Carnival Cruise Line to Operate Full Ships this Summer at 110 Percent Occupancy

Carnival Cruise Line to Operate Full Ships this Summer at 110 Percent Occupancy

With its full fleet sailing as of May, Carnival Cruise Line is helping lead the comeback for Carnival Corporation.

The brand is expected to operate at 110 per cent occupancy for the all-important summer season, according to Arnold Donald, president and CEO of Carnival Corporation.

“Carnival Cruise Line, our largest brand, achieved consistently positive adjusted EBITDA beginning in March. Carnival Cruise Line also became our first brand to sail its entire fleet in May and is expecting occupancy to approach 110 per cent during our third quarter,” he said.

Donald, on the company’s second-quarter and business update call, noted these “close-to-home” cruises, where guests perceive far less friction travelling than going abroad.

With a strong North American cruise market, Carnival is pivoting to add more capacity in the form of two redeployed Costa Cruises vessels under the Costa by Carnival umbrella. The Costa Venezia will sail from New York starting in 2023 while the Costa Firenze will homeport in California beginning in 2024.

P&O Forced to Cancel Cruises Due to Lack of Crew

Citing crew availability issues, P&O Cruises UK has cancelled seven cruises on the Arcadia, extending through a June 23 departure to the Norwegian fjords.

The ship had just restarted service for the brand in late March, marking the Carnival-owned company's return to full operations.

"The impact of Covid upon airlines and general disruption has necessitated the cancellations as we need to move crew from Arcadia to other ships in the fleet," P&O said, in a social media post.

With the Arcadia going into a pause state, the ship now returns to service on July 5 for a two-week journey to Iceland, sailing roundtrip from Southampton, England.

TUI Clamps Down, Not Allowing Pre-Cruise Overnights

TUI Cruises has told guests on select sailings they cannot board if they have booked a pre-cruise stay or an overnight before the start of their trip, according to Schiffe und Kreuzfahrten, a leading German blog covering cruising. 

Coming on the heels of the news the company will require booster shots, the German brand is essentially telling guests to fly straight to the ship with no pre-cruise activity.

The company also said it will only take bookings with arrival and departure packages (i.e. flights) it books for guests along with the cruise, allowing it to control the full journey. Post-cruise stays are still okay.

Exceptions are being granted for guests that have already booked flights or other transportation, which will be checked by the cruise line at embarkation. 

Ships/Itineraries Impacted:

• Mein Schiff 2 from Jan. 28 to April 11
• Mein Schiff 3 from Jan. 20 to April 24
• Mein Schiff 4 from Jan. 23 to April 24
• Mein Schiff 5 from March 6 to May 22
• Mein Schiff 6 from Jan. 24 to Feb. 28

The Mein Schiff 1 is exempt as it continues to sail from German homeports, which are easily accessible for the company's German-speaking passengers.

Barbados Simplifies Cruise Protocols

The Port of Barbados sign with the Grandeur of the Seas and P&O Britannia in Port, Photo credit Spacejunkie2

The island of Barbados has announced new port entry protocols that are meant to simplify destination exploration in a safe and responsible way through tours and shore excursions beyond the cruise ship.

In keeping with updated guidelines put forth by Barbados’ Ministry of Health and Wellness, the following protocols have been established and shared, according to Barbados' official tourism marketing organization, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc:

Embarkation: The Barbados Ministry of Health and Wellness requires each cruise line to conduct health assessments of travellers prior to embarkation, which includes questions to identify symptoms that indicate a traveller’s health status.

Transit Calls and Shore Excursions: Guests with a standard or rapid PCR test was taken within 48 hours of arrival will be permitted to disembark and take free shore leave, explore independently and engage in shore excursions and tours. Guests arriving without a standard or rapid PCR test taken within 48 hours will be permitted to take “bubble excursions” or supervised shore excursions through authorized vendors, including:

• Tours approved for sale by tour operators as authorized by cruise lines.
• Tours approved for sale by independent tour operators and taxi operators as authorized by the government of Barbados following the appropriate health and security requirements.

Those wishing to engage in a tour must have a pre-booked tour confirmed by email from an approved tour operator for pick-up in the Bridgetown Port or take approved taxis dispatched from secure designated taxi facilities within the Bridgetown Port. Tours and excursions can be booked either on arrival at the port or directly with independent tour operators.

Transit calls refer to ports of call where passengers disembark to sightsee, then return to the ship, which then departs for its next destination.

Disembarkation (Island Stays): Guests disembarking and staying on-island for a post-cruise stay will be required to present a negative standard or rapid PCR test before unrestricted access to the destination is permitted. Post-cruise guests may be swabbed onboard their cruise ship or at the Bridgetown Port and may then proceed to their accommodations to await test results. If available, guests may proceed directly to their accommodations to be tested there and await the results.

Vaccination Status: Travellers will be considered fully vaccinated if they have completed a full regimen of vaccines for any of the Ministry of Health and Wellness approved COVID-19 vaccinations, at least 14 days prior to travel to Barbados. Approved vaccines are AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Sinopharm, Sinovac, Sputnik V.

According to the press release, Barbados welcomes approximately 800,000 cruise visitors annually and welcomes more than 25 cruise lines including Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises and Princess Cruises.

Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc said that it was excited for the new, simplified process that will give travel advisors “yet another reason to recommend the island to their clients, providing yet another safe, unforgettable vacation destination that helps drive leads, bookings and revenue in the new year.”

Travel advisors are encouraged to brief clients on these protocols during the booking process.

Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line Cancel Sailings as Omicron Cases Surge

Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line on Wednesday cancelled sailings amid rising fears of Omicron-related coronavirus infections that have dampened the nascent recovery of the pandemic-ravaged cruise industry.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd called off its Spectrum of the Seas cruise for Jan. 6 after nine guests on its Jan. 2 trip were identified as close contacts to a local Hong Kong COVID-19 case.

The contacts have tested negative but the cruise ship will return to Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong on Jan. 5 to test all guests and crew who must take a second test on Jan. 8, the company said.

A similar decision to cancel trips by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd was made against the backdrop of the United States reporting the highest daily tally of any country for new coronavirus infections on Monday.

“Due to ongoing travel restrictions, we’ve had to modify a few sailings and unfortunately have had to cancel,” the 17-ship strong cruise operator said, with the embarkation dates for a few cancelled sailings as far out as late April.

The cruise line, which requires everyone on board to be vaccinated, has also had to cut short a 12-day round trip from Miami on its Norwegian Pearl ship, citing “COVID related circumstances.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had last week advised people to avoid cruise travel after launching investigations into onboard cases on more than 90 ships. The health agency starts scrutiny if at least 0.1% of the guests test positive.

Norwegian Cruise said guests, who were supposed to embark on the cancelled sailings on the eight ships, will receive full refunds and bonus credits for future bookings.

The Omicron-led travel uncertainty is also causing guests on other sailings to cancel their bookings as a few ships have also had to skip ports due to onboard infections.

“We booked the cruise last March and assumed that things would be getting back to normal… by mid-December, I was mentally prepared for a change of plans,” said Holly Bromley, a consulting arborist, who cancelled her booking on Norwegian Epic.

Meanwhile, bigger rival Carnival Corp said it has not cancelled any upcoming voyages, but its shares fell on Wednesday to close down 2.6%. Royal Caribbean lost 2.1% and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings 3.6%. (Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Arun Koyyur)

COVID Outbreak Ends Voyage For Thousands Already Aboard Cruise Ship

The German operator of a cruise ship that has been stuck in Lisbon’s port due to an outbreak of the coronavirus among its crew pulled the plug on the voyage on Sunday after some passengers tested positive, port authorities said.

The AIDAnova, with 2,844 passengers and 1,353 crew onboard docked in Lisbon on Dec. 29 while en route to the island of Madeira for New Year’s Eve celebrations, but was unable to continue the journey after 52 cases of COVID-19 were detected among the fully-vaccinated crew.

It had been allowed to leave port and head to the Spanish island of Lanzarote on Sunday, but now another 12 people have tested positive, including four passengers, captain of the port Diogo Vieira Branco told TSF radio.

“The company’s protocol was immediately actioned, with those infected, who are asymptomatic or displaying light symptoms, immediately isolated on the ship … and the company decided to end the cruise and disembark the passengers,” he said.

The passengers would be transported home by air, he added, without specifying when.

The company, AIDA Cruises, which is a subsidiary of Carnival Corp, did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.

Reuters footage showed passengers still enjoying the afternoon sun on decks with their drinks, and local media said the disembarking would begin after 6 a.m. on Monday.

The crew who had tested positive between Wednesday and Friday were transferred to Lisbon hotels and were in isolation there.

On Thursday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advised people to avoid travelling on cruise ships regardless of their vaccination status.

The move delivered another blow to the industry that only returned to the seas in June after a months-long suspension of voyages caused by the pandemic.

Senator Blumenthal Takes Aim at Cruise Industry

St. Kitts Britannia, Allure and Oasis of the seas in port. Photo credit Spacejunkie2

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal has taken aim at the cruise industry this week, posting on Twitter that "cruise are repeating history" again as operators deal with coronavirus issues aboard.

"Our warnings have proved sadly prescient & continuously compelling. Time for CDC & cruise lines to protect consumers & again pause—docking their ships.," the Senator said in a Twitter post. "Cruises are repeating recent history as Petri-dishes of COVID infection."

The Twitter post comes after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its cruise ship colour status tracker.

Eighty-six ships were reported in "yellow status" on Tuesday, meaning reported cases of COVID-19 aboard have met the threshold for CDC investigation.

Queen Mary 2 Cancels New York Call, Waits for More Crew in Barbados

The Queen Mary 2 is changing its current itinerary due to the impact of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. According to a letter received by the ship’s current passengers, the ship will likely now be required to stay in Barbados for “additional manning” until the evening of Jan. 2.

“(This) extended stay in Barbados means that unfortunately, we will no longer be calling in New York on Jan. 3 if we are to maintain our arrival back in Southampton on Jan. 10,” wrote the ship’s captain, Andrew Hall, in the letter.

The decision of additional manning in essential roles onboard came after speaking with the relevant authorities and Cunard’s head offices in Miami and Southampton, Hall said.

He added that it was a precautionary measure and the Jan. 2 departure from Barbados was yet to be confirmed.

Cunard’s new focus, according to the letter, is “making sure that for those guests due to disembark on Jan. 3 in New York, the onward journey home is as smooth and easy as possible.”

Hall said that the cruise line is looking at flight options for these passengers and will be in contact directly with “exact details and confirmation.”

The Queen Mary 2 is currently on a 28-day round-trip itinerary entitled Grand Caribbean Celebration. The ship left Southampton on Dec. 13 and arrived in Barbados on Dec. 28. It was due to leave Barbados for Dominica today.

With the announced amendments, the Queen Mary 2 would seemingly skip three ports of call in Dominica, St Maarten and New York on Dec. 29, Dec. 30 and Jan. 3, respectively. The ship would instead head straight from Barbados to Southampton on Jan. 2.

To compensate for the itinerary changes, guests will receive an enhanced 125-percent Future Cruise Credit of the money paid on their booking pro-rata to all days sailed from Dec. 22, when the Queen Mary 2 departed from New York.

For example, if a guest joined the ship in Southampton on Dec. 13 and was due to disembark the ship in New York on Jan. 3, they will receive an FCC for 13 days (Dec. 22 to Jan. 3).

“Your FCC can be used for any new sailing that is booked before Dec. 31, 2023, on any voyage on sale at the time of booking. Should this be unsuitable for any reason, then you are entitled to a 100-per cent refund of monies paid on your booking on the same pro-rata basis,” the letter read.

UK-based guests have also been offered the option of flying from Barbados to Southampton earlier, should they wish so.

“Should our UK guests wish to fly back to the UK directly from Barbados we do have some limited flight options departing on Dec. 31 or Jan. 1. We will be sending you a further letter in the next 24 hours asking if you would like to take this option,” Hall wrote.

However, Hall said, passengers, are welcome to stay on board until the very end of the voyage.

“There may be some slight amendments to our services, but we will make every endeavour to ensure that you have a very enjoyable journey as planned,” he wrote.

Carnival Says Most Ship Itineraries Unchanged Amid Omicron

Carnival Corp said on Tuesday a majority of its ships’ itineraries were unchanged despite a surge in cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant, which has threatened to stall recovery in the cruise industry.

The world’s largest cruise operator, however, said a few destination ports were reviewing their protocols and processes due to the fast-spreading new variant.

Many passengers and media reports, including those from CNN and Euronews, said authorities of a few ports in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico and Mexico disallowed passengers to disembark from cruise ships that were carrying active COVID-19 cases.

“Looks like my cruise this Friday is a cruise to nowhere,” wrote one Reddit user on a Royal Caribbean forum late Monday.

Carnival said on Monday it would find an alternative destination should it be forced to cancel a port.

Royal Caribbean Group did not respond to a Reuters request for comment, while Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd declined to comment.

“The cruise lines’ reaction to the substantial increase in COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron surge is largely hit or miss,” said James Walker, a Miami-based maritime lawyer.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also identified more than 85 cruise ships with COVID-19 cases on board, the agency said on Tuesday.

On Monday, the CDC said 68 ships with COVID-19 cases had met its threshold for an investigation.

The Omicron variant has sparked concerns that U.S. health officials may reintroduce a temporary ban on cruising, just months after U.S. cruise operators resumed guest operations. 

Passengers on Mediterranean cruise test positive for covid-19

Two passengers tested positive for the coronavirus during routine checks aboard a Mediterranean cruise this week, MSC Cruises said.

The passengers, who were asymptomatic, got their positive test results on Monday, according to MSC Cruises spokesman Luca Biondolillo. They were not travelling together on the MSC Seaside. Biondolillo said the individuals and their travelling groups, as well as close contacts, were immediately isolated, and no one aside from the original two passengers tested positive.

According to the Times of Malta, the vessel was not allowed to make a regular call-in to Malta’s Valletta cruise port Monday. Instead, Biondolillo said, the ship made a “technical call” — where passengers don’t disembark — and then resumed its regular schedule with a stop in Sicily.

Both passengers and their parties left the ship in Siracusa, on the island of Sicily, and were taken home “by protected MSC Cruises transport” Tuesday, the cruise company said. The ship continued its normal schedule after the Siracusa stop.

“All of this took place in line with the protocol and in coordination with the local health authorities,” Biondolillo said in an email Wednesday.

Passengers on MSC ships are not required to be vaccinated, but they have to undergo several tests: two to three days before leaving for a cruise, just before getting on the ship and midway through the cruise, Biondolillo said.

“If anything, this is another demonstration that the protocol works,” he said.

The company started sailing in the Mediterranean in August 2020 and has seen “a handful such cases” since, Biondolillo said, adding that “many thousands” of passengers have sailed safely.

Cruise ships have slowly started service again around the world, but still have not resumed in the United States since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shut the industry down last March. The agency is not requiring cruise ships to sail with vaccinated passengers but will allow those with at least 95 per cent of vaccinated crew and guests to skip test cruises meant to show how they will deal with covid-19 risks.

The first cruise from U.S. shores with paying passengers is scheduled to set sail later this month. The Celebrity Cruises ship will require everyone 16 and older to be fully vaccinated — a condition that comes into conflict with a Florida law that says businesses can’t ask for proof of vaccination status.

MSC Cruises, which is headquartered in Geneva, announced this week that it plans to start short cruises on MSC Meraviglia from Miami to the Bahamas on Aug. 2. The company recently got approval from the CDC to conduct a test cruise on that vessel.

The company said it will “welcome both vaccinated and non-vaccinated guests,” with those who are not vaccinated subject to additional testing and restrictions. Rubén Rodriguez, president of MSC Cruises USA, said in a statement that he expects the majority of passengers will be vaccinated.

“The rapid distribution of vaccines in the U.S. has been a positive step toward helping vacationers get back to travelling, and we encourage our guests to take advantage of this added layer of protection when resuming travel this summer,” he said.

AIDA Cruises To Sail in Greece From May 23

AIDA Cruises has announced that it will be offering new cruises in Greece from May 23, 2021, with seven-day cruises departing from Corfu and travelling through the Greek islands to Crete and Rhodes, as well as to Katakolon (Olympia) and Piraeus (Athens).

Guests will be able to enjoy the amenities onboard with multiple restaurants, bars, cultural activities and sports facilities, as well as organized shore excursions to explore the ports of call.

According to AIDA’s press release, Greece is one of the most popular vacation destinations for German travellers. From May 14, 2021, the Mediterranean country will reopen for tourism.

Booking starts on Apr. 20, 2021, with 23 dates to choose from between May 23 and October 24, 2021. The Greek cruises can also be booked as 14-day trips, AIDA said.

In addition to the new offering in Greece, the AIDAperla is sailing on seven-day voyages around the Canary Islands through June.

All cruises are carried out in compliance with AIDA's enhanced health and safety protocols, as well as applicable laws and regulations.

With a testing strategy for guests and crew members already utilized on several cruises, AIDA said it is its top priority for all guests to safely enjoy their vacation. The enhanced health and safety protocols -- tested by SGS Institut Fresenius and confirmed by the classification society DNV -- includes a mandatory PCR test for detecting viruses and bacteria before travelling, as well as regular health checks, social distancing and hygiene protocols, medical care including testing capacities onboard and other measures.

With the "AIDA promise," the cruise company offers guests more flexibility and security in planning. Generous booking options are part of AIDA's commitment to its guests, ranging from small down payments to free rebooking. The "AIDA promise" is included in the travel price for new bookings up to May 31, 2021, and applies to departures up to March. 31, 2022.

AIDA said that cruises in other destinations will not be possible at this time, with AIDA cancelling the remaining voyages of April through May.

One Year Without Cruise Passengers? It Just Happened

On Jan. 25, 2020, the cruise industry saw the start of the events that left the industry with damages it’s still recovering from. Cruise lines started cancelling their sailings due to the outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan and around China.

Citing urgent guidelines from the Chinese government to combat the spread of the coronavirus, Costa Crociere, MSC, Royal Caribbean and Genting Cruise Lines all suspended their cruise operations in mainland China on Jan. 25, 2020.

Ships marking a year without passengers:

• Astro Ocean's Piano Land.
• MSC's Splendida.
• Genting's SuperStar Gemini.
• Costa's Serena, Atlantica and Venezia, plus the neoRomantica which has since been sold to Celestyal.
• Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas.

February continued as cruise lines first banned or put in restrictions for passengers from specific countries.

Then countries in Asia started to shut down to tourism and cruise lines issued non-stop itinerary changes for immediate and future sailings, and slowly relaxed booking and refund policies.

Even more, cruises were cancelled in Asia on Feb. 15, 2020, following the outbreak onboard the Diamond Princess in Japan,

Princess Cruises later reacted to the growing spread of the coronavirus in Asia and worldwide by pausing all of its ship operations for 60 days from March 12, 2020. On the same day, Celestyal Cruises also announced it was suspending operations.

AmaWaterways and Avalon Waterways (as well as its sister brands Globus, Cosmos and Monograms) said they were taking a voluntary pause in operations, too.

On March 13, 2020, the Canadian government announced it would be deterring the start of its cruise season (normally in April) to at least July. The ban was then extended twice, the last time until February 2021, which will make Canada cruise less for nearly a whole year.

Also on March 13, 2020, Windstar Cruises stated it would be suspending its sailings through April 30, 2020.

On March 14, 2020, CDC issued a No Sail Order and Suspension of Further Embarkation for cruise ships in waters subject to U.S. jurisdiction; the No Sail Order was extended on April 9, 2020, July 16, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2020, as cruise lines continued announcing more and more cancelled cruises affected by the order.

July 2020 saw the start of the long-awaited cruise resumptions in Europe with TUI Cruises starting on July 24, MSC on Aug. 16 onboard the Grandiosa and on Oct. 20 onboard the Magnifica, Costa Crociere on Sept. 6, and AIDA Cruises on Oct. 17. Mystic Cruises restarted sailing in early September under its Nicko brand. And in Asia, Dream Cruises’ World Dream has been operating short cruises to nowhere since Nov. 6.

Sadly, the pandemic claimed the lives of the following brands: Pullmantur Cruceros, Cruise & Maritime Voyages, FTI, Blount Small Ship Adventures, and Jalesh Cruises, while a record-high 13 ships were reduced to scrapping in 2020.

However, new brands – such as Swan Hellenic and Tradewind Voyages – were born in 2020, too.

And while safe returns demonstrated by TUI, MSC and other cruise lines give hope already, cruise lovers around the world are still patiently waiting for other brands to join. And, with the No Sail Order being replaced with the Conditional Framework in late 2020, it looks like these times may be just around the corner.

Port Everglades Moving Forward

Celebrity APEX refuelling in Port Everglades

“We are talking with the cruise lines on a consistent basis, there are weekly teleconferences. We are talking about what we are doing with our terminals and understanding what the obligations and criteria will be moving forward,” said Jonathan Daniels, who took over as the new CEO and port director at Port Everglades over the summer.

The 2020-2021 season for Port Everglades was poised to be a good one – the new Enchanted Princess was slated to call the port home, along with the Celebrity Apex and Odyssey of the Seas.

Looking at the new Celebrity Apex outside his office window, Daniels said he was working closely with the Royal Caribbean Group to understand what the terminal experience will look like.

“The difficult part will ultimately be determining where the line of demarcation is for accountability and responsibility,” Daniels said.

Guests will have staggered check-in times, basically appointments to board, and the terminals will need to be re-flowed a bit, meaning various zones for testing, isolation and more.

“Laboratories, testing, how does that translate into space in the terminal?” Daniels asked. “What happens if there is a positive case?”

Asking those questions is part of an unknown, without answers or guidance yet from the CDC.

Head Start

The port’s ferry service to the Bahamas launched for a two-week period in July, as it was not affected by the CDC’s “No Sail” order with a ship under 250 passengers aboard.

That meant Port Everglades had a trial run of sorts, installing plexiglass barriers, signage and hand sanitiser distribution stations in a terminal.

“We’ve been moving beyond that and integrating that into other terminals in anticipation of a restart of cruising,” Daniels said.

50,000

Pre COVID, a weekend in the winter could see upwards of 50,000 people move through Port Everglades on a single day with ships at all the port’s cruise berths.

With the business mounting a comeback in 2021, Daniels said the potential for growth beyond that would be in increasing the utilization of cruise terminals, especially for itineraries leaving mid-week, along with building up more summer business.

With a pivot toward closer-to-home and shorter cruises, the port is well-positioned in Florida to take advantage of that.

Excerpt from Cruise Industry News Quarterly Magazine: Winter 2020-2021

 

P&O Restart by March 'Not Impossible'

P&O Restart by March 'Not Impossible'

P&O Iona

The likelihood of P&O Cruises returning to sailing by March is “not impossible”, according to boss Paul Ludlow.

The line’s president has said a decision on its restart of operations would be “informed by what is happening with the country at large”, speaking on Tuesday (3 November) ahead of England’s second national coronavirus lockdown later this week. 

The government was having to consider the national “macro environment” when working with UK cruise operators, he said - P&O’s operations are currently suspended until the end of February 2021.

“Do I think March is still realistic? I don’t think it’s impossible,” Ludlow told media during a briefing for its summer 2022 programme, which went on sale this week.

“We’re going to see what happens over the next few weeks. We could leave it [a decision on further extending the suspension] until the New Year but we have to think of our guests and agent partners.

 “From my perspective, if you have to move things further to the right [suspend further] I would want to make that decision this year.

“We are in regular contact directly with the government, and via Clia, and the dialogue remains very positive. I’m pleased with how talks are progressing.”

Discussing P&O’s eventual return to operations, Ludlow said Covid testing “will be key” to a successful resumption.

Although he added that he believed cruising could still operate safely without a vaccine with adapted onboard health and safety protocols in place.

He confirmed – as suggested by Clia’s recent pledge – that all P&O vessels would feature testing capabilities onboard.

“The type [of testing] is yet to be defined as the technology is moving so quickly but we are committed to being able to test all of our guests and crew.”

Upon the line’s restart, Ludlow predicted social distancing could be used “really effectively” with ship capacity capped “at about 85%” but said a lower threshold could be put in place.

“It depends upon which ship and where it’s going. The answer to how long we do that [limit capacity] and what level does somewhat depend on our testing capabilities and the prevalence of a vaccine. I think at this stage there are too many unknowns.”