A man waves to passengers of the MS Westerdam docked at the port of Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd on Thursday cancelled 18 cruises in Southeast Asia after calling off eight trips to China last week. It joined industry leader Carnival Corp in warning that full-year earnings would be hit by the epidemic. Asia accounts for just some 10% of the global cruise industry, according to the Cruise Lines International Association.
The Cruise Lines International Association said it was confident in its members’ “resilience and ability to overcome current challenges over the long-term”.Ships re-routing include the Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2, owned by Carnival, which has cancelled a stop in Singapore scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, and is sailing straight to Fremantle, Australia.
The Norwegian Spirit liner will no longer conclude its March cruise in Singapore but will end in Greece, and its Asia itineraries from April through Dec 2020 have also been cancelled, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings said.