Carnival CEO: 'We are sailing under what the CDC would call vaccinated cruises'
Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald told Yahoo Finance Live the cruise line operator has put in stringent health protocols to ensure it's back sailing safely during the pandemic.
The result is minimal incidences of COVID-19 on the company's ships, which are now back in the waters carrying vacation goers.
"Here in the U.S., we are sailing under what the CDC would call vaccinated cruises, that's at least 95% of the guests are vaccinated. Our crew is vaccinated. Then we test. We do require a test, according to the CDC guidelines in the U.S., 48 hours prior to boarding. Then we have additional medical screenings and additional medical protocols on board for isolation, in the event that anyone develops symptoms. We have sailed hundreds of thousands of guests now, have had very few cases of COVID on board. In fact, we have had no incidents of significant propagation of COVID on board even when there were the isolated individual cases," Donald explained.
Carnival shares fell 2% in Wednesday's trading session amid a broader pullback in markets.
Donald said he has been pleased by the demand for cruises.
"We have robust demand for cruises," said Donald, who took over as CEO in 2013. "I mentioned at the last business update, we said we would have about 50% of our fleet back [by year-end]. So the demand hasn't been the big issue. The issue has been much around regulatory and getting destinations to the place where guests are comfortable with the protocols required for those destinations."
Carnival plans to provide an update on its fourth quarter results on Dec. 20.
The company said several months ago it plans to have 75% of its capacity sailing again by June 2022.
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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