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Sture Myrmell to follow Simon Palethorpe as Carnival UK president

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 28 September 2021 28 September 2021

Sture Myrmell has been appointed president of Carnival UK to succeed Simon Palethorpe from 18 October, the company said in a statement.

Myrmell will take up his new position in Southampton has worked as president of P&O Cruises Australia and president of Carnival Australia. He will also serve temporarily as president of Cunard during the recruitment for that position. He will report directly to Josh Weinstein, chief operations officer for Carnival Corporation, who also has responsibility for Carnival UK.

“In his new role, Myrmell will lead all performance and operational aspects of Carnival UK, the UK's largest cruise operator. In addition, as interim president of Cunard, he will directly oversee Cunard’s operations and its three ships – including the world’s only operating ocean liner, Queen Mary 2,” Carnival UK said.

“Sture is a two-decade-plus veteran at our company, so we look forward to him bringing his deep experience, excellent leadership skills and proven track record of success to a new leadership opportunity," said Weinstein.

“He will play a crucial role in our success in the UK, and we look forward to his contributions as we deliver to our guests the best holiday experiences in the world and as both brands (P&O Cruises and Cunard) launch new ships, including LNG-powered Arvia for P&O Cruises in December 2022.”

Carnival UK is part of the Carnival Corporation & plc group.

Carnival sees all ships in service by spring 2022, higher operating costs

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 26 September 2021 26 September 2021

Carnival Corporation & plc, the largest cruise shipping company in the world, said consistent with its planned gradual resumption of guest cruise operations, the company continues to expect to have its full fleet back in operation in the spring of 2022.

“While the company will benefit from the disposal of 19 smaller, less efficient ships since the beginning of the pause in guest cruise operations, the company is forecasting its ship operating expenses, on a per ALBD basis, for 2022 to be higher than 2019,” the company said in a statement.

Total customer deposits increased $630 million to $3.1 billion as of August 31, 2021 from $2.5 billion as of May 31, 2021. For the second consecutive quarter since March 2020, the company has continued to see an increase in customer deposits.

Booking volumes for all future cruises during the third quarter of 2021 were higher than booking volumes during the first quarter of 2021, albeit not as robust as the second quarter of 2021, primarily as a result of lower booking volumes in August 2021, reflecting the impact on overall U.S. consumer confidence resulting from heightened uncertainty around the COVID-19 Delta variant.

Cumulative advanced bookings for the second half of 2022 are ahead of a very strong 2019 as of August 31, 2021. (Due to the gradual resumption in guest cruise operations, the company's current booking trends will be compared to booking trends for 2019 sailings.)

Carnival reports deep third quarter loss, cruises cash flow positive

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 26 September 2021 26 September 2021

Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise shipping group, has reported a deep loss for the third quarter of its financial year, but said cruises performed so far had been cash flow positive.

Group net loss deepened to $2.8 billion in the three months to 31 August from $2.1 billion in the previous three month quarter.

Voyages for the third quarter of 2021 were cash flow positive and the company expects this trend to continue.

For the cruise segments, revenue per passenger cruise day ("PCD") for the third quarter of 2021 increased compared to a strong 2019, despite the current constraints on itinerary offerings, which did not include many of the destination rich itineraries offered in 2019. The increase was driven in part by exceptionally strong onboard and other revenue. Occupancy in the third quarter of 2021 was 54%, building consistently month-to-month from 39% in June to 59% in August.

Available lower berth days ("ALBD") for the third quarter of 2021 were 3.8 million, which represents 17% of total fleet capacity. ALBDs are expected to be 10.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2021, which represents 47% of total fleet capacity.

The company's monthly average cash burn rate for the third quarter of 2021 was $510 million, which was better than previous guidance and in line with the $500 million monthly average cash burn rate for the first half of 2021.

Carnival Corporation & plc Chief Financial Officer David Bernstein noted, "We ended the third quarter with $7.8 billion of liquidity. We believe we have sufficient liquidity to get us back to full operations and continue to be focused on pursuing refinancing opportunities to reduce interest rates and extend maturities. To date, through our debt management efforts, we have reduced our future annual interest expense by over $250 million per year and have completed cumulative debt principal payment extensions of approximately $4.0 billion, improving our future liquidity position."

Meyer Group introduces fuel cell and battery powered megayacht design

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 23 September 2021 23 September 2021

Meyer Group, which entails the shipyards in Papenburg and Rostock in Germany and Turku in Finland, has unveiled a design for a 150 metre megayacht that is powered by fuel cells and batteries.

Called ONE 50, the design has an engine output of 25,000kW and it can attain a top speed of 23 knots. It has six decks and accommodation for 44 guests. The vessel has a two deck spa, cinema, infinity pol and an art gallery.

Megayachts are a new area of interest to the group and senior officials say they can be built at all its three yards.

Saga sees cruise bookings exceed pre-pandemic levels

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 22 September 2021 22 September 2021

Saga plc, the UK based company that offers a range of products from financial services to travel to those over the age of 50, says its cruise bookings for next year exceed pre-pandemic levels.

Current booked cruise load factors for the company’s two 998 passenger capacity high end of the market ships stand at 70% for 2021/22, following government capacity restrictions on early cruises, and 59% for 2022/23 departures; bookings for next year ahead of pre-pandemic levels.

“We have successfully recommenced our Travel operations, including the launch of our newest ship, Spirit of Adventure. I am delighted with the positive feedback received so far and encouraged by the strong pipeline of future bookings,” CEO Euan Sutherland said in a statement.