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Updated- Escalated crisis to likely to wipe out St Petersburg cruise season

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 25 February 2022 25 February 2022

“The crisis has already escalated so much that hardly any cruise line will head to St Petersburg unless the war ends soon,” said Tapio Karvonen, Senior Researcher of Maritime Studies at the University of Turku in Finland.

He referred to the deepening of the crisis since Friday, when he spoke to CruiseBusiness.com about the potential effects of Russia’s attack on Ukraine for the cruise industry in Russian ports.

On Friday, Karvonen said that cruise lines that send their ships to call at Russian ports may find themselves facing a serious PR problem given the country’s war in Ukraine ahead of the start of the cruise season in the Baltic, an academic has warned.

“There are high expectations regarding the cruise season in the Baltic this year. However, the war will reduce the numbers of passengers,” he said.

“However, it is possible that quite a few people will cancel their bookings particularly Americans,” he told CruiseBusiness.com

But the booking volumes are not the only consideration that cruise line will need to think of when they think whether or not to operate their itineraries in the Baltic and calls in St Petersburg.

“It is possible that calling at Russian ports can do serious harm to the image of cruise lines that do this, the attractions of St Petersburg are not an argument to use in marketing right now,” he said.

The risk of calls at Russian ports becoming toxic would increase should the conflict become an extended one, Karvonen said, adding that the lines need to think about the possible long term effects of operating cruises to Russian ports in the current situation.

Russia's war in Ukraine starts to affect cruise itineraries

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 25 February 2022 25 February 2022

Several cruise lines are monitoring the situation after Russia’s attack on Ukraine earlier this week, with one line already saying that it will drop scheduled calls at St Petersburg.

Atlas Ocean Voyages said on 24 February that, as a result of current regional tensions, it would adjust two late-summer 2022, Baltic itineraries. “On both the Hamburg-to-Kiel itinerary, departing August 26, 2022, and Kiel-roundtrip itineraries, departing September 7, World Navigator will drop St. Petersburg, Russia, and now call at Kotka and Mariehamn, Finland,” the company said in a statement.

The August 26 voyage includes transit of the Kiel Canal, while the September 7 departure will now also add Saaremaa, Estonia, where World Navigator will dock in the city center, adjacent to the Medieval Castle of Kuressaare, the company said.

Meanwhile, Carnival Corporation & plc group units P&O Cruises and Cunard said they would monitor the situation. “In light of the current situation evolving in Ukraine we will continue to monitor very closely and will amend itineraries as necessary following guidance. The safety and wellbeing of guests and crew is of the highest priority and we will advise guests of any changes,” they were quoted by Travel Weekly as saying.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) CEO Frank del Rio said according to the same source that the company would keep its vessels in the Baltic as scheduled, but added that it may remove St Petersburg from the list of ports of call.

“Our Baltic ships will stay in the Baltic. If we can’t go to St Petersburg there are many other ports in surrounding countries they can visit,” he was quoted by Travel Weekly as saying. The group will have about 5% of its capacity employed in the Baltic during the season that will start in May.

Photo: Throne Room, Winter Palace, St Petersburg, Russia

NCLH expects to have 85% of capacity in service by end of March

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 24 February 2022 24 February 2022

As a result of Omicron-related disruptions, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) now expects to have 85% of its capacity operating by the end of the first quarter of 2022 with the full fleet expected to be back in operation during the early part of the second quarter of 2022, the company said in a statement.

In its report for the third quarter of 2021, the company had expected Mohave its entire fleet is service by that date.

It also expects to reach a critical inflection point during the second quarter of 2022 with net cash provided by operating activities turning positive. Based on the current booked position and trajectory, NCLH expects to have positive adjusted net income1 for the second half of 2022.

“We launched our Great Cruise Comeback in late July 2021 and in five short months, the teams at Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises have restarted operations on 75% of our capacity, safely carrying over 230,000 guests and delivering the unique vacation experiences that our award-winning cruise brands are famous for,” said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of NLCH.

“These last few months have also had their share of challenges caused by the impacts from the Delta and Omicron COVID surges, but despite these challenges which were mostly out of our control, our booked position and pricing remain strong, particularly for the second half of 2022 and into 2023, demonstrating the strong fundamental demand for our cruise offerings,” he said.

Photo: Norwegian Prima is due to enter service in the summer of this year

NCLH losses deepened both in final quarter and full year 2021

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 24 February 2022 24 February 2022

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH), the world’s third largest cruise shipping company, has reported a significant deepening of losses for both the final quarter and full year of 2021.

In the last three months of the year, net loss widened to $1,57 billion from $738.9 million year on, while revenues increased to $487.4 million from a mere $9.6 million.

For the full year, the company reported a net loss of $4.51 billion compared to $4.05 billion in 2020. Revenues decreased to $647.9 million from $1.28 billion, the company said in a statement.

NCL Corporation closes note offerings, to buy back more expensive debt

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 23 February 2022 23 February 2022

NCL Corporation Ltd., a subsidiary of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., said it has closed its previously announced private offerings of three sets of notes that it would use to buy back debt with higher rate of interest.

These comprise $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of its 5.875% senior secured notes due 2027, $600.0 million aggregate principal amount of its 7.750% senior unsecured notes due 2029 and $435.0 million aggregate principal amount of its 2.50% exchangeable senior notes due 2027.

“The offering of the Notes closed on February 18, 2022 and the offering of the Exchangeable Notes closed on February 15, 2022. NCLC used the net proceeds from the offerings of the Notes and the Exchangeable Notes to redeem all of the outstanding 12.25% Senior Secured Notes due 2024 and 10.250% Senior Secured Notes due 2026 and intends to use the remainder of such proceeds to make principal payments on debt maturing in the short-term, including, in each case, to pay any accrued and unpaid interest thereon, as well as related premiums, fees and expenses,” the com[any said in a statement.