As Holland America Line continues to prepare and develop its plans to meet the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the company announced on Wednesday afternoon it is extending its pause of cruise operations for all departures through April 30, 2021.
This includes Alaska, Mexican Riviera, Pacific Coast, Caribbean, Mediterranean and Canada/New England departures.
The line also will cancel all Alaska cruises through mid-May, Alaska departures on three ships through early June, any Land+Sea Journeys connected with cancelled Alaska sailings, Mediterranean cruises through early June and Zaandam’s Canada/New England itineraries through August.
Cruises impacted by this pause in operation are:
All cruise departures through April 30, 2021.
Alaska: Eurodam and Oosterdam through the first week of June (roundtrip from Seattle); Koningsdam through mid-May (roundtrip from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada); Nieuw Amsterdam and Noordam through mid-May (roundtrip Vancouver and between Vancouver and Whittier, Alaska); and Zuiderdam through early June (roundtrip from Vancouver).
Mediterranean: Volendam cruises through early June (between Venice and Civitavecchia [Rome], Italy); Westerdam through early June (roundtrip from Venice or between Venice and Piraeus [Athens], Greece).
Canada/New England: Zaandam cruises through August (between Boston, Massachusetts, and Montreal, Quebec, Canada).
Guests and their travel agents are being notified of the cancellations and options for Future Cruise Credits (FCC) and rebooking.
Holland America Line is preparing for a gradual restart and is said to be moving six cruise ships toward the U.S. citing positive signs and a new conversation around the return to service.
The news came in a letter sent to crew from President Gus Antorcha, reported by Crew Center, and also obtained by Cruise Industry News.
“Following in-depth discussions with the CDC, other government agencies, and medical and science authorities, we have decided to start moving six Holland America Line ships toward U.S. waters over the next several weeks to begin completing the requirements for conditional sailing,” Antorcha said in the letter sent to the crew.
The ships heading to U.S. waters are the Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Westerdam, Zuiderdam, and Noordam. Holland America did not specify port information but the line has traditionally had a strong presence in the winter from Port Everglades and Tampa, which would pull from a large drive-to market.
“While there is still much to be done, this is an important first step toward our goal of resuming cruise operation,” the letter said.
“Holland America Line will continue to work with the CDC on our eventual return to guest cruise operations. We are fully aligned with the CDC on our top priorities for compliance, protecting the environment, and the health, safety, and well-being of our guests, the people in communities we touch, our crew, and shoreside employees.”
Booking trends for 2021 indicate long-term potential demand for cruising despite sailings having been cancelled since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in mid-March. The glimmer of hope for the struggling sector came from Carnival Corporation despite reporting an average monthly cash burn of between $550 million and $770 million as dozens of ships remain idle, including some off the south coast of Britain. The world’s largest cruise group has started a phased return to operations with Italian brand Costa and German line Aida. Other brands and ships are expected to return to service “overtime”. The initial cruises will continue to operate with adjusted passenger capacity and enhanced health protocols developed with government and health authorities, and guidance from medical and scientific experts. “Many of the company’s brands source the majority of their guests from the geographical region in which they operate. In the current environment, the company believes this will benefit it in resuming guest cruise operations,” the company said. But in a business update on Thursday, the corporation said: “Currently, the company is unable to predict when the entire fleet will return to normal operations, and as a result, unable to provide an earnings forecast. “The pause in guest operations continues to have a material negative impact on all aspects of the company’s business, including the company’s liquidity, financial position and results of operations.” The company expects to report an unspecified loss for the financial year ending November 30 but has a total of $8.2 billion of cash and “cash equivalents”. Bookings in the first half of 2021 reflect expectations of phased resumption operations and anticipated itinerary changes. However, cumulative advance bookings for the second half of 2021 capacity currently available for sale are at the “higher-end” of the historical range. “The company believes this demonstrates the long-term potential demand for cruising,” the parent of UK brands P&O Cruises and Cunard said. Pricing on these bookings are lower by “mid-single digits” versus the second half of 2019, reflecting the effect of future cruise credits (FCCs) from previously cancelled cruises being applied. The company continues to take bookings for both 2021 and 2022. About 45% of passengers affected by schedule changes have received enhanced FCCs while 55% have requested refunds. The total customer deposits balance at the end of August was $2.4 billion, the majority of which were FCCs, compared to $2.9 billion at May 31. “The decline in customer deposits is consistent with previous expectations,” Carnival added. Cruise capacity More than half (60%) of bookings taken during the three weeks ended September 20 were new bookings as opposed to FCC re-bookings, despite minimal advertising or marketing. Future capacity is expected to be “moderated” by the phased re-entry of ships, the removal of older capacity and delays in new ship deliveries. The company has accelerated the trimming of capacity since the pause in operations with the disposal of 18 ships, ten of which have already left the fleet. The 18 less efficient ships represent 12% of pre-pause capacity and only 3% of last year’s operating income. The corporation expects to receive only two of the four ships originally due for delivery this year, including Enchanted Princess which was handed over last week. The company expects only five of the nine ships originally set for delivery by the end of 2021 to be received by then. Nine cruise ships and two smaller expedition vessels of the 13 originally scheduled for delivery before the end of the 2022 financial year are expected to be delivered by then. “Based on the actions taken to date and the scheduled new-build deliveries through 2022, the company’s fleet will be more efficient with a roughly 13% larger average berth size per ship and an average age of 12 years in 2022 versus 13 years, in each case as compared to 2019,” Carnival said. President and chief executive Arnold Donald said: “We have come full circle from initiating a suspension in the early days of the pandemic, to transitioning the fleet into a pause status, right-sizing our organisation and, now, embarking on the phased resumption of guest operations, underway in two of our world-leading cruise brands, Costa in Italy and Aida in Germany. “We have accelerated the sale of less efficient ships, enabling us to capitalise on pent up demand on reduced capacity and structurally lower our cost base, while retaining our most cash-generating assets. “We are taking aggressive actions managing the balance sheet and reducing capacity to position us to weather this disruption and also emerge a leaner, more efficient company, reinforcing our industry-leading position.”
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