Royal Caribbean chief Richard Fain admitted frustration at the continuing suspension of cruises, but insisted there is “light at the end of the tunnel” as he reported a $1.3 billion loss for the three months to September.
The Royal Caribbean chairman and chief executive said: “It’s seven months since we paused our cruise operations. Every single day has been frustrating.
“One of the most frustrating elements has been how little we all knew about Covid-19 at the outset of this pandemic.”
He added: “The prospect of a further surge is beyond frustrating.”
However, Fain said “greater understanding of the virus”, developments in testing and progress in developing a vaccine meant: “I feel more positive we’re beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. Progress is being made.
“I’m optimistic we are moving in the direction of a healthy return to services.”
Royal Caribbean joined Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings in setting up a Healthy Sail Panel (HSP) of medical and scientific experts in the summer which submitted 74 recommendations to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on September 21.
Fain said: “We asked the panel to reduce the Covid risk on our ships below that of home communities. We intend to make our ships a bubble.”
Asked what he expects from the CDC, Fain said: “The panel spent four months going through this with observers from the CDC at all the panel meetings.
“There are things that make a ship more demanding, but there are also advantages and the big advantage is that a ship is a controlled environment.”
He insisted: “We are not just suddenly coming back. We’re planning trial cruises. These will allow us to refine things.
“We will not be making a big leap until we and the authorities are comfortable this is viable. We propose to operate trial cruises with no customers.
“This slow start up and trial trips will give us opportunities to prove our protocols.”
Fain said: “We made dramatic inroads with the Healthy Sail Panel. These are leading experts with the experience of regulation, and the cooperation with the CDC was very helpful. But I can’t predict what the CDC will do.”
He added: “I’m hopeful we’ll see a good answer regardless of who is in power [after the US presidential election on November 3]. A lot of people want to see the industry back.”
Asked if he had spoken to the White House as media reports have suggested, Fain said: “I’ll have conversations with anyone on this. This is a huge issue for employment. But the conversations I’ve had are private.”
Fain insisted: “I’m optimistic we’ll soon have a path back to resuming operations. It will be slower than I wish, but faster than a lot of people are assuming.”
However, he added: “This is a fluid situation and what we don’t know, we don’t know.”
Executive vice president and chief financial officer Jason Liberty described Royal Caribbean’s third quarter results as “painful”.
He said: “We are planning for an initial very limited return. Our decision making will be guided by the health of our guests and crew, by the customer experience, and we will ensure we bring back cruises in the most cost-effective way.”
Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas is due to resume sailing from Singapore in December following sign-off from the Singapore government, and Liberty said: “We’ve seen bookings spike up significantly.
“It’s just one of 53 ships, but it clearly highlights the pent-up demand for cruises.”