Royal Caribbean bets on vaccines for safe voyages as Delta variant weighs
Reuters
Published Aug 04, 2021 08:11AM ET
Updated Aug 04, 2021 11:36AM ET
By Uday Sampath Kumar
(Reuters) -Royal Caribbean Group on Wednesday flagged a modest hit to its bookings from the Delta variant of the coronavirus and leaned on vaccines for safe voyages as the cruise industry takes to the sea after a pandemic-led standstill.
Shares fell about 2.4% after the company, which operates the biggest cruise ships in the world, reported a bigger quarterly loss than expected.
Cruise operators resumed sailing from U.S. ports in June with mostly vaccinated passengers and crew on limited capacity following lengthy talks with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about health and safety protocols.
The resumption came more than a year after operations were suspended, but a few on-board cases in recent weeks and rising infections in U.S. states have raised worries that a rebound for the cruise industry could be delayed.
"The vaccines are the ultimate weapon," Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL) Chief Executive Richard Fain said on a call with analysts.
"It's impossible to eliminate cases on board a ship totally. But the steps that we are taking are designed to prevent the isolated cases from becoming an outbreak and it seems to be working."
Royal Caribbean requires passengers above 12 years of age to be fully vaccinated, except for cruises departing from Florida, due to the state's ban on businesses asking for so-called "vaccine passports".
Florida is crucial for cruise companies as it has the main ports of departure for Caribbean voyages.
Still, Royal Caribbean said bookings for 2022 cruises were "practically back" to pre-pandemic levels due to the pent-up demand for vacations.
It expects 80% of its capacity to be in service by 2021 end and turn cash-flow positive in about six months.
The company reported a second-quarter adjusted net loss of $1.3 billion, or $5.06 per share, bigger than $4.39 loss estimated by analysts, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.