<div class="ar">NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. slumped to a new 52-week low Friday as a Goldman Sachs analyst removed the cruise operator from his &quot;Conviction Buy&quot; list, citing escalating fuel prices. <p>Analyst Steven Kent swapped out Royal Caribbean Cruises for Las Vegas Sands Corp., predicting energy prices will remain high for some time. </p><p>The cruise industry has continued to battle rising fuel costs, with both Royal and Carnival Corp. implementing fuel surcharges to help alleviate some of the burden. </p><p>The analyst reaffirmed Royal Caribbean's &quot;Buy&quot; rating. </p><p>Separately, a Morgan Stanley analyst downgraded Royal Caribbean to &quot;Equal Weight&quot; from &quot;Overweight.&quot; </p><p>Shares of Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruises fell $1.25, or 4.4 percent, to $27.23. The stock hit a new low of $26.88 earlier in the session.</p></div>