Will Any Cruise Lines Have Ships at Sea by Monday?
Photo Credit: The Carnival Spirit in Sydney Flickr / Ed Dunens
Skift Take
The cruise industry has had a spectacularly rotten week. Facing criticism from all sides, it looks increasingly unlikely that many lines will still be sailing as scheduled on Monday.
The cruise industry faces a weekend like no other, with calls from Senators and government officials to suspend operations, ports turning away vessels, and a market position that has seen the industry leader lose as much as $24 billion of its market valuation since January.
So far, numerous cruise lines have suspended operations temporarily, many in the past 24 hours: Viking Cruises, Princess Cruises, Aida Cruises, Costa Cruises, Fred Olson, Disney Cruises, AMA River Cruises, Avalon Waterways, Celestyal Cruises, Saga Cruises, and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises.
MSC has also cancelled some cruises, but not suspended all operations. Richard Branson's Virgin Cruises also announced it would suspend the inaugural season of its Scarlett Lady — which had its splashy media launch just three weeks ago — until mid-July.
After publication of this story, Norwegian Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean on Fr
