Cruise Line Stocks Crash Further As Europe Clamps Down

A cruise ship Viking Sky drifts towards land after an engine failure, Hustadvika, Norway March 23, 2019. Frank Einar Vatne/NTB Scanpix/via REUTERS

Cruise line stocks are falling sharply today as the number of Covid-19 cases climbs worldwide and as Europe clamps down on travel restrictions. Stock ar also under pressure because many cruise lines experts expect the CDC’s No Sail Order, set to expire next week, could be extended too far into next year.

At the time of writing Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings stock, RCL was down 14%, Carnival CCL was down 9.9% and Royal Caribbean Group RCL was down over 13%.

The rising COVID19 case counts are weighing on stocks across the board, leaving the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 2.8% and the S&P 500 down 2.4%.

Cruise company stocks have suffered throughout the pandemic because most sailings have been canceled. Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Lines have been hit the hardest, falling 73% and 72% this year, respectively. Royal Caribbean has dropped 56%.

Early this month Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), announced in a new report that cruise ship travel exacerbates the global spread of COVID19 and has extended the CDC No Sail Order through the end of October. This puts into law the self-imposed suspension most cruise lines operating in the US signed early last month.

“Absent a vaccine,” says Barrons financial news. “the (cruise lines) are reminders of how far from normal the world still is.” Mariners working in the industry have taken their worry a step further by asking”Which major cruise line will go bankrupt first?“