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Summary
- Carnival Plc (LON:CCL) announced halting of operations from its US ports through 31 May.
- Customers can choose between a complete refund of cruise credit for later travel.
- Disney Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean Group and many others have cancelled tours.
International cruise line Carnival Plc (LON: CCL) on Wednesday announced that its operations from US ports would remain discontinued through 31 May and added that it has not decided the date for resumption yet.
The company would be providing customers, whose cruise bookings had to be cancelled due to the announcement, the option to choose from a complete refund or a credit for future travel plans. Earlier in February, Carnival had started providing customers who had bookings till summer the option to cancel without imposing any cancellation charges.
Also read: Carnival’s Revenue almost Erode in Q3 2020, First Half Next Year looks to be Better
After the Canadian government’s decision to disallow ships carrying more than 100 people from entering Canada till February 2022, several of Carnival brands have either cancelled their tours or halted operations.
Christine Duffy, President of Carnival Cruise Line, said that the company is hopeful that efforts to expedite vaccination drive would have a positive impact on public health and would give the company the confidence to plan the resumption.
The Covid-19 crisis has had a debilitating impact on the travel and tourism industry worldwide. Travel restrictions and various kinds of curbs have led to the bleeding of sectors like aviation, hospitality, and tourism. For the cruising sector, a survey had found that for the 11 months between January and November 2020, the value of the fleet had fallen by almost $40 billion. Many of these cruise ships had to be sold at throw away prices.
Also read: Cruise operator Carnival seeks $6.25 billion to fight against the coronavirus shock wave
Cancellations and pent-up demand
Carnival was not the only one to announce discontinuation of operations. Disney Cruise Line also said they have paused services through May. Some cruises for August and even beyond have been cancelled by the company. In a statement, the company said that it was awaiting more clarifications from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and hence cancelled all cruises through May 2021.
Since international borders might remain closed, Disney also cancelled Disney Magic cruises through 10 August.
Canadian Transport Ministry’s orders have also forced ultra-luxury cruise line Seabourn Cruise Line to cancel its Alaska/British Columbia departures. Other luxury cruises like Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises have also cancelled bookings till June. Sailings that were supposed to begin have been cancelled through 31 May.
Norwegian Cruise in a statement said that the company has voluntarily extended the suspension of its operations across three brands as it was trying to work out its return to service plan by meeting the guidelines for sailing issued by CDC.
The Royal Caribbean Group had announced cancelling of cruises till spring, including the ones with its subsidiary Azamara. The company had also said that suspension of certain sailings was necessary as the company was working with CDC and other government authorities to understand necessary protocols. It said that all its sailings through 30 April 30 were cancelled. The Spectrum of the Seas for 16-28 February was also cancelled.
Also read: Is there a turnaround for NZ Cruise and Shipping Industry in 2021?
As the authorities worldwide are trying to come up with new protocols to ensure safety, the companies are not being able to serve consumers, despite evidence of pent-up demand. A leading trade organisation for the sailing industry had found in a survey conducted in November that 50 per cent consumers were willing to undertake sailing within a year while 73 per cent had said they would go back to cruising in the next few years and not so soon.
