Trans fats, your days are numbered. This week, you found Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) kissing you off its baked treats menu. That follows similar announcements in recent months by companies like Disney (NYSE:DIS) and Wendy's (NYSE:WEN). But if you thought that you could just sail away to find new arteries to clog up and bad cholesterol levels to raise, you've got another think coming. Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL) is writing you off on the high seas, too.
The move by Royal Caribbean is only mildly surprising. With its rock walls and televised ads that feature teens and young adults making the most of the active cruising lifestyle, Royal Caribbean's clientele isn't the same elderly crowd that used to flock to floating hotels for the bingo games, shuffleboard tourneys, and midnight buffets.
Then again, that's the way it's been for the cruising industry in recent years. Carnival (NYSE:CCL) attracts a young crowd of seafaring revelers with its bargain-priced sailings on its namesake fleet, while Disney naturally caters to young families on its Disney Magic and Disney Wonder ships. The shift toward younger industry demographics has certainly helped Steiner Leisure (NASDAQ:STNR), the operator of the spas on most of the largest cruise ships. The stock has more than doubled since being recommended to Motley Fool Rule Breakers subscribers in the fall of 2004.
Will others follow Royal Caribbean's lead? Probably. If a dieting movement is canvassing the country's youth, the major cruise lines will find a way to reflect that in their dining rooms. So see you later, trans fats. It wasn't all that nice knowing you.
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Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz went on a Royal Caribbean cruise last year and did take on the rock wall. He owns shares in Disney, a Stock Advisor selection. Starbucks is another of that newsletter's picks. Rick is also part of theRule Breakersnewsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy.
