<p>Shares of Carnival Corp. and PLC and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. were down in morning trading after Standard &amp; Poor&rsquo;s Rating Services hit the cruise lines with a double whammy &mdash; credit rating downgrades and negative outlooks for 2009 and 2010.</p><p>Carnival (NYSE: CCL) was dropped to a BBB+ from an A- rating, while Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) dropped to BB- from BB. The existing debt of both companies also was lowered one notch.</p><p>S&amp;P credit analyst Ben Bubeck said in a media release that he is looking for an earnings decline &ldquo;in the mid- to high teens&rdquo; for Carnival &mdash; even with a 5 percent capacity increase this year &mdash; and an earnings decline in the mid-teens for Royal Caribbean.</p><p>The downgrade wasn&rsquo;t a complete surprise, as S&amp;P had put Royal Caribbean&rsquo;s ratings on its CreditWatch list with negative implications on Jan. 30. That followed the company&rsquo;s fourth quarter results and its forecast of 9 percent to 13 percent revenue declines during 2009.</p><p>The negative rating outlook reflects S&amp;P&rsquo;s continuing concerns that the weakened state of the economy and the pullback in consumer spending will challenge Royal Caribbean&rsquo;s ability to fill its ships at profitable rates.</p><p>The rating anticipates that the company will be able to secure financing for the first of two Oasis-class ships on order but raises concerns about securing the about $1 billion financing commitment for the second one.</p><p>The negative outlook is somewhat offset by RCL's solid brands, according to S&amp;P, as well as its relatively young and high-quality fleet of ships, the high barriers to entry in the cruise industry and an experienced management team.</p><p>Carnival executives were in flight, returning from a California meeting, and were unavailable for comment.</p><p>Royal Caribbean did not return a call for comment.</p><p>Both Carnival and Royal Caribbean have cruise ship departures from Tampa.</p><p>Carnival shares were down 48 cents to $22.66 in late morning trading. The 52-week high was $43.54 on April 2. The 52-week low was $14.85 on Nov. 21.</p><p>Royal Caribbean shares were down 38 cents to $8.93 in late morning trading. The 52-week high was $35.98 on April 1. The 52-week low was $5.40 on March 3.</p>