by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:01 AM ET, Fri February 4, 2022
Royal Caribbean Cruises announced the Omicron variant of coronavirus slowed down the cruise industry's recovery and pushed back expectations of returning to profitability by a few months.
During a conference call revealing the financial results for the 2021 fiscal year, Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty said bookings for the fourth quarter were higher than the prior quarter, but bookings fell in December and were down during the winter holiday period.
Preliminary data suggests bookings have started to bounce back and the cruise company is reporting four consecutive weeks of increases since the start of 2022, with Royal Caribbean officials saying bookings have returned to pre-Omicron levels.
"2021 marked the beginning of our return to our mission of delivering the very best vacation experiences," Liberty said. "During 2021, we made significant progress toward our recovery with over 85 percent of our capacity returning to operations and delivering safe and memorable experiences to approximately 1.3 million guests at record guest satisfaction scores."
"Our team has worked tirelessly to execute our successful and healthy return, and we are grateful for their extraordinary efforts," Liberty continued.
By the end of 2021, the cruise company had returned 50 out of 61 ships to operations across its five brands, representing over 85 percent of its worldwide capacity. Royal Caribbean carried approximately 1.3 million passengers across the five brands, achieving record guest satisfaction scores and onboard spend per passenger.
Liberty said company officials expect to return the full fleet of ships before the summer season of 2022 and load factors approaching historical levels in the third quarter of 2022.
The report suggests advance bookings for the second half of 2022 are within historical ranges and at higher prices, with and without future cruise credits (FCCs). The company expects to be operating cash flow positive in late spring, with a return to profitability in the second half of 2022.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
