Carnival loses $2.1 billion waiting for cruising to resume

Carnival Corp. is still losing billions while it waits for cruising to recover from the pandemic

MIAMI -- Carnival Corp. said Thursday that it lost more than $2 billion in its latest quarter as the company's cruise lines remained mostly shut down by the pandemic, but it said bookings for next year are running ahead of 2019's pace. Shares of the Miami-headquartered company fell 2.5%. The cruise industry was a visible early victim in the pandemic, as passengers and crew members tested positive for COVID-19 and some ships were turned away from ports. The industry has battled the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over health requirements for resuming sailing in U.S. waters. CEO Arnold Donald said the company has long known that 2020 and even early 2021 “would be choppy, but the path and the trend is clear — there is pent-up demand” that is showing up in booking numbers.