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Carnival doubles cull of inefficient ships

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 15 September 2020 15 September 2020

Carnival Corporation & plc, the Anglo-American cruise shipping group, said it would axe 18 ships from its fleet in a drive to boost efficiency, twice the figure it had intended to axe after the Covid-19 pandemic had emerged as a major concern for the cruise industry.

“The company now expects to dispose of 18 ships, eight of which have already left the fleet. In total, the 18 ships represent approximately 12% of pre-pause capacity and only three percent of operating income in 2019. The sale of less efficient ships will result in future operating expense efficiencies of approximately two percent per available lower berth day ("ALBD") and a reduction in fuel consumption of approximately one percent per ALBD,” the company said in a statement.

Carnival said it expects future capacity to be moderated by the phased re-entry of its ships, the removal of capacity from its fleet and delays in new ship deliveries. “Since the pause in guest operations, the company has accelerated the removal of ships in fiscal 2020 which were previously expected to be sold over the ensuing years,” it said.

Carnival group expects only two of the four ships originally scheduled for delivery in 2020, following the start of the pause, to be delivered prior to the end of fiscal 2020. These are presumably Iona of P&O Cruises and Costa Venezia of Costa Crociere, although Carnival did not state this.

Carnival currently expects only five of the nine ships originally scheduled for delivery in fiscal 2020 and 2021 to be delivered prior to the end of fiscal year 2021. The company currently expects nine cruise ships and two smaller expedition ships of the 13 ships originally scheduled for delivery prior to the end of fiscal year 2022 to be delivered by then

Based on the actions taken to date and the scheduled newbuild deliveries through 2022, the company's fleet will be more efficient with a roughly 13% larger average berth size and an average age of 12 years in 2022 versus 13 years, in each case as compared to 2019,” it said.

Carnival Corporation & plc reports deep third quarter loss, 55% of cancellations require cash refunds

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 15 September 2020 15 September 2020

Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise shipping group, has reported a deep loss for the third quarter of its financial year and said that 55% of the passengers whose cruises had been canceled have requested cash refunds, the company said in a statement.

Net loss to three months to 31 August amounted to $2.9 billion, which included a $0.9 billion impairment charge that is a non- cash item.

Cash and cash equivalent items amounted to $8.2 billion at the end of August. Customer deposits declined to $2.4 billion from $2.9 billion at the end of May, which the company said it had expected.  “As of August 31, 2020, the current portion of customer deposits was $2.1 billion with $0.1 billion relating to fourth quarter sailings. Approximately 55% of bookings taken during the quarter ending August 31, 2020 were new bookings, as opposed to FCC re-bookings, despite minimal advertising or marketing,’ Carnival said.

“While the company believes bookings in the first half of 2021 reflect expectations of the phased resumption of its guest cruise operations and anticipated itinerary changes, as of August 31, 2020, cumulative advanced bookings for the second half of 2021 capacity currently available for sale are at the higher end of the historical range and similar to where booking positions were in 2018 for the second half of 2019,” Carnival said.

Royal Caribbean Group extends government relations expertise with new SVP Corporate Affairs

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 11 September 2020 11 September 2020

Donna Hrinak is joining Royal Caribbean Group as Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs. Hrinak, former Corporate Vice President, The Boeing Company and President, Boeing Canada, Latin America & Caribbean, will lead the Group's government relations, communications and public relations functions. She brings a stellar curriculum vitae in global regulatory policy, multicultural negotiations, coalition leadership and international business transformation to augment the Group's industry leading government affairs team.

"As a global company touching every continent," said Richard D. Fain, Royal Caribbean Group chairman and CEO, "we are used to making our way in a complicated world. But these last few months have reminded us, more than ever, just how challenging that world is. Donna will provide her decades of experience in navigating the complexities of regulatory and cultural ecosystems to enable us to continue to build and maintain strong, collaborative relationships with countries and organizations everywhere we operate."

Reporting directly to Fain, Hrinak will provide informed counsel and facilitate productive communication among a broad array of stakeholders, including port authorities, coastal community leadership, government representatives, environmental advocates, scientific and marine leaders and more.

"I am honored and delighted to join Royal Caribbean Group, with such deep roots in the communities it serves," said Hrinak. "As with other industries I've represented, thoughtful and respectful travel promotes economic development, multicultural understanding and global perspective for all entities involved. I look forward to assisting Royal Caribbean Group strengthen its business position throughout the world."

Hrinak has designed and led strategies to confront an increasingly complicated global regulatory environment and guided executives in evaluating the business, political and economic risks involved in global operations. She has worked closely and collaboratively with a broad range of international coalitions and agencies, including the World Health Organization. Prior to Boeing, Hrinak held executive positions in global, Latin American and European public affairs at PepsiCo and at Kraft Foods. In addition, she served as United States Ambassador to Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia and the Dominican Republic during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, where she architected new strategies to promote U.S. interests, led bilateral trade relationships, won broad-based support for U.S. positions and protected the rights of U.S. citizens by fostering transparency and judicial security.

Hrinak joined the Group on August 24.

Costa Deliziosa sets sail today from Trieste

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 06 September 2020 06 September 2020

Costa Cruises is resuming its cruises with Costa Deliziosa, the first ship operated by the Italian company to return to the sea with carrying paying passengers. Costa Deliziosa leaves at 5 p.m. today from Trieste on a one-week cruise designed to rediscover – in complete safety – the best of Italy, and calling only at Italian ports – namely Bari, Brindisi, Corigliano-Rossano, Siracusa and Catania.

“We’re delighted to be able to welcome our guests on board again after more than five months without cruising and we’re also happy to be restarting operations right here in Italy. Our decision to resume responsibly with Italian cruises for Italian guests is particularly significant for us, since we’ve believed and invested in this country for more than 70 years as the only cruise company flying the Italian flag,” said Group CEO, Costa Group & Carnival Asia Michael Thamm. “For the last few weeks, we’ve been working together with the authorities on implementation of the new health procedures that will allow our guests to make the most of their cruise experience while ensuring maximum safety. Meanwhile, we’re continuously monitoring the situation with a view to gradually reintroducing cruising on more ships from October, with itineraries extended also to include guests from our other European markets.”

The guests embarking on Costa Deliziosa for her first three September cruises will all be residents of Italy; embarkation will be carried out in accordance with the procedures set out in the Costa Safety Protocol, a document developed by the company together with a panel of scientific experts, containing new operational measures in response to the COVID-19 situation, perfectly in line with the latest requirements defined by the relevant Italian and European authorities. On arrival at the terminal in Trieste, with staggered entrance times by virtue of online check-in, each guest will have their temperature scanned, submit a health questionnaire and be subjected to an antigen rapid swab test. Passengers will not be cleared for boarding unless and until they have tested negative. For any suspected case of COVID-19 it will be possible to perform an additional test with a molecular swab test. Prior to embarking, crew members have also been tested with molecular swab at intervals and been quarantined for 14 days. In addition, each member of crew will have a monthly swab test.

Bari and the other destinations on Costa Deliziosa’s itinerary can be visited only by joining the protected excursions organized by the company for small groups of people on sanitized means of transport, and subject to temperature measurement before leaving and rejoining the ship. On Costa’s shore tours, guests will be able to see other places in the vicinity of the ports of call, such as Lecce, Ostuni, Otranto, Alberobello, Gallipoli, Taormina, Noto, Modica, Ragusa and Sibari.

The shipboard amenities and entertainment have been redesigned based on the procedures in the Safety Protocol but still retain the distinguishing features of a Costa cruise holiday, thanks partly to the physical distancing enabled by the ship’s reduced capacity. For example: repeat performances of the live shows for smaller audiences; a switch from buffet restaurants to seated dining in the restaurants; the seating capacity in theaters, show lounges, bars and restaurants has been revised respect minimum distance; staggered entrance for some facilities such as the spa, pools and kids’ miniclub with a limited number of people allowed in at any one time. Also, there will be enhanced cleaning and sanitization in all areas on board, including cabins, while the shipboard health services have been expanded. Other health & safety measures are the use of face masks whenever necessary, hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the ship and the introduction of self-service clinical thermometer kiosks.

After Costa Deliziosa, which will be departing from Trieste until the end of the year, Costa Cruises’ next ship due back in service is Costa Diadema, scheduled to leave from Genoa on September 19. Like Deliziosa, she will only be calling at Italian ports and carrying guests resident in Italy, with stopovers in Civitavecchia/Rome, Naples, Palermo, Cagliari and La Spezia. Then from October it will be the turn of the flagship Costa Smeralda, followed in December by Costa Firenze – the company’s new ship under construction at Fincantieri’s Marghera yard.