After being grounded for more than a year, recovery for the cruise industry will take time. Carnival Cruise Lines resumed operations in July after a 16-month hiatus, and while loyal customers were ready to board, the company is still behind pre-pandemic levels, according to Chief Communications Officer Chris Chiames.
“We’re not there yet – 2019 was a great year for Carnival,” said Chiames. “So we still have work to do to get back to those levels.”
Carnival’s Long Beach operations resumed in late August when Panorama, the city’s newest and largest ship, departed for a seven-day excursion along the Mexican Riviera. The first new West Coast cruise ship in almost 20 years, Panorama can accommodate just over 4,000 passengers, but was operating at about 75% capacity for the safety of all on board.
The Long Beach-based company’s other ships — the Miracle and the Radiance, the latter of which recently underwent a $200 million makeover — began plying their routes not long after. In May, when Splendor begins service out of Seattle, all 23 Carnival cruise line ships will return to service, Chiames said.
“We’re really excited about it,” Chiames said. “We have always had tremendous loyalty from our guests and they … clearly expressed a desire to return to the cruise.”
That desire resulted in guests willingly complying with heightened safety protocols, Chiames said, which included vaccination, showing evidence of a negative test and masking. While the mask mandate has been lifted for most parts of the ship, Carnival still recommends that guests wear them indoors, Chiames said. They are still required in some countries, he added.
The vaccination requirement, on the other hand, remains completely intact: 95% of passengers on each ship must be vaccinated against the coronavirus, including booster shots, Chiames said. Additionally, everyone, regardless of vaccination status, must show evidence of a negative test before starting.
“Honestly, while I think there was concern throughout the industry about [mandates], it really hasn’t been as much of a problem as one might think,” Chiames said. “People were so anxious and happy to get back on the boat that they complied.”
Carnival is leading the cruise industry as it recovers from the devastating impacts of the pandemic, which halted operations for nearly a year and a half, Chiames said. Combined, Carnival Corporation — the parent company of Carnival Cruise Lines and Princess Cruises, among others — reported about $19.8 billion in net losses in 2020 and 2021, according to financial data, compared with more than $6.15 billion in total net income in 2018. and 2019.
In 2019, 700,000 passengers boarded a Carnival ship from Long Beach, according to an economic impact study by the Port of Long Beach. That level of passenger traffic makes Long Beach the busiest cruise terminal in the state and fifth in the nation behind PortMiami, Port Canaveral, Port Everglades and the Port of Galveston, Carnival spokeswoman Anne Madison said.
Before the pandemic, cruise passengers in Long Beach generated more than $125 million a year in direct spending on goods, services, food and hotels in the city, in addition to what Carnival buys in goods and services for ships departing from the port, it said. Madison. . The Long Beach operation generates $25 million in federal taxes and $19 million in state and local taxes.
“Carnival Cruise Lines provides tremendous economic impact to the City of Long Beach in terms of direct and indirect visitor spending,” Economic Development Director John Keisler said in an email, adding that “over $3 million in passenger fees , parking and other fees help pay for important city services that benefit our residents.”
Nationwide, the cruise industry served 1.25 million passengers from four ports in 2019, Madison said. These passengers generated $2.6 billion in direct spending, supporting more than 50,000 jobs and $3.32 billion in wages.
After decades of sailing from San Pedro, Carnival moved to its current home in Long Beach in 2003. Carnival has spent nearly two decades strengthening its Long Beach operation, Chiames said, including expanding the cruise terminal adjacent to the Queen Mary and the increased capacity of the three ships that now call the city home.
In addition to being easily accessible, Chiames said Long Beach’s tourism economy, including numerous downtown hotels, countless restaurants and diverse entertainment options is ideal for Carnival.
“A lot of people like to come in the night before to get set up,” Chiames said. “They like being able to start their vacation in a relaxed way and not run to the ship.”
Chiames said the response of the Long Beach business community to the return of the cruises has been appreciated after two years of turbulence.
“Even if employees at local hotels and restaurants never travel, they love the symbolism of cruise ships coming back to port and seeing the carnival funnel,” Chiames said, “because that means more business.”
