Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. Announces Additional Voyages to Phased Resumption Plan Across Its Three Brands
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH) has announced the relaunch of eight additional ships starting Fall 2021 across its three brands: Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. The fully vaccinated voyages will operate under the Company’s SailSAFE™ health and safety program. Key highlights include Norwegian Joy relaunching from Miami, with additional ships resuming operations through early 2022. Meanwhile, some itineraries have been canceled, impacting guests who will be notified directly.
- Relaunching eight additional ships starting Fall 2021 increases operational capacity.
- Strong demand for cruise vacations indicates potential for increased bookings.
- Cancellations of certain itineraries impact existing guests and may lead to negative sentiment.
- Dependence on CDC approval for U.S. voyages presents regulatory risk.
Norwegian Cruise Line Announces Plan for Eight Additional Ships to Set Sail Beginning Fall 2021
Three Additional Oceania Cruises’ Ships to Sail Previously Published Voyages in the Mediterranean, Caribbean and the 2022 World Cruise
Regent Seven Seas Cruises® Announces Phased Relaunch Plans for Full Fleet Including Newly Created Itineraries in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean
All Initial Voyages to Operate with Multi-Layered SailSAFE™ Health and Safety Program Including Mandatory Vaccinations for All Guests and Crew
MIAMI, May 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (the “Company”) (NYSE: NCLH), a leading global cruise company which operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands, today announced the next phase of its planned resumption of cruising across its three cruise lines. Norwegian Cruise Line announced plans for eight additional ships to relaunch beginning Fall 2021. Oceania Cruises will resume cruise operations with three additional ships, Riviera, Insignia, and Sirena, between October 2021 and January 2022. Regent Seven Seas Cruises will see all five ships back exploring the oceans by February 2022. Voyages expected to operate in the U.S. are contingent on obtaining a Conditional Sailing Certificate from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”). All initial voyages will operate with fully vaccinated guests and crew in addition to the Company’s robust, multi-layered SailSAFE™ health and safety program.
“Our Great Cruise Comeback continues to build momentum with today’s announcement of the return of fifteen additional ships across our three brands,” said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. “We continue to see incredible pent-up demand for future cruise vacations and as regions across the globe continue to reopen for travel and tourism, we are excited to get back to what we do best and deliver exceptional vacation experiences for our guests to once again explore the world.”
Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line has announced further details on its phased voyage resumption plan for additional ships beginning Fall 2021. Earlier this week the line announced its plan for a return to cruising in the U.S. with sailings in Alaska starting August 7, 2021 contingent on CDC authorization. Newly announced expected redeployment plans include the following:
- Norwegian Joy will cruise from Miami beginning October 19, 2021 with five to 11-day Caribbean voyages.
- Norwegian Breakaway will cruise seven-day itineraries to Bermuda from New York beginning October 24, 2021.
- Pride of America will offer seven-day Hawaii interisland voyages from Honolulu beginning November 6, 2021.
- Norwegian Bliss will cruise from Los Angeles for seven-day Mexican Riviera voyages beginning November 7, 2021.
- Norwegian Encore will offer seven-night itineraries from Miami to the Caribbean beginning November 14, 2021.
- Norwegian Escape will cruise seven-day itineraries to the Caribbean from Orlando (Port Canaveral), Florida beginning November 20, 2021.
- Norwegian Pearl will sail from Miami offering Panama Canal, Bahamas and Caribbean cruises beginning December 23, 2021.
- Norwegian Jewel will offer Panama Canal cruises from Panama City and New York beginning January 20, 2022.
- Norwegian Sun will sail a five-day Japan itinerary from Hong Kong beginning January 28, 2022, before sailing a variety of 11-day cruises from Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok.
- Norwegian Spirit will cruise 12-day Australia and New Zealand voyages from Sydney, and Auckland, New Zealand beginning February 9, 2022.
Due to the previously disclosed lead time needed to relaunch a vessel and in order to maximize the short Alaska cruise season, the cruise line has made the decision to transfer crew from Norwegian Joy to Alaska and has canceled itineraries aboard Norwegian Joy from Montego Bay, Jamaica from August 7 through October 9, 2021. In addition, certain sailings outside of these newly announced voyages have been canceled. Impacted guests on voyages that will not operate will be notified accordingly.
Oceania Cruises
Oceania Cruises has now announced return to cruising plans for four of its six vessels. Guests on Oceania Cruises will experience a number of OceaniaNEXT enhancements from the first sailing on board Marina when the line resumes operations in August with elevated dining experiences and service levels for guests. OceaniaNEXT enhancements will also debut aboard Regatta, Insignia, Nautica, Riviera, and Sirena as each vessel returns to sailing.
- Riviera will resume its previously published voyage schedules from Istanbul beginning on October 18, 2021 and sail a series of Mediterranean voyages prior to beginning a winter 2021-2022 series of Caribbean voyages from Miami.
- Insignia will resume sailing with the December 21, 2021 Panama Canal voyage from Miami prior to embarking on a sold-out 180-day Around The World cruise from Los Angeles to New York.
- Sirena will commence sailings starting with the January 22, 2022 Caribbean voyage from Miami to Panama City, Panama.
In conjunction with today’s announcement, the cruise line has canceled all sailings up to each ships’ respective restart date. Guests with impacted bookings will be contacted directly or via their Travel Advisor.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises
With Seven Seas Splendor® already announced to return in September, Regent Seven Seas Cruises announced its resumption of sailing plan for the rest of The World’s Most Luxurious Fleet™, which will see all five ships back exploring the oceans by February 2022. The cruise line intends to preserve already published itineraries as much as possible but has also announced newly created sailings in Europe and the Caribbean for Seven Seas Explorer® and Seven Seas Voyager®. In conjunction with today’s announcement, and while considering the global health environment, the cruise line has canceled all sailings up to each ship’s respective restart date. Guests with impacted bookings will be contacted directly or via their Travel Advisor.
- Seven Seas Explorer will welcome back guests on October 16, 2021 sailing from Venice, Italy. She will complete two published Mediterranean voyages before crossing the Atlantic to Miami, Florida and, from November 15, 2021, sail a further two published sailings in the Caribbean. The ship then begins a newly created winter Caribbean season featuring eight new sailings, starting December 20, 2021 with a 14-night Southern Caribbean cruise. After a trans-Atlantic crossing, she will arrive back in Europe on April 10, 2022, sailing three more newly created Mediterranean itineraries before embarking on her published 2022 European summer season on May 14.
- Seven Seas Mariner® will return to sailing on a published December 18, 2021 itinerary, cruising from Miami, Florida to San Francisco, California where she will begin an epic World Cruise on January 5, 2022.
- Seven Seas Navigator’s® resumption will begin January 6, 2022 from Miami, Florida with her published 2022 Southern Caribbean winter sailings, which include multiple round-trip Barbados voyages.
- Seven Seas Voyager returns with five new Mediterranean voyages, the first from Barcelona, Spain on February 15, 2022, before commencing her published 2022 European summer season itineraries exploring the Mediterranean and Northern Europe from April 15, 2022.
The Company continues to expect a phased-in approach to reintroducing additional vessels while taking into account the public health environment, global travel restrictions, regulatory restrictions and port availability, among other considerations. All voyages will operate with the Company’s comprehensive SailSAFE™ health and safety protocols which were developed with leading public health and scientific experts including the Healthy Sail Panel and the SailSAFE Global Health and Wellness Council. The Company’s SailSAFE protocols will be continuously evaluated and modified with the latest science and technology.
About Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH) is a leading global cruise company which operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands. With a combined fleet of 28 ships with approximately 60,000 berths, these brands offer itineraries to more than 490 destinations worldwide. The Company has nine additional ships scheduled for delivery through 2027, comprising approximately 24,000 berths.
About SailSAFE
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. established its SailSAFE health and safety program in response to the unique challenges of the COVID-19 global pandemic to protect guests, crew and communities visited. SailSAFE is a robust and comprehensive health and safety strategy with new and enhanced protocols to create multiple layers of protection against COVID-19. This science-backed plan for a safe and healthy return to cruising was developed in conjunction with a diverse group of globally recognized experts and will be continuously improved and refined using the best available science and technology. For more information on the SailSAFE health and safety program please visit http://www.nclhltd.com/Health-and-Safety.
About the SailSAFE Global Health and Wellness Council
The SailSAFE Global Health and Wellness Council (“Council”) was established by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. to provide expert advice on the implementation, compliance with and continuous improvement of the Company’s SailSAFE health and safety program. The Council will complement the work of the Healthy Sail Panel and continuously evaluate and identify ways to improve health and safety standards after cruise voyages resume, utilizing the best technologies and information available. The Council is cross-functional, diverse and extensively experienced, comprised of six experts at the forefront of their fields and led by Chairman of the Council, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
About the Healthy Sail Panel
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. in collaboration with Royal Caribbean Group established the Healthy Sail Panel (“HSP”), a group of 11 leading experts to help inform the cruise industry in the development of new and enhanced cruise health and safety standards in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The HSP, co-chaired by Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Governor Mike Leavitt, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, consists of globally recognized experts from various disciplines, including public health, infectious disease, biosecurity, hospitality and maritime operations. The panel’s work, including detailed recommendations across five key areas of focus, is informing the Company’s health and safety protocols and has been widely shared with the cruise industry and open to any other industry that could benefit from the HSP’s scientific and medical insights.
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements, estimates or projections contained in this release are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this release, including, without limitation, those regarding our business strategy, financial position, results of operations, plans, prospects, actions taken or strategies being considered with respect to our liquidity position, valuation and appraisals of our assets and objectives of management for future operations (including those regarding expected fleet additions, our voluntary suspension, our ability to weather the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the length of time we can withstand a suspension of voyages, our expectations regarding the resumption of cruise voyages and the timing for such resumption of cruise voyages, the implementation of and effectiveness of our health and safety protocols, operational position, demand for voyages, financing opportunities and extensions, and future cost mitigation and cash conservation efforts and efforts to reduce operating expenses and capital expenditures) are forward-looking statements. Many, but not all, of these statements can be found by looking for words like “expect,” “anticipate,” “goal,” “project,” “plan,” “believe,” “seek,” “will,” “may,” “forecast,” “estimate,” “intend,” “future” and similar words. Forward-looking statements do not guarantee future performance and may involve risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in those forward-looking statements. Examples of these risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to the impact of: the spread of epidemics, pandemics and viral outbreaks and specifically, the COVID-19 pandemic, including its effect on the ability or desire of people to travel (including on cruises), which are expected to continue to adversely impact our results, operations, outlook, plans, goals, growth, reputation, cash flows, liquidity, demand for voyages and share price; our ability to comply with the CDC’s Framework for Conditional Sailing Order and any additional or future regulatory restrictions on our operations and to otherwise develop enhanced health and safety protocols to adapt to the pandemic’s unique challenges once operations resume and to otherwise safely resume our operations when conditions allow; legislation prohibiting companies from verifying vaccination status; coordination and cooperation with the CDC, the federal government and global public health authorities to take precautions to protect the health, safety and security of guests, crew and the communities visited and the implementation of any such precautions; our ability to work with lenders and others or otherwise pursue options to defer, renegotiate or refinance our existing debt profile, near-term debt amortization, newbuild related payments and other obligations and to work with credit card processors to satisfy current or potential future demands for collateral on cash advanced from customers relating to future cruises; our need for additional financing, which may not be available on favorable terms, or at all, and may be dilutive to existing shareholders; our indebtedness and restrictions in the agreements governing our indebtedness that require us to maintain minimum levels of liquidity and otherwise limit our flexibility in operating our business, including the significant portion of assets that are collateral under these agreements; the accuracy of any appraisals of our assets as a result of the impact of COVID-19 or otherwise; our success in reducing operating expenses and capital expenditures and the impact of any such reductions; our guests’ election to take cash refunds in lieu of future cruise credits or the continuation of any trends relating to such election; trends in, or changes to, future bookings and our ability to take future reservations and receive deposits related thereto; the unavailability of ports of call; future increases in the price of, or major changes or reduction in, commercial airline services; adverse events impacting the security of travel, such as terrorist acts, armed conflict and threats thereof, acts of piracy, and other international events; adverse incidents involving cruise ships; adverse general economic and related factors, such as fluctuating or increasing levels of unemployment, underemployment and the volatility of fuel prices, declines in the securities and real estate markets, and perceptions of these conditions that decrease the level of disposable income of consumers or consumer confidence; any further impairment of our trademarks, trade names or goodwill; breaches in data security or other disturbances to our information technology and other networks or our actual or perceived failure to comply with requirements regarding data privacy and protection; changes in fuel prices and the type of fuel we are permitted to use and/or other cruise operating costs; mechanical malfunctions and repairs, delays in our shipbuilding program, maintenance and refurbishments and the consolidation of qualified shipyard facilities; the risks and increased costs associated with operating internationally; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; overcapacity in key markets or globally; our expansion into and investments in new markets; our inability to obtain adequate insurance coverage; pending or threatened litigation, investigations and enforcement actions; volatility and disruptions in the global credit and financial markets, which may adversely affect our ability to borrow and could increase our counterparty credit risks, including those under our credit facilities, derivatives, contingent obligations, insurance contracts and new ship progress payment guarantees; our inability to recruit or retain qualified personnel or the loss of key personnel or employee relations issues; our reliance on third parties to provide hotel management services for certain ships and certain other services; our inability to keep pace with developments in technology; changes involving the tax and environmental regulatory regimes in which we operate; and other factors set forth under “Risk Factors” in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, many of these risks and uncertainties are currently amplified by and will continue to be amplified by, or in the future may be amplified by, the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not possible to predict or identify all such risks. There may be additional risks that we consider immaterial or which are unknown. The above examples are not exhaustive and new risks emerge from time to time. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates and projections regarding our present and future business strategies and the environment in which we expect to operate in the future. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change of events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement was based, except as required by law.
Investor Relations & Media Contact
Andrea DeMarco
(305) 468-2339
InvestorRelations@nclcorp.com
Jessica John
(786) 913-2902
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