Item 7A. Qualitative and Quantitative Disclosures about Market Risk

General

We are exposed to market risk attributable to changes in interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates and fuel prices. We attempt to minimize these risks through a combination of our normal operating and financing activities and through the use of derivatives. The financial impacts of these derivative instruments are primarily offset by corresponding changes in the underlying exposures being hedged. We achieve this by closely matching the notional, term and conditions of the derivatives with the underlying risk being hedged. We do not hold or issue derivatives for trading or other speculative purposes. Derivative positions are monitored using techniques including market valuations and sensitivity analyses.

Interest Rate Risk

As of December 31, 2016, we had interest rate swap agreements to hedge our exposure to interest rate movements and to manage our interest expense. As of December 31, 2016, 55.0% of our debt was fixed and 45.0% was variable, which includes the effects of the interest rate swaps. The notional amount of outstanding debt associated with the interest rate swap agreements as of December 31, 2016 was $308.5 million. Based on our December 31, 2016 outstanding variable rate debt balance, a one percentage point increase in annual LIBOR would increase our annual interest expense by approximately $29.1 million excluding the effects of capitalization of interest.

Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Risk

As of December 31, 2016, we had foreign currency derivatives to hedge the exposure to volatility in foreign currency exchange rates related to our ship construction contracts denominated in euros. These derivatives hedge the foreign currency exchange rate risk on a portion of the payments on our ship construction contracts. The payments not hedged aggregate €146.9 million, or $154.5 million based on the euro/U.S. dollar exchange rate as of December 31, 2016. We estimate that a 10% change in the euro as of December 31, 2016 would result in a $15.5 million change in the U.S. dollar value of the foreign currency denominated remaining payments.

Fuel Price Risk

Our exposure to market risk for changes in fuel prices relates to the forecasted purchases of fuel on our ships. Fuel expense, as a percentage of our total cruise operating expense, was 11.8%, 13.5% and 16.8% for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively. We use fuel derivative agreements to mitigate the financial impact of fluctuations in fuel prices and as of December 31, 2016, we had hedged approximately 78%, 66%, 48% and 18% of our 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 projected metric tons of fuel purchases, respectively. We estimate that a 10% increase in our weighted-average fuel price would increase our anticipated 2017 fuel expense by $28.5 million. This increase would be partially offset by an increase in the fair value of our fuel swap agreements of $17.8 million. Fair value of our derivative contracts is derived using valuation models that utilize the income valuation approach. These valuation models take into account the contract terms such as maturity, as well as other inputs such as fuel types, fuel curves, creditworthiness of the counterparty and the Company, as well as other data points.