Tag Archives: NCL

Norwegian Can Now Require COVID-19 Vaccine Proof for Florida Cruises

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Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has announced today that Florida Judge Williams ruled in its favour granting a preliminary injunction which paves the way for the company’s three brands to require documentation confirming a guest’s vaccination status prior to boarding for cruises departing from Florida.

“The health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we visit is our number one priority, today, tomorrow and forever. It’s not a slogan or a tagline, we fiercely mean it and our commitment to these principles is demonstrated by the lengths our Company has gone through to provide the safest possible cruise experience from Florida. We want nothing more than to sail from Miami, the Cruise Capital of the World, and from the other fabulous Florida ports and we welcome today’s ruling that allows us to sail with 100% fully vaccinated guests and crew which we believe is the safest and most prudent way to resume cruise operations amid this global pandemic,” said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

“The public health environment continues to evolve around the globe and our robust science-backed health and safety protocols, with vaccines at its cornerstone, allow us to provide what we believe is the safest vacation experience for people who long to get back to their everyday lives and explore the world once again.”

The company’s first sailing from Florida is scheduled on August 15, 2021, on Norwegian Gem departing from Miami.

“We are pleased that Judge Williams saw the facts, the law and the science as we did and granted the Company’s motion for a preliminary injunction allowing us to operate cruises from Florida with 100% vaccinated guests and crew,” said Daniel S. Farkas, executive vice president and general counsel of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. “While litigation is a strategic tool of last resort, our Company has fought to do what we believe is right and in the best interest of the welfare of our guests, crew and communities we visit in an effort to do our part as responsible corporate citizens to minimize, to the greatest extent possible, further spread of COVID-19 as we gradually relaunch our vessels.”

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.”

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings: Cash Flow Positive in Q1 2022

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Aiming to have 75 to 80 per cent of its three brands, 28-ship fleet back in service by the end of 2021, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings should be cash flow positive in early 2022.

“Looking ahead, based on our resumption plan, we expect to reach a crucial inflexion point with operating cash flow turning positive over the course of the first quarter of 2022,” said Mark Kempa. executive vice president and chief financial officer.

That’s only five to six months away, he said, on the company’s second-quarter earnings call.

“So we’re very pleased with the booking trends that we’ve seen. Obviously, as we restart and our ships enter service, that starts to generate that cash flywheel that we’ve been talking about. So we’re very pleased … there’s always a little bit of risk out there. But based on our measured plan, we think we have a solid game plan of returning to cash flow-positive operations.”

Later in the call, he added: “We expect to be cash-flow positive over the course of the first quarter of 2022. So when you think about that from a restart within a six-month period to be cash flow positive, we feel that’s pretty tremendous. And we’re pretty proud of that. So we look forward over the next few months of restarting our fleet.”