Few industries have been spared the negative consequences of the novel coronavirus. News in early 2020 included stories of cruise ships sailing around in an attempt to find a port that might accept them. Shortly after the coronavirus started its rapid spread, the travel industry came to a quick halt. This included a massive reduction in the number of flights and a complete shutdown in the cruise industry.
One of the companies that had to shut down was Royal Caribbean. After a few cruises set sail in the summer, a spike in cases led to another shutdown of the cruise industry.
Currently, Royal Caribbean has canceled all trips through February 28, 2021, nearly a year after the industry experienced its widespread shutdown.
In spite of the massive losses that accompanied the cancellations, Royal Caribbean’s chairman, Richard Fain, is somewhat optimistic regarding the future. According to Fain, “I’ve said repeatedly that our goal is making cruising as safe or safer from the virus than on main street USA and we’re making the effort now to ensure that day comes with appropriate speed and confidence.”
The rapid approval of a number of COVID-19 vaccines will make a quick return to the seas increasingly likely. On December 1, the UK provided the first approval of a coronavirus vaccine. While this vaccine from Pfizer is the first, there are other vaccines that show promise. Should these become available in short order, the fear of the coronavirus could begin to abate along with the number of cases and allow for the resumption of cruising.
Fain notes that the goal of getting back to the seas has taken a bit longer than hoped, but he believes that there will be pent-up demand from those who have missed taking cruises. This could provide for a quick rebound for an industry that has taken a big hit because of COVID-19.