operate three global cruise brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises. We also own a 50% joint venture interest in the German brand TUI Cruises, a 49% interest in the Spanish brand Pullmantur and have minority interests in other smaller regional brands. Prior to August 2016, Royal Caribbean Holdings de Espana ("RCHE"), the parent company of the Pullmantur and CDF brands, was wholly owned by us. Effective July 31, 2016, we sold 51% of our interest in RCHE. We retain a 49% interest in RCHE as well as full ownership of the vessels currently operated by the brands, which are bareboat chartered to RCHE. We account for the bareboat charters of the vessels to RCHE as operating leases. We also provide certain ship management services to RCHE. As a result of the sale of a majority interest in RCHE, we recognized an immaterial gain. In addition, we also continue to retain full ownership of the aircraft, which were not impacted by this sale transaction. Effective August 2016, we no longer consolidate RCHE in our consolidated financial statements and our investment in the company is accounted for under the equity method of accounting. Refer to Note 5. Other Assets for further information on our retained interest in RCHE. The sale did not represent a strategic shift that will have a major effect on our operations and financial results, as we continue to provide similar itineraries to and source passengers from the markets served by the Pullmantur and CDF businesses. Therefore, the sale of RCHE did not meet the criteria for discontinued operations reporting. Due to the change in the nature of the cash flows to be generated by the vessels operated by RCHE, we also reviewed the vessels for impairment. We determined that the undiscounted future cash flows of the vessels exceeded their carrying value; therefore, no impairment was required. Basis for Preparation of Consolidated Financial Statements The unaudited consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). Estimates are required for the preparation of financial statements in accordance with these principles. Actual results could differ from these estimates. Refer to Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 for a discussion of our significant accounting policies. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions are eliminated in consolidation. We consolidate entities over which we have control, usually evidenced by a direct ownership interest of greater than 50%, and variable interest entities where we are determined to be the primary beneficiary. Refer to Note 5. Other Assets for further information regarding our variable interest entities. For affiliates we do not control but over which we have significant influence on financial and operating policies, usually evidenced by a direct ownership interest from 20% to 50%, the investment is accounted for using the equity method. Prior to January 1, 2016, we consolidated the operating results of RCHE on a two-month reporting lag to allow for more timely preparation of our consolidated financial statements. Effective January 1, 2016, we eliminated the two-month reporting lag to reflect RCHE's financial position, results of operations and cash flows concurrently and consistently with the fiscal calendar of the Company ("elimination of the Pullmantur reporting lag"). The elimination of the Pullmantur reporting lag represented a change in accounting principle which we believed to be preferable because it provided more current information to the users of our financial statements. A change in accounting principle requires retrospective application, if material. The impact of the elimination of the reporting lag was immaterial to prior periods and is expected to be immaterial for our fiscal year ended December 31, 2016. As a result, we have accounted for this change in accounting principle in our consolidated results for the first nine months of 2016. Accordingly, the results of RCHE for November and December 2015 are included in our statement of comprehensive income (loss) for the nine months ended September 30, 2016. The effect of this change was a decrease to net income of $21.7 million, which has been reported within Other income in our consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) for the nine months ended September 30, 2016.

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