Skift Take
There was no chance any cruise line's first quarter was going to be palatable. Norwegian Cruise Line's position gives an idea of how long the industry might take to recover.
The pandemic is prompting chief executives across the globe to ponder all kinds of hypotheticals about the future performance of their businesses. Here's one laid out by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings CEO Frank Del Rio on Thursday: 18 months without any revenue.
Del Rio offered that worst case scenario during his company's first quarter earnings call, giving insight into the extent of the damage the two-month global pause in cruising has had on the industry.
Total revenue fell 11 percent to $1.25 billion in the first quarter, which ended on Mar. 31, roughly two weeks after cruising was halted. The cruise line posted a net loss of $1.88 billion — due to a combination of factors including cancelled voyages, fuel loss, and a $1.6 billion non-cash impairment — which translates to a loss of $8.80 per share. In the same quarter last year, the c
