Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald told the Financial Times that he predicts at least two more difficult years for the cruise industry, which he said will likely not return to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2023, Reuters reported Sunday.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Donald said that while the company’s entire fleet could sail later this year, the corporation will take longer to recover pre-coronavirus revenues.
In January, Carnival’s earnings report for the fourth quarter showed a larger-than-expected loss, and its earnings per share lost the projected level by $ 0.10. The company earned $ 34 million during the quarter, which lost analysts’ estimates of $ 96.89 million, MarketBeat reported.
In January, Carnival announced that three of its cruise lines would extend their service suspensions during the spring in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises and Holland America Line extended their suspensions at least until March, with Holland America stopping services in April and Princess Cruises doing so until May.
The cruise industry was one of the first to be affected by the coronavirus. In March, the cruise ship Grand Princess was stranded at sea for several days after passengers began showing symptoms of COVID-19.