Cruise Stocks Tumble As First US Cruise Ship Takes Departure

By Jonathan Levin (Bloomberg) –Cruise stocks fell after Royal Caribbean set sail in the US, industry leader Carnival announced an additional stock sale, and Walt Disney delayed a trial sailing.

Carnival is selling as much as $500 million in stock, according to a filing Monday, with proceeds earmarked for the repurchase of its Carnival Plc shares and for general corporate purposes. The shares fell 7% to $26.15 at the close in New York, the biggest decline since March.

Other operators lost ground in sympathy, with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. tumbling 6.5% and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. sinking 6.1%. Disney, whose business is more diversified, fell 1%. The cruise companies all sold shares during the pandemic to raise funds while they were shut down.

Disney indefinitely delayed a trial cruise of its Disney Dream set for Tuesday after getting inconsistent results in its coronavirus testing. The ship was to sail with 300 volunteer crew members in a demonstration to U.S. authorities that it could manage under new virus protocols.

Royal Caribbean successfully launched its first revenue-generating sailing out of the U.S. this past weekend. In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Chief Executive Officer Richard Fain said Monday that he expects most of the company’s ships to be sailing by year-end and that he was “amazingly happy” with bookings he’s seeing for the next two years.

By Jonathan Levin and Christopher Palmeri, © 2021 Bloomberg L.P.

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This article contains reporting from Bloomberg, published under license.

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