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Read about the effect of coronavirus (Covid-19) on cruise ships.
Norwegian Cruise Line has cancelled its Asian cruises for the third quarter of this year due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic.
This is expected to cut the company’s earnings by $0.75 per share in 2020.
The impact is attributed to the customer incentive compensation and the 40 cancelled and modified cruises across the three company brands.
The modifications include the redeployment of 21 cancelled voyages to Asia on Norwegian Spirit, which are now redirected to the Eastern Mediterranean.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings CEO and president Frank Del Rio said: “As a result of the strong global demand for cruises witnessed throughout 2019, we entered 2020 in the best-booked position and at prices higher than last year’s record levels.
“This trend continued through late January until the Covid-19 outbreak began having an adverse impact on our business.”
To protect the health of passengers and crew, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean barred passengers with passports from China, Hong Kong and Macau irrespective of their place of residency.
Del Rio added: “While the effect of these impacts cannot be fully quantified at this time, our company has an exemplary track record of demonstrating its resilience in challenging environments and we remain confident in our ability to deliver strong financial performance over the long term.”
