Tag Archives: Carnival cruise corp.

The Big Three Cruise Corporations Continue to Burn Cash. Here’s How Much.

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Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings are still burning through cash as some ships emerge from lay-up back into operations. 

Cash burn numbers may be up in the third quarter with added costs to reactivate ships, needed maintenance, potential drydocks, procurement, getting crew back and more.

Only one out of the three big cruise companies provided estimates on third-quarter cash burn, indicating it would be up close to 45 per cent. 

Carnival Corporation

For Carnival Corporation, the company’s cash burn for the first half of 2021 was $500 million per month, which was better than a previous forecast of $550. The improvement was mainly due to the timing of cash received from ship sales just before the end of the second quarter and some other small working capital changes.

With ships quickly relaunching, and a short booking window for cruises announced close to departure, the company said it will not provide a forecast for its third-quarter cash burn rate.

Independence of the Seas in Southampton Photo credit Dave Jones

Royal Caribbean Group

Royal Caribbean reported its average monthly cash burn rate for the second quarter of 2021 at approximately $330 million, slightly higher than the prior quarter as the company returned additional ships into operation. 

Similar to Carnival, Royal Caribbean would be not providing a forecast for the third quarter.

“The environment remains fluid, and for this reason, we are not providing a cash burn estimate or the related offsets generated by revenue and new customer deposits. I will highlight that the burn rate for the ships that are kept at layoff is expected to be consistent with our previous expectations,” said Jason Liberty, executive vice president and CFO, on the company’s second-quarter earnings call.

Norwegian Star in Mexico Photo Credit Dave Jones

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings said its average cash burn in the second quarter was $200 million per month, higher than its guidance of $190 million driven by the announcement of additional ship relaunches in the company’s voyage resumption plan and the associated restart expenses.

“As for the third quarter, we expect our average monthly cash burn rate to increase to approximately $285 million as restart expenses accelerate with additional vessels entering service,” said Mark Kempa, executive vice president and CFO. “Restart expenses are primarily related to repositioning, provisioning and stopping of vessels, implementing new health and safety protocols and a measured ramp-up of demand-generating marketing investments.”

Carnival’s Princess and Holland America Brands Mark Return to U.S. Cruising

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Carnival Corporation brands Princess Cruises and Holland America Line held a celebration at the Port of Seattle today to mark their return to U.S. cruise operations. 

Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises, and Gus Antorcha, president of Holland America Line, spoke to what the positive impact the resumption of cruising means to Seattle, the local community and Alaska, according to a press release.

Holland America Line will kick off its Alaska season with Nieuw Amsterdam setting sail tomorrow, July 24, and Princess Cruises will follow with Majestic Princess sailing on July 25. Each line will operate ten cruises sailing out of Seattle through September. 

Both cruise lines have been homeporting out of the Port of Seattle for more than 20 years. Operationally, each ship visit directly contributes more than $364,000 to the local economy in provisioning (fuel, food, flowers, piano tuning, supplies), port taxes, and spending during a full season, according to a press release.

Pacific Princess Sold as Another Ship Leaves Carnival Corp. Fleet

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Princess Cruise today announced the sale of Pacific Princess to an undisclosed buyer. The 670-guest ship was the smallest in the current Princess fleet.

The company said the sale of the cruise ship is in line with parent company Carnival Corporation’s plan to accelerate the removal of less efficient ships from its fleet, according to a statement.

The Pacific Princess first joined the cruise line’s fleet in 2002, and originally entered service in 1999 as R3 for Renaissance Cruises. 

The Pacific Princess sailed more than 1.6 million nautical miles and 11 world cruises. 

“Pacific Princess holds so many memories and cherished experiences to all who sailed upon her,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises president. “Pacific Princess offered a traditional style of cruising to unique destinations. While it’s difficult to say goodbye to our ‘Love Boat,’ our World Cruise and exotic itineraries continue onboard our Medallion Class-enabled Island Princess and Coral Princess, featuring the best Wi-Fi at sea, allowing guests to keep in touch with loved ones and share vacation memories along the way.”