New Carnival Corp CEO gives first media interview

[jimmieg]

Found this interesting from The Points Guy....

https://thepointsguy.com/news/carnival-ceo-josh-weinstein-interview/

[azbirdmom]

Very interesting.  And I think the following answers why we haven't heard anything more about the first Sphere class ship:

 

Up until the pandemic, Carnival Corporation and its major rivals such as Royal Caribbean Group had long pursued a strategy of ambitious growth that involved ordering new ships almost as fast as they could be built. The arrival of new ships at major brands, often with new features, seemed to be always around the corner, and it drove both excitement and bookings among cruising fans. It was at the core of the rapid expansion of the industry.

 

But since the pandemic began, such orders have been on pause, and restarting them at Carnival Corporation carries new risks given the company’s high debt level.

 

When asked whether ship orders could soon resume, Weinstein is noncommittal. He notes that the company is determined to get its debt level down and rebuild the “fortress balance sheet” that it once had. To do that, the company will have to divert a significant chunk of any profits it generates in the coming years to paying down debt, not buying more ships.

 

Any ship orders that are to come are likely to be for delivery several years into the future, he suggests.

 

“I will say that our order book is set for the next few years … [If] everything works out the way we hope, we’ll have the opportunity to pay down debt in a meaningful way [in the coming years],” he says. “That doesn’t preclude us from doing what we think is appropriate in the growth profile … [But] we’d be looking at ships [scheduled to arrive] in four, five, six, seven years down the line.”

 

The good news for cruising fans who love new ships is that several of Carnival Corporation’s biggest brands including Carnival and Princess still have new ships on the way — vessels that were ordered before the pandemic began. But the pipeline of new ships on order for Carnival Corporation brands is quickly running dry. The company has just seven ships on order across its nine brands, all but two of which will arrive by the end of next year.

Edited August 2, 2022 by azbirdmom