DISNEY CEO EXPECTS EVEN MORE DELAYS
Three of its four ships were parked at Port Canaveral at the same time
Disney Cruise Line’s four ships aren’t sailing amid the coronavirus shutdown, and so the company has parked three of them at Port Canaveral. The move came as Walt Disney CEO Bob Chapek said cruising would most likely be the last of its businesses it brings back online.
Chapek tackled the subject during the company’s second-quarter earnings call Tuesday.
“In terms of the cruise ship business, we agree that that will probably be the last of our travel-oriented businesses to come back online,” he said.
All four ships ceased sailing in midMarch and are currently subject to a “no sail order” from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that prohibit sailing from U.S. ports into late July, although that order could be lifted early. At this point, the cruise line has only canceled sailings through June 18 for Disney Dream and Fantasy, which are based at Port Canaveral. Disney Wonder and Disney Magic, which were supposed to sail from Alaska and Europe this summer, have canceled cruises already into July.
Without destinations, its three ships remain near Port Canaveral while Disney Wonder remains near San Diego, coming into port regularly to resupply. Officials at Port Canaveral decided to park all three near one another posting video to its Facebook page Wednesday saying, “It will just be a matter of time before happy passengers are embarking on their new journey.”
When Disney does satisfy the CDC’s requirements before it would allow any cruise line to sail again, the details of which have yet to be revealed, Chapek said the outlook is good for the cruise line.
“Interestingly enough long term all of our data and our research shows that our guests will be just as interested in cruising with us long term,” he said. “Obviously not in the next few months, but [it is] much more resilient than any of the competitive businesses because of that love for Disney and assurance that they feel, that they trust our business to act in a responsible way to help to the extent possible protect them against some of the woes that have plagued the industry since COVID has hit.”
The cruise line was slated to welcome the first of three new ships on order, Disney Wish, at the end of 2021, and begin sailing with it from Port Canaveral in January 2022, but the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that there may be some delays in construction at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The unnamed second and third ships were due for delivery in 2022 and 2023.
“The company has credit facilities to finance three new cruise ships, which were to be delivered in 2021, 2022 and 2023, although delays are now expected as a result of the COVID-19 impact on the shipyard,” according to the filing.