Cruise ship reserves are increasing by 2021 despite coronavirus

• Despite multiple COVID-19 cruise outbreaks in 2020, cruise stocks are already on the rise in 2021, according to multiple reports.
• In the past 45 days, as multiple cruises had severe COVID-19 outbreaks on board, cruise booking site CruiseCompete.com experienced a 40% increase in their bookings for 2021 compared to their 2019 bookings.
• A recent UBS report also found that 76% of people who had a cruise canceled in 2020 chose to accept credit for a future cruise in 2021, compared to 24% who accepted a refund.
• The loyalty of the customer base of many cruise lines and the increase in reserves even in the midst of a pandemic show little hope for an industry in conflict.
• Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.

Cruise ship bookings are already on the rise in 2021, according to multiple indicators, despite multiple COVID-19 outbreaks on cruise ships in 2020.

In the past 45 days, as several cruise ships had severe COVID-19 outbreaks on board and, in many cases, were stranded for days before finding a place willing to let them dock and unload passengers, CruiseCompete.com experienced an increase of 40 % in its 2021 cruise bookings compared to 2019, the company told the Los Angeles Times.

The site president said that according to available data, the demand for cruise bookings after a pandemic remains strong, an encouraging sign for cruise lines that are currently taking a big financial hit and are seeing their market value drop.

The Times also noted that a recent analysis by Swiss bank UBS found that in the past 30 days, the number of cruise bookings for 2021 increased by 9% compared to the same period in 2020, including a considerable number of people booking new cruises rather than simply re-booking canceled cruises.

In fact, UBS reported that 76% of people who had a cruise canceled in 2020 have chosen to accept credit for a future cruise in 2021 compared to 24% who accepted a refund.

The LA Times also cited a survey of 4,600 cruise ship clients by review site CruiseCritic.com in which 75% of respondents said they planned to continue booking cruises at the same rate as before after the coronavirus outbreak ended, compared to 24% who said they planned to book cruises less frequently.

A Harris poll released March 31 also found that, although cruise ship demand is still expected to pick up at a slower rate than for other travel methods, such as hotel and airline bookings, only 22% of respondents He said it would take “a year or more” before they embark on a cruise again.

The two largest outbreaks occurred on the Diamond Princess and Ruby Princess cruises, both led by Carnival Cruise Corporation. After the outbreaks, Carnival saw its share price drop by 80%.

Most recently, Holland America dispatches MS Zaandam and MS Rotterdam docked in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after an outbreak aboard Zaandam that sickened dozens of passengers and caused four deaths.

In the wake of numerous onboard coronavirus outbreaks, the CDC has banned Carnival, Norwegian Cruises and Royal Caribbean cruise lines from sailing in US waters until at least July. Those three companies alone represent $ 60 billion of the cruise line market.

And because the vast majority of cruise lines are not incorporated or based in the US. USA To avoid corporate taxes, the industry at large was largely excluded from the $ 2 trillion economic stimulus package that President Donald Trump enacted in March.

Now that cruise lines have had to cancel trips or navigate empty ships, employees of lines such as Holland America, Princess Cruises and Australia-based P&O Cruises are facing cut wages and layoffs, Business Insider Mark Matousek reported Friday.

“Cruise lines, as stocks demonstrate, are in a world of pain right now without a clear light at the end of the tunnel,” SunTrust analyst Robinson Humphrey, Patrick Scholes, recently told Meghan Morris of Business Insider, He added that the “billionaire dollar question” for the survival of these cruise lines is when they can start operating again.

While the cruise lines have suffered a severe financial blow and will face serious challenges to return to normal after the crisis, the loyalty of their customer base and the increase in reserves even in the midst of a pandemic that spread in the Cruises show a small amount of hope for an industry at war.