Royal Caribbean is the latest cruise line to warn of the impact coronavirus will have on its yearly profit as it reveals that recent bookings across the business have been “softer”.

It says that as a result of the travel restrictions in place and related circumstances, the company has now cancelled a total of 18 sailings in Southeast Asia and modified several itineraries.

Taken together, it revealed that the measures will have an estimated impact on the financial performance for 2020 of approximately $0.65 per share, and if it cancels all of its remaining sailings in Asia through the end of April, it would impact 2020 financial performance by an additional $0.55 per share.

Royal Caribbean chairman and CEO, Richard D. Fain, said: “It is important that every organisation acts responsibly, and we have already taken aggressive steps to minimise risk through boarding restrictions and itinerary changes.

“Our shipboard and shoreside teams have been working tirelessly through these circumstances and I want to thank them for all of their extraordinary efforts. We appreciate our responsibility to our guests and to each other, and our focus on public health is unwavering.”

Royal Caribbean said that it communicated regularly with the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), World Health Organisation (WHO) and other health authorities around the world, and has implemented measures to protect guests and crew.

Some of the measures the cruise line has taken include denying boarding to those who have travelled from, to or through mainland China or Hong Kong in the past 15 days and performing mandatory specialised health screenings on at-risk guests and crew. The company is assessing the developments of the virus constantly and will update the measures as needed.

Yesterday (13 February), Carnival Corporation also announced that its profit would inevitably be impacted by the virus. 

Currently, only one ship, Diamond Princess, has confirmed cases of the virus on board. It is being held off the coast of Yokohama.

As of 13 February, cases on the ship had reached 219, with quarantine due to end on 19 February. Guests on the ship are being allowed to disembark and finish their quarantine in a facility in Japan.

For the latest information and updates on coronavirus, visit the FOC website.