MIAMI, July 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival
Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's
largest cruise company, today announced that it expects to resume
guest cruise operations with 65% of its total fleet capacity by the
end of 2021 across eight of its world-leading cruise line brands.
Additionally, Carnival Cruise Line has announced plans that
envision the brand's entire fleet returning to service by the end
of 2021, which would further increase Carnival Corporation's total
operating capacity to nearly 75% by the end of the year.
Eight of the company's nine brands – AIDA Cruises, Carnival
Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, Princess
Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and Seabourn – have announced plans
to resume guest operations on 54 ships to date through the end of
2021, with nearly half of the capacity represented by ships
homeported in the U.S. In addition to those ships previously
announced by the company's brands, Carnival Cruise Line's intent to
return to full fleet service in 2021 would add another nine
vessels, totaling 63 ships to date that are expected to resume
guest operations this year. Further brand restart announcements are
expected in coming weeks, including resumption plans for more ships
and itineraries for 2021.
Collectively, the brands are continuing to resume operations
from ports around the world using a gradual, phased-in approach,
including sailings in the U.S., Caribbean, Europe and Mediterranean, along with
itineraries planned in Central
America and to Antarctica,
among others. The cruises include enhanced health protocols
developed in conjunction with government and health authorities,
and informed by guidance from the company's public health,
epidemiological and policy experts.
The following summarizes Carnival Corporation's brand restart
announcements to date through the end of 2021.
North America Brands:
- Carnival Cruise Line resumed guest cruise operations
with three ships to date sailing out of two U.S. ports, Galveston
and Miami, and has announced its
intent to have 15 ships in operation by the end of October and to
have its entire fleet sailing by the end of the year.
- Princess Cruises will resume guest cruise operations
this weekend with its first ship sailing from Seattle to Alaska, and will expand with a series of
cruises around UK coastal waters in late July, as well as cruises
out of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Fort Lauderdale to the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Mexico, Hawaii and California coast in the fall, with eight total
ships expected to be in operation by the end of the year.
- Holland America Line will
resume guest cruise operations this weekend with its first ship
sailing from Seattle to
Alaska, followed by sailings from
Greece in August, and from
Italy and Spain in September, as well as sailings to
Mexico, Hawaii, the California coast and the Caribbean this fall for a total of six ships
expected to be in operation by the end of the
year.
- Seabourn resumed guest cruise operations with two ships
to date sailing from Greece and
Barbados, and plans to begin the
Antarctica season in November with
a third ship.
Europe & Asia Brands:
- Costa Cruises resumed guest cruise operations in May
with sailings in Italy and
Greece, and the line is now
offering sailings to France and
Spain, to be followed by sailings
to Portugal and Turkey in September for a total of seven ships
expected to be sailing in the Mediterranean by the end of the
year.
- AIDA Cruises resumed guest cruise operations in March
sailing in the Canary Islands and in May with sailings in
Greece and Germany. The line is now offering additional
sailings out of Germany as well as
upcoming sailings in Spain,
Italy, Malta, the
Netherlands and the Persian Gulf from late July to December
for a total of nine ships expected to be in operation by the end of
the year.
- P&O Cruises (UK) resumed guest cruise operations
with a series of summer sailings around UK coastal waters that
started in June, and plans to expand to the Mediterranean, the
Atlantic coast and the Caribbean
starting in September for a total of four ships expected to be in
operation by the end of the year.
- Cunard will resume guest cruise operations in August
with one ship sailing UK coastal cruises, followed by sailings to
the Iberian coast and Canary Islands, and plans to expand with a
second ship returning to service in November with a combination of
transatlantic crossings and Caribbean cruises.
The additional voyages build on recent restarts from five of the
company's brands, including AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises, which
have been sailing in Europe since
March and May, respectively, as well as its P&O Cruises brand
in the UK. Most recently, the company's Carnival Cruise Line brand
resumed in early July from the U.S. along with its Seabourn brand,
which restarted earlier this month in the Mediterranean and the
Caribbean.
"With strong ongoing demand for cruising, we look forward to
serving our guests with additional ships announced across eight of
our brands and nearly three-quarters of our fleet capacity
returning by the end of this year, marking an important milestone
for our company and all those who rely on the strong economic
impacts generated by the global cruise industry," said Roger Frizzell, chief communications officer for
Carnival Corporation.
Frizzell added: "For our entire company, our highest
responsibility and top priority is always compliance, environmental
protection, and the health, safety and well-being of our guests,
our shipboard and shoreside employees, and the communities we
visit. Our ongoing restart effort closely reflects those
priorities, as we continue to work together across the industry and
with partners around the world to resume cruising in the best
interest of public health."
In working with global and national health authorities and
medical experts, as well as authorities in destination countries,
the company's brands have developed a comprehensive set of health
and safety protocols for protection and mitigation across the
entire cruise experience for its initial cruises. This includes
cross-industry learnings and best practices based on the proven
health and safety record of industrywide sailings, and input from
top science and health experts and health authorities.
Cautionary Note Concerning Factors That May Affect Future
Results
Some of the statements, estimates or projections
contained in this document are "forward-looking statements" that
involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions with respect to us,
including some statements concerning our resuming of cruise
operations in the US, Caribbean
and Europe. These statements are
intended to qualify for the safe harbors from liability provided by
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other
than statements of historical facts are statements that could be
deemed forward-looking. These statements are based on current
expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about our
business and the industry in which we operate and the beliefs and
assumptions of our management. We have tried, whenever possible, to
identify these statements by using words like "will," "may,"
"could," "should," "would," "believe," "depends," "expect," "goal,"
"anticipate," "forecast," "project," "future," "intend," "plan,"
"estimate," "target," "indicate," "outlook," and similar
expressions of future intent or the negative of such terms.
Because forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties, there are many factors that could cause our actual
results, performance or achievements to differ materially from
those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. This
note contains important cautionary statements of the known factors
that we consider could materially affect the accuracy of our
forward-looking statements and adversely affect our resuming of
risk operations. Such risks, uncertainties and factors
include the risk factors discussed in Item 1A of our most recent
Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form
10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").
Forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a
prediction of actual results. Subject to any continuing obligations
under applicable law or any relevant stock exchange rules, we
expressly disclaim any obligation to disseminate, after the date of
this document, any updates or revisions to any such forward-looking
statements to reflect any change in expectations or events,
conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are
based.
About Carnival Corporation & plc
Carnival
Corporation & plc is one of the world's largest leisure travel
companies with a portfolio of nine of the world's leading cruise
lines sailing to all seven continents. With operations in
North America, Australia, Europe and Asia, its portfolio features
Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line,
Seabourn, P&O Cruises (Australia), Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises,
P&O Cruises (UK) and Cunard.
Additional information can be found on www.carnivalcorp.com,
www.carnival.com, www.princess.com, www.hollandamerica.com,
www.seabourn.com, www.pocruises.com.au, www.costacruise.com,
www.aida.de, www.pocruises.com and www.cunard.com.
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SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc