NCL Changing Itineraries across Three Brands amid Cuba Ban

The extremely abbreviated timeframe for compliance with the new travel restrictions to Cuba has aggravated the impact to Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ earnings estimates, the Miami-based cruise major said.

The company explained that it is in the process of modifying all itineraries across its three brands that included calls to ports in Cuba.

“Our three brands are working diligently to accommodate the needs of our guests and travel partners as we quickly modify itineraries to meet the new Cuba travel regulations,” said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

Although the sailings that included a Cuban port of call represented slightly more than 3% of the company’s remaining sailings in 2019, the restrictions are expected to impact around 25% of the Capacity Days attributable to the combined sailings on the Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands, the majority of which were Cuba-intensive premium priced itineraries.

The modification of these itineraries, the substantial discounts offered, the accommodation of cancellations and changes to reservations, incremental marketing investment, along with the protection of travel agent commissions will result in an estimated impact to Adjusted EPS for full year 2019 of approximately USD 0.35 to USD 0.45, the company said.

The Trump Administration’s move to ban cruise ships from docking in Cuba became effective June 5. The decision was revealed earlier in June and included the change in authorized travel to Cuba under the people-to-people program and prohibition of travel to Cuba via cruise ships.