The cruise sector is making a comeback from the pandemic, but it looks as though some pre-Covid staffers may not be.
Carnival Corp’s Princess Cruises has had to cancel 11 voyages on the 2,670-berth Diamond Princess (built 2004) because it cannot find enough workers to staff the vessel, it said on Tuesday.
“Over the past year we have operated hundreds of cruises thanks to the tens of thousands of our Princess team members that have rejoined our fleet to deliver exceptional Princess vacations,” it said.
“However, like others in the global travel industry, we have experienced some labour challenges.”
Countries worldwide are finding themselves with more jobs than applicants these days, in part due to many pandemic-weary workers wanting more from employers and rethinking how they want to earn money.
As a result, Princess Cruises has cancelled the 11 trips scheduled from 1 September to 13 November.
“With rising occupancy levels on the ships that have already returned to service and our commitment to guarantee the Princess experience is exceptional, Princess has made the difficult decision to cancel a limited number of voyages,” the brand said.
“This will provide us with the additional time needed to overcome our labour challenges.”
Affected passengers can transfer to an equivalent cruise, or take a future cruise credit offer of 100% of the value of the fare paid or a full cash refund. Passengers who opt for cruises will get $100 per person to spend on board.
Princess Cruises said it will protect all travel agent commissions on all bookings paid in full as of 8 August.
The brand, which typically employs about 35,000 workers, did not say how many more employees it needs to prevent the cancellations.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is also experiencing a staffing shortage on the 2,186-berth Pride of America (built 2005), which is required to have a 75% American workforce because it is US-flagged.
“We are having issues sourcing labour and crew for that vessel,” chief executive Frank Del Rio told analysts on Tuesday during a second-quarter earnings call.
“That vessel, which, unfortunately, is also our highest yielding vessel in the region.”
He said the shortage has forced Norwegian to limit the number of passengers to 40% of the Pride of America’s capacity, but he expects more passengers on the vessel in the second half.
“We believe we have a road which, by year end, we should see that vessel return to full occupancy,” he said.
“Certainly that demand is there. It’s disheartening every time we have to cancel and people … are booked and expect to go.”
Competitor Royal Caribbean Group said it faces challenges “out of our control” while bringing staff to full capacity, but it has not cancelled any voyages due to shortages.
“We don’t expect to cancel any voyages due to staffing concerns,” spokesman Jonathon Fishman told TradeWinds.
“We’re thankful to have a loyal workforce that was and is eager to return to work, and we’re doubling down on our recruitment efforts with our partners around the world.”
