NCL to reduce visits to VI during 2017 summer months
This means that there would be a reduction in calls to the Virgin Islands (VI) during that period.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings CEO Frank J. Del Rio made the disclosure recently to Travel Weekly, saying that the company’s “lofty” expectations for the Caribbean this summer have not been met, one factor in revising expectations downward for the rest of the year.
“In a conference call to discuss second-quarter results last week, Norwegian lowered its guidance for second-half earnings and said it will not make its previously forecast goal of earning $5 a share in 2017,” Travel Weekly reported.
It’s not working out
NCL noted that a big part of the problem is lower demand for European cruises by North Americans due to geopolitical factors, however, it surprisingly said that keeping two big new ships, Norwegian Escape and Norwegian Getaway, in Miami for the summer has not worked out.
“Today is not a happy day at Norwegian headquarters for obvious reasons,” Del Rio said. “We had to reset expectations based on the current booking environment.”
Although yields are still up in the Caribbean from last year by mid-single digits, Del Rio said strong pricing growth did not fully materialise.
As a result, in 2017 Norwegian Getaway will be deployed on Baltic itineraries for the summer months. “It’s a recognition that high expectations just aren’t being met,” Del Rio said, “almost exclusively due to heavy concentration of inventory during the weak period.”
Slight reduction in VI visits
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Lytle, the Public Relations Coordinator of Norwegian Cruise Line, told Virgin Islands News Online that the Virgin Islands itinerary will be affected by the decision to take Norwegian Getaway out of the Caribbean route.
“There will be a slight reduction in BVI visits during the 2017 summer months, however, Norwegian Escape will continue to alternate her Western and Eastern Caribbean itineraries,” Lytle said.
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18 Responses to “NCL to reduce visits to VI during 2017 summer months”
NDP is a major disappointment. Not only do they lack transparency in their governance but they lack vision and a poor managers of the people's purse. What is just as disconcerting is the greediness of the contractors who only see their self interest over the country's best interest.
Why is anyone surprised? Claude Co****t Cline did promise 52 weeks of ships a year. Which he meant 1 ship a week.