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Carnival had $11.7 billion in liquidity end-February

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 20 March 2020 20 March 2020

Carnival Corporation and plc, the largest cruise shipping group in the world, said it had a total of $11.7 billion of liquidity at the end of February

“This included $3.0 billion of immediate liquidity plus $2.8 billion from four committed export credit facilities that are available to fund the originally planned ship deliveries for the remainder of this year,”the company said in a statement.

It also has $5.9 billion from committed export credit facilities that are available to fund ship deliveries originally planned in 2021 and beyond.

“On March 13, 2020, the Corporation fully drew down its $3.0 billion multi-currency revolving credit. The Corporation borrowed under the Facility Agreement in order to increase its cash position and preserve financial flexibility in light of current uncertainty in the global markets resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak,”the company said.

“Substantially all of the Corporation's assets, with the exception of certain ships with a net book value of approximately $6 billion as of February 29, 2020, are currently available to be pledged as collateral,”Carnival added.

Carnival says first half 2021 bookings slowed down in March

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 20 March 2020 20 March 2020

Cruise bookings for the first half of 2021 ran slightly ahead of the previous year up to the beginning of March, but in the two weeks to 15 March, the pace of bookings fell significantly behind the pace of a year before, Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise shipping group said.

“For the first half of 2021, booking volumes since its last conference call in mid-December through March 1, 2020, have been running slightly higher than the prior year,” the company said in a statement.

“Also for the first half of 2021 and during the two weeks ended March 15, 2020, the Corporation booked 546,000 Occupied Lower Berth Days (“OLBD”), albeit considerably behind the prior year pace,” Carnival said.

“As of March 15, 2020, cumulative advanced bookings for the first half of 2021, are slightly lower than the prior year,” the company concluded.

Carnival says 2020 bookings lower at lower prices, ship deliveries to be delayed and full year loss looms

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 20 March 2020 20 March 2020

Carnival Corporation& plc, the world’s largest cruise shipping group, said that bookings for the rest of the year were lower at much lower prices, while ship deliveries were likely to be delayed due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

The company said as of 15 March, cumulative advanced bookings for the remainder of 2020, are meaningfully lower than the prior year at prices that are considerably lower than the prior year on a comparable basis, reflecting the impact of COVID-19.

It also said it expects a net loss for the financial year to 30 November 2020.

“The Corporation previously announced a voluntary, temporary pause of its global fleet operations across all brands. The Corporation believes the ongoing effects of COVID-19 on its operations and global bookings will have a material negative impact on its financial results and liquidity,” the company said in a statement.

Carnival said it also believes the effects of COVID-19 on the shipyards where its ships are under construction, will result in a delay in ship deliveries. “The Corporation is taking additional actions to improve its liquidity, including capital expenditure and expense reductions, and pursuing additional financing,” Carnival stated.

“Given the uncertainty of the situation, the Corporation is currently unable to provide an earnings forecast, however it expects a net loss on both a U.S. GAAP and adjusted basis for the fiscal year ending November 30, 2020," Carnival said.

Carnival reports $781 million first quarter net loss

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 20 March 2020 20 March 2020

Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise shipping group, has reported a deep loss for the first quarter of its financial year and it said a full year loss appears likely.

Net loss amounted to $781 million in US GAAP terms for the three months to 28 February compared to a profit of $336 million in the same period year earlier. Revenues rose by $100 million to $4.8 billion.

“First quarter 2020 net loss includes $932 million of goodwill and ship impairment charges, reduced by net gains on ship sales,” the company said in a statement.

“The impact of COVID-19 on the first quarter 2020 net loss is approximately $0.23 per share, which includes cancelled voyages and other voyage disruptions, and excludes the impairment charges described above. Other previously disclosed voyage disruptions, noted during the Corporation’s December earnings conference call, also impacted first quarter 2020 results by approximately $0.12 per share,” Carnival said.

Carnival Corporation offers cruise ships as temporary hospitals

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 19 March 2020 19 March 2020

Carnival Corporation offers details on its initiative to convert cruise ships to temporary hospitals for non-COVID-19 patients.

Following up on President Donald J. Trump's surprise announcement at a press conference today, Carnival Corporation has offered more details about its initiative to convert cruise ships for Americans needing medical care that's not related to coronavirus, otherwise known as COVID-19.

The company today announced that select cruise ships from the company's global cruise line brands, including Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and P&O Cruises Australia, will be made available to communities for use as temporary hospitals to help address the escalating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare systems around the world.

With the continued spread of COVID-19 expected to exert added pressure on land-based healthcare facilities, including a possible shortage of hospital beds, Carnival Corporation and its brands are calling on governments and health authorities to consider using cruise ships as temporary healthcare facilities to treat non-COVID-19 patients, freeing up additional space and expanding capacity in land-based hospitals to treat cases of COVID-19. As part of the offer, interested parties will be asked to cover only the essential costs of the ship's operations while in port.

Governments or health authorities with interest can contact Monica Puello by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone at (305) 406-8656.

If needed, cruise ships are capable of being quickly provisioned to serve as hospitals with up to 1,000 hospital rooms that can treat patients suffering from less critical, non-COVID-19 conditions. These temporary cruise ship hospital rooms can be quickly converted to install and connect remote patient monitoring devices over the ship's high-speed network – providing cardiac, respiratory, oxygen saturation and video monitoring capabilities. The rooms also have bathroom facilities, private balconies with access to sun and fresh air, as well as isolation capabilities, as needed.

Additionally, cruise ships being used as temporary hospital facilities to treat non-COVID-19 patients would have the ability to provide up to seven intensive care units (ICUs) in the ship's medical center equipped with central cardiac monitoring, ventilators and other key medical devices and capabilities. Similar to land-based health facilities, cruise ships can also house multiple medical functions in disparate locations by using different decks on the ship to separate each required medical area.

The temporary hospital cruise ships would be berthed at a pier near the community in need and operated by the ship's crew, with all maritime operations, food and beverage, and cleaning services provided by crew members on the ship. Medical services would be provided by the government entity or hospital responsible for fighting the spread of COVID-19 within that community.