Tag Archives: Carnival Corp.

Five Ships to Leave Costa Fleet by May 2021

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Costa Mediterranea (Photo: JD Schwartz)

Working to reduce capacity growth in Southern Europe, five ships will leave the Costa Cruises fleet by May 2021, according to Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation, speaking on the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Thursday, Sept. 26.

Donald said that two Europe-based ships will leave the Costa fleet in 2020, and he added that two ships will leave the Costa fleet in Asia in 2020.

In addition, he confirmed the Costa Mediterranea will leave the fleet in May 2021. 

The ships will be replaced with more efficient capacity in the new Costa Smeralda, Donald underscored. 

Carnival’s CEO did not mention what other ships would leave the fleet, but based on other Carnival Corp. vessel transfers, these would most likely be the line’s older and less efficient vessels. 

“Some are being sent to China; some are being sent to other markets where we have strength,” Donald said, noting some would also leave the fleet. “When we sell them, we don’t sell them into competing markets.”

The Atlantica and Mediterranea are expected to transfer to Carnival’s joint venture in China with China State Shipbuilding Corporation, but the timeline is behind previously announced goals. 

Recent Carnival Corporation secondhand vessel transactions include not only Costa vessels, but the P&O Oriana, which was sold to Chinese owners and just transferred to the new Astro Ocean brand.

In addition, the Pacific Jewel was sold to Jalesh Cruises, the Pacific Eden moved to Cruise & Maritime Voyages, and the Prinsendam is now the Amera for Phoenix Reisen.

Carnival Australia Poised for Big Season

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Carnival Spirit in Sydney

Carnival Australia announced that it is is on course for one of its biggest summer cruise seasons ever, featuring more than 600 calls to ports around the nation as well as the local debut of two new ships, the Ruby Princess and Carnival Splendor.

The season kicked off this week as the Majestic Princess sailed into Sydney following stops in Darwin and Brisbane. 

Her arrival marked the start of 625 calls to 34 different ports around Australia by 19 ships from the seven cruise lines represented by Carnival Australia: Carnival Cruise Line, P&O Cruises Australia, Princess Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, P&O Cruises UK and Seabourn.

Carnival Australia President Sture Myrmell said the 2019-20 cruise season would feature an exciting range of ships as well as 50 inaugural port visits around the country for ships across the company’s cruise lines, according to a statement.

“This is going to be a summer cruise season to remember, with our cruise lines offering Australian holidaymakers a fantastic range of new itineraries and new ports across 19 great ships,” Myrmell said. “In fact the number of local port visits by our ships has grown by more than 50 per cent compared to the summer season 10 years ago, underlining not only the growing popularity of cruising but also how much cruising has become part of the tourism fabric of our nation.”

On her second season Down Under, the Majestic Princess’s arrival not only marks the start of the summer cruise season but the largest in history for Princess in this region, featuring a record 141-day deployment in Western Australia as well as cruising from the east coast.

Myrmell said highlights of the season also include the first Australian visit by the Ruby Princess which will arrive in Sydney on October 23, 2019, and the Australian debut of the Carnival Splendor, which will sail into her new homeport of Sydney on December 10, 2019. Her arrival means that Carnival Cruise Line will now have two full-time ships based Down Under.

Other inaugural ship and cruise line visits over the summer include Carnival Cruise Line’s first call to Adelaide (Carnival Spirit February 29, 2020); Cunard’s first call to Esperance in Western Australia, (Queen Elizabeth on December 9, 2020); Seabourn’s first call to Portland (Seabourn Encore on March 14, 2020) and Holland America’s first calls to Moreton Island (Maasdam on December 1, 2019); Portland (Maasdam on January 2, 2020) and Phillip Island (Maasdam on January 3, 2020).

Without Cuba cruises, Royal Caribbean lowers profit outlook

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Harmony of the Seas

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. said eliminating Cuba from the itinerary of various sailings will reduce 2019 earnings by $52 million to $73 million.

“While the affected sailings impact only 3% of our 2019 capacity, the extremely short notice period for this high-yielding destination amplifies the earnings impact,” said Jason T. Liberty, executive vice president and CFO. “The result of this policy change has created a short-term impact on our guests, operations and earnings; fortunately, we have many alternative and attractive destinations for our guests to choose from.”

The other major cruise companies affected by the decision to ban U.S. cruises to Cuba haven’t commented on the financial impact.

Cuba accounts for 1% of capacity at Carnival Corp. and 4% at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, according to a note from Wells Fargo Securities, which estimated the economic impact on Carnival at $21 million to $42 million and on Norwegian at $26 million to $60 million.