The Carnival Freedom arrived in Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos, on Dec. 15, marking the line’s first time back to the port since resuming service.
According to a press release, the 2,974-guest Freedom is on a six-day Eastern Caribbean cruise that departed PortMiami on Dec. 12, and featured ports include Half Moon Cay and Amber Cove.
“We are delighted to bring the Carnival Freedom back to Grand Turk and to offer our guests the opportunity to experience all of this port’s beauty once again,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “On behalf of Carnival, I would like to thank the Turks and Caicos Islands government and all our partners on the ground in Grand Turk for working with us to make this opportunity possible.”
By year’s end, Carnival will have 19 ships in operation as the line’s restart of operations continues. All 22 of Carnival’s U.S.-based ships will be back in guest operations by March 2022.
The resumption of global cruise operations is keeping drydock busy around the world. With more cruise ships restarting service, cruise companies are rushing to get necessary work done before welcoming the passengers back onboard, as predicted by Cruise Industry News earlier this year.
In Europe some drydocks have seen a dramatic increase in the number of cruise ships projects, almost seemingly overnight.
Popular among several cruise lines, the Navantia Shipyard in Cadiz, Spain, has been one of the busiest facilities.. Working on vessels from brands such as Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Marella and Azamara, the yard currently has five ships in Cádiz, with two more on the way.
According to the local press, Navantia plans to work on18 cruise ship projects through the end of the year. the year.
The work performed by the facility includes necessary classification society inspections, technical maintenance and modernization. Recent work included the Liberty of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas and Celebrity Constellation, which underwent repairs and revision of propulsion and steering equipment, hydro blasting and application of silicone paint.
Marseilles, has also been a the hotspot, working closely with Carnival Corporation, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean Group’s Silversea.
Carnival completed four drydocks in the facility recently, with all vessels undergoing regular maintenance and a change of hull colors. A fifth Carnival vessel – the Carnival Legend – is currently at the shipyard, along with Silversea’s Silver Spirit.
Also recently,, the Palumbo Malta Shipyard worked on several MSC ships for their restart operations. Located in Valletta, the yard was partly acquired by the MSC Group in 2020 and currently has the MSC Preziosa docked there.
Bigger Projects Making a Comeback
While most of the current drydock projects are limited to mandatory and technical work, some vessels are also seeing significant refurbishment and conversion projects in 2021.
After virtually all those projects scheduled for 2020 were cancelled or postponed, a few are now being carried out.
Work on Carnival Victory was also resumed recently. The vessel is set to be transformed into the Carnival Radiance with all new interiors and revamped cabins in a $200 million project.
Another big project confirmed for the year is the conversion of the Silver Wind into an ice-class expedition vessel. Previously scheduled for 2020, the project is now set to be completed by the end of 2021.
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.”
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