NEWS: Carnival CEO Predicts Most Cruise Ships Will be in Action by End of 2021

While theme parks have started to reopen around the country, the cruise industry has continued to face a high level of uncertainty.

©Disney

The cruise industry has a number of factors to consider before sailings resume. With cruise ship bans in select countries, CDC health recommendations, and safety requirements, it has been difficult to predict a timeline for the return of cruising.

Amid the ongoing uncertainty, Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald gave his predictions during a recent webcast “Fireside Chat” with John Lovell, president of Travel Leaders Group.

According to Travel Pulse, Donald said, “What I will predict is this: I think that certainly by the end of this year, most, if not all, of our fleet, I’m optimistic, will be in action. I think there’s a really high probability that all of them will be back by early next year if things continue to progress the way they have.”

©Carnival Cruise Line

Donald cited the combination of advances in COVID-19 treatment, available low-cost and accurate testing, and multiple vaccines as an indication that things are moving in a positive direction.

“You do see the light here. The conversation is changing. The knowledge about COVID has changed. The ability to manage COVID has changed. All these things have moved in a positive direction. It’s a bad storm that the world finds itself in, but we will weather this storm, and that’s the trick.”

©Carnival Cruise Line

Donald emphasized that decisions will continue to be made with the ongoing input from health experts and the CDC. “I think the determinant of the future of travel, including cruise, will be when society feels the risks associated with COVID-19 are at a low-enough level to feel comfortable with social gatherings,” he said.

When asked whether Carnival will require vaccinations for crew and passengers, Donald said, “As we do with everything, we’ll be informed by our global medical and science experts. It’s early, the vaccines are not as readily available to everyone all at once. We are sailing, successfully now, without vaccines, on a very limited basis in Germany and Italy with cruises on our AIDA and Costa brands, and other companies are sailing as well, with guests very pleased. So I won’t jump the gun now and say it’ll be mandated but what I will say is, look, this is in everyone’s best interests to get everyone vaccinated.”

Donald also indicated that the company hasn’t experienced a significant drop in bookings even amid the lack of sailings. He believes there is a great deal of pent-up demand and expects that with reduced capacity on future sailings, he expects the demand to far exceed the supply when cruising does return.