The world’s largest cruise company Carnival sees demand for cruises rising again for 2022, the American company reports in a news update. The number of bookings for the first half of 2022 is already above the level of 2019.
Although Carnival had cut its marketing costs, more people showed interest in a cruise holiday. According to the company, the reason why cruise passengers book so much is simply that they still wanted to go on a cruise, but no ships departed earlier.
Bookings are also coming in for the second half of 2021, but those numbers do not exceed previous years.
Also read: Holland America Line extends pause in cruise operations to 30 April
Cruise industry at a standstill
Cruise companies had to anchor their ships worldwide due to the Covid pandemic and have lost billions. Since mid-March, the entire cruise industry has been at a standstill due to corona outbreaks resulting in deaths on some ships.
Carnival recorded a net loss of almost USD 2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Also read: 11 cruise ships in Dutch ports this year instead of 282
Picture: Carnival’s first LNG-powered cruise ship Mardi Gras making its inaugural visit to Rotterdam for bunkering in December 2020 (by Kees Torn).
Source: ANP
