The president and chief executive of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) expects the cruise industry to be at around “80% normal” when the peak selling period starts in January – and hopes to have all 17 ships sailing by April.
Asked during a Travel Weekly webcast about the wider industry and when operations would return to a degree of normality, Harry Sommer said: “I would guess that we’ll be at about 80% normal by January. Of course, 80% would probably make it the best month we’ve had in the pandemic.
“If you compare January 2022 to January 2020, the last ‘normal’ January, 80% would be my guess.”
Sommer added: “I would hope that by the time we get to March will be closer to 100%. It’s tough, you know, Covid ebbs and flows and it seems to be getting a little better here in the US.”
Norwegian Bliss became the line’s seventh ship to return to service last month, meaning half of NCL’s fleet bed capacity is now operating again. NCL opted to restart with its larger vessels first.
Sommer said “a couple” of the remaining 10 vessels would return every month until March next year, when he expects the last two ships to return.
Norwegian Spirit is due to restart sailing on March 27 and Norwegian Sun is to resume operations on March 30 with a round-trip cruise out of Tokyo.
Sommer predicted Australia would accept cruise calls ahead of New Zealand. Norwegian Spirit is scheduled to restart with an ex-Sydney cruise to Tahiti that by-passes New Zealand.
Social distancing requirements have meant most NCL cruises have operated at between 40% and 60% so far. Sommer said he did not feel that cruises would operate at full capacity until next summer. “I think by May or June we should be close to normal occupancy levels,” he added.
He believes selling reduced-capacity cruises during the pandemic had presented agents with the opportunity to earn more commission.
“While the ships are operating half full, we’re focused on the higher [cabin grades],” he explained. “The suites, the larger balcony cabins are close to 100% full, it’s the inside [cabins] and lower outside cabin [grades] that are more empty.
“From an economics perspective, we provide a better guest experience [and] we make a little bit more money in those higher cabins which is also great for our travel partners.
“If our travel partners are really going to make a sale, let them make a sale where they can make a really good commission. We’re really, really pleased with that.”
In addition to health and safety protocols, Sommer said the line had “revamped” restaurants including around half the speciality dining venues on board.
New menus had been introduced in the line’s exclusive luxury area, The Haven, and speciality restaurant Le Bistro that is available on 15 NCL ships.
He added that sustainability had been a key focus for the line over the past 20 months and added that NCL was doing everything in its power to reduce carbon emissions on the fleet.
He said: “We’ve made lots of commitments in terms of a carbon offsets, lower fuel consumption, doing what we can, eliminating single use plastics in order to reduce our environmental footprint.
“It’s a monumental investment and when we get rated against our peers, we have one of the highest scores in the travel industry, from our environmental commitment.”
Sommer explained that “tens of millions” of dollars had been spent on upgrading the line’s older, legacy ships.
Asked what lay ahead for the industry, Sommer replied: “Sustainable port development. So not just about port development but sustainable port development.”
He highlighted two port projects that NCL had completed in Alaska, which is “a key place” where the line wants to be “environmentally friendly”.
NCL partnered with the native Alaska population in Hoonah to develop Icy Strait Point and a former cannery in Ketchikan to build a property at Ward Cove, Sommer explained.
“So, we are really doing our part to not just the old model where you going to port and you put a pier in front of a bunch of jewellery shops, but to do something that’s genuine sustainable in partnership with the local community,” he said. “I think those two projects in Alaska are the best examples we have.”