Royal Caribbean IS PROUD (and enriched) to be UnAmerican:

NO SHIRT! NO SERVICE!

NO TAXES! NO FREE SERVICES!

I would bet that over 95% of the passengers on RCCL are Americans. I would not call that "incidental." Maybe if we all got dual citizenship between the U.S.A. and Liberia, we could all avoid paying income taxes. Since Royal Caribbean and Carnival are exempt from paying income taxes to the U.S., should they also be exempt from receiving free services from the U.S. Coast Guard, the FBI, Customs, U.S. health agencies, U.S departments that maintain the safety and security of the ports, etc? I believe we should be charging all cruise line companies some hefty fees for all of the American services they receive for free. Avoiding American income taxes lets Carnival and Royal Caribbean keep another half billion dollars in profits, giving these foreign corporations more money to interfere with the American political process by funneling millions of dollars into lobbying efforts and campaign donations. This prevents any meaningful legislation from being passed that might increase their taxes, port fees, or safety and security responsibilities. That's why they have little liability for the 47 people who went overboard since the year 2000 and why few if any of the hundreds of sexual assaults or robberies ever result in indictments or convictions.

On his MSNBC show Joe Scarborough stated that Cruise ships should be required to be flagged in the United States if they have American Ports of call. Unfortunately, this will never happen. They don’t even pay taxes. Will Carnival provide better safety and security for those housed on board the ships contracted by FEMA for six months than they do for regular cruises? It might be worth interviewing some of the people staying on board for several months. Carnival, which is headquartered in Miami but incorporated for tax purposes in Panama, paid just $3 million in income tax benefits on $1.9 billion in pretax income last year, according to company documents. This is the same as if I made $100,000 last year and only had to pay $75.00 in taxes. "That's not even a tip," said Robert S. McIntyre of Citizens for Tax Justice. U.S.Companiess in general pay an effective income tax rate of about 25 percent, analysts say. That would have left Carnival with a $475 million tax bill. No wander the FBI does not want to investigate incidents on Carnival ships. If Carnival paid the $475 million in taxes they should pay, the FBI could afford to have an agent on each cruise to monitor safety and security. (Personally, I believe that state, local, and Federal government agencies should not give any contracts for Hurricane repairs or anything else or do business with any companies that have headquarters outside the United States and funnel their profits off shore to avoid taxes)

$236 Million Cruise Ship Deal Criticized
By Jonathan Weisman , Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 28, 2005

...the Carnival deal has come under particular scrutiny. Not only are questions being raised over the contract's cost, but congressional investigators are examining the company's tax status. Carnival, which is headquartered in Miami but incorporated for tax purposes in Panama, paid just $3 million in income tax benefits on $1.9 billion in pretax income last year, according to company documents. "That's not even a tip," said Robert S. McIntyre of Citizens for Tax Justice. U.S. companies in general pay an effective income tax rate of about 25 percent, analysts say. That would have left Carnival with a $475 million tax bill.
Carnival's public records boast "that substantially all of our income in fiscal 2004, 2003 and 2002 . . .Is exempt from U.S. federal income taxes," largely because it maintains that its operations are not in the United States but on the high seas.
Carnival does not want to see that tax status jeopardized just because three major ships are clearly operating in the United States. After it won the FEMA bid, Carnival appealed to Treasury Secretary John W. Snow for a waiver of U.S. taxes. "We do not want to jeopardize our tax exemption, nor do we want to interrupt our relief efforts for failure to secure this assurance from the Treasury Department," wrote Howard Frank, Carnival's chief operating officer.
Cruise line council President Crye said the company will reduce its billings under the contract by the amount of income taxes forgiven. The waiver would spare Carnival and its employees the paperwork of filing tax returns.
But critics say Carnival deserves to be treated no differently than a hotel housing relief workers under a FEMA contract. "Carnival should be contributing to the relief effort just like all other taxpayers are," McIntyre said. "Why should they be singled out for special treatment, just because they've been so good at tax avoidance in the past?"

{The following statement appeared in the Form 10-K filed by Royal Caribbean (RCCL} with the Security and Exchange Commission on February 24, 2006}

A change in our tax status under the United States Internal Revenue Code may have adverse effects on our income.

We and a number of our subsidiaries are foreign corporations that derive income from a United States trade or business and/or from sources within the United States. Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, our United States tax counsel, has delivered to us an opinion, based on certain representations and assumptions set forth in it, to the effect that this income, to the extent derived from or "incidental" to the international operation of a ship or ships, is exempt from United States income tax pursuant to Section 883 of the Internal Revenue Code. We believe that most of our income (including that of our subsidiaries) is derived from or "incidental" to the international operation of a ship or ships.