Top executives of the four largest cruise shipping companies in the world were cautiously optimistic that cruises from US ports could resume before the end of this year, they said at the Seatrade Cruise Virtual event.

Arnold Donald, President and CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc, said that on a scale from 1 to 5 where the first figure indicates low likelihood and the latter one high chance of operations from US ports resuming this year, his guess is between 4.5 and 4.9. However, in order to make this happen, talks need to be held and agreements reached with a plethora of agencies both in the US and e.g. of Caribbean countries.

 Richard Fain, Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, said the Healthy Sail Panel that recently presented its 74 recommendations regarding how to restart cruises from the US had produced a document that is constructive and the resumption of cruising in Europe under strict protocols was also a good sign. “I’m optimistic, we’re at an interesting tipping point. I’m smiling” he said.

Frank del Rio, President and CEO Frank del Rio of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, pointed out that it would take more than two months to reactivate a vessel that had been in lay up for half a year or more. “We’re in no rush to be the first out of the gate. But we’re  in the ball park,” he said.

Pierfranceso Vago, Executive Chairman of MSC Cruises, said that resumption of operations in Europe had taken lots of work, particularly with the many authorities involved. Despite several measures that are in place onboard, passenger feedback has been very positive as people are genuinely keen to return to normal life and have a holiday at sea.

The same process is taking place in the US and the Caribbean region regarding the restart of operations and Vago said he is optimistic that green light would come soon.