On Friday, March 13, the Star Princess and Princess Royal sit empty at the Port of Los Angeles in the wake of the company’s announcement on March 12 that all cruises will be canceled for 60 days as the coronavirus sweeps through the nation. It is unclear whether the ships will remain in port or will be taken elsewhere by the company. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

The Star Princess and Princess Royal are currently docked in the port of Los Angeles in San Pedro on Friday, March 13, 2020. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

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With all Princess line cruises canceled for 60 days due to the spread of coronavirus, the Star Princess and Princess Royal remain docked at the Port of Los Angeles for now. It is unclear whether the ships will remain in port or will be taken elsewhere by the company. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Wire fencing is shown in front of the Grand Princess cruise ship, which carried multiple people who have tested positive for COVID-19, docked at the Port of Oakland in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, March 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Passengers who were set to sail on the Royal Princess cruise ship for a 7-day journey to Mexico from the Port of Los Angeles on Saturday, March 7, 2020, were forced to make other plans after the cruise was canceled over coronavirus concerns. The ship is now mored at Port of Los Angeles cruise terminal. Monday March 9, 2020. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)



The Royal Princess ship is now moored at Port of Los Angeles cruise terminal, with all cruises canceled for 60 days due to coronavirus. Monday March 9, 2020. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)

Princess Cruise Lines is taking a 60-day break as coronavirus continues it spread in the U.S. The Royal Princess ship, which now sits empty at the Port of Los Angeles, was cleared to sail out on Saturday, March 12, for a seven-day trip to Mexico before the shutdown was announced. Monday March 9, 2020. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)

A dock-side bocce ball game goes on in San Pedro near the Royal Princess that sits empty in the Port of Los Angeles. Monday March 9, 2020. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)

Carrying multiple people who have tested positive for COVID-19, the Grand Princess maintains a holding pattern about 30 miles off the coast of San Francisco, Sunday, March 8, 2020. The cruise ship docked the next day at the Port of Oakland. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Passengers look out from balconies aboard the Grand Princess as it cruises a holding pattern about 25 miles off the coast of San Francisco on Sunday, March 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)



Carrying multiple people who have tested positive for COVID-19, the Grand Princess maintains a holding pattern about 30 miles off the coast of San Francisco, Sunday, March 8, 2020. The cruise ship docked at the Port of Oakland the following day where all passengers were set to go into a 14-day quarantine at military bases around the country. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

A man wears a mask aboard the Grand Princess as it maintains a holding pattern about 25 miles off the coast of San Francisco on Sunday, March 8, 2020. Twenty-one people tested positive for the virus. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Passengers look out from balconies aboard the Grand Princess as it cruises a holding pattern about 25 miles off the coast of San Francisco on Sunday, March 8, 2020. i Gov. Gavin Newsom and the mayor of Oakland sought to reassure the public that none of the passengers from the ship with multiple cases of the new coronavirus will be released into the public before undergoing a 14-day quarantine. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Travelers trying to board the Carnival Panorama cruise ship for a 7-day trip were met with a delay in Long Beach on Saturday, March 7, 2020. The ship sent a letter to passengers explaining a non specific medical issue is preventing them from disembarking the ship and allowing new passengers aboard. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Travelers trying to board the Carnival Panorama cruise ship for a 7-day trip were met with a delay in Long Beach on Saturday, March 7, 2020. The ship sent a letter to passengers explaining a non specific medical issue is preventing them from disembarking the ship and allowing new passengers aboard. Tests for the virus later came back negative. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)



Faye Orchekowsky reads a letter handed out at Carnival Panorama cruise ship her family is trying to board for a 7-day trip in Long Beach on Saturday, March 7, 2020. The letter informs passengers that a non-specific medical issue is preventing passengers from disembarking the ship and allowing new passengers aboard. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Travelers trying to board the Carnival Panorama cruise ship for a 7-day trip were met with a delay in Long Beach on Saturday, March 7, 2020. The ship sent a letter to passengers explaining a non specific medical issue is preventing them from disembarking the ship and allowing new passengers aboard. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Travelers trying to board the Carnival Panorama cruise ship for a 7-day trip were met with a delay in Long Beach on Saturday, March 7, 2020. The ship sent a letter to passengers explaining a non specific medical issue is preventing them from disembarking the ship and allowing new passengers aboard. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Travelers trying to board the Carnival Panorama cruise ship for a 7-day trip were met with a delay in Long Beach on Saturday, March 7, 2020. The ship sent a letter to passengers explaining a non specific medical issue is preventing them from disembarking the ship and allowing new passengers aboard. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

In this Thursday, March 5, 2020, photo, released by the California National Guard, Guardian Angels, a group of medical personnel with the 129th Rescue Wing, working alongside individuals from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, don protective equipment after delivering virus testing kits to the Grand Princess cruise ship off the coast of California. Passengers were instructed to stay in their cabins as they awaited test results Friday that could show whether the coronavirus is circulating among the more than 3,500 people aboard. (Chief Master Sgt. Seth Zweben/California National Guard via AP)



In this image from video, provided by the California National Guard, a helicopter carrying airmen with the 129th Rescue Wing flies over the Grand Princess cruise ship off the coast of California Thursday, March 5, 2020. Scrambling to keep the coronavirus at bay, officials ordered a cruise ship with 3,500 people aboard to stay back from the California coast Thursday until passengers and crew can be tested, after a traveler from its previous voyage died of the disease and at least two others became infected. Airmen lowered test kits onto the 951-foot (290-meter) Grand Princess by rope as the vessel lay at anchor off Northern California, and authorities said the results would be available on Friday. Princess Cruise Lines said fewer than 100 people aboard had been identified for testing. (California National Guard via AP)

In this photo provided by Michele Smith, a National Guard helicopter delivering virus testing kits lowers crew down to the Grand Princess cruise ship Thursday, March 5, 2020, off the California coast. Scrambling to keep the coronavirus at bay, officials ordered a cruise ship with about 3,500 people aboard to hold off the California coast Thursday until passengers and crew could be tested, after a traveler from its previous voyage died and at least one other became infected. Princess Cruises says fewer than 100 of those aboard have been identified for testing. (Michele Smith via AP)

FILE – In this Feb. 11, 2020, file photo, the Grand Princess cruise ship passes the Golden Gate Bridge as it arrives from Hawaii in San Francisco. Scrambling to keep the coronavirus at bay, officials ordered the cruise ship to hold off the California coast Thursday, March 5, to await testing of those aboard, after a passenger on an earlier voyage died and at least one other became infected. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, File)

In this photo provided by Michele Smith, a cruise ship worker cleans a railing on the Grand Princess Thursday, March 5, 2020, off the California coast. Scrambling to keep the coronavirus at bay, officials ordered a cruise ship with about 3,500 people aboard to stay back from the California coast Thursday until passengers and crew can be tested, after a traveler from its previous voyage died of the disease and at least two others became infected. A Coast Guard helicopter lowered test kits onto the 951-foot (290-meter) Grand Princess by rope as the vessel lay at anchor off Northern California, and authorities said the results would be available on Friday. Princess Cruise Lines said fewer than 100 people aboard had been identified for testing. (Michele Smith via AP)

Jeri Seratti-Goldman, from Santa Clarita, who was being monitored at the University of Nebraska Medical Center following exposure to the coronavirus on a cruise ship in Japan, participates in a news conference Monday, March 2, 2020, in Omaha, Neb. She is one of the four Americans who have been cleared to leave quarantine after testing negative for the virus. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)



YOKOHAMA, JAPAN – FEBRUARY 16: A member of the media waits near the Diamond Princess cruise ship as U.S citizens prepare for repatriation while it remains in quarantine at Daikoku Pier on February 16, 2020 in Yokohama, Japan. The United States has become the first country to offer to repatriate citizens on the Diamond Princess cruise ship while it remains quarantined in Yokohama Port as at least 285 passengers and crew onboard have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. Including cases onboard the ship, 338 people in Japan have now been diagnosed with COVID-19 making it the worst affected country outside of China. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

An ambulance leaves a port where the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship is docked Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020, in Yokohama, near Tokyo. Americans aboard the quarantined ship were flown to the United States and quarantined at Air Force bases. One passenger from Riverside County tested positive for coronavirus. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Farah and Mohammad Toutounchian aboard the cruise ship, the Diamond Princess, before a quarantine was ordered after a Coronavirus outbreak. (Courtesy of Farah Toutounchian)

Ambulances arrive on the Port of Yokohama, Japan in case passengers required transport to local hospitals due to coronavirus. Some 3,600 crew and guests were quarantined aboard a cruise ship after a passenger was confirmed to have coronavirus, Feb. 4. (Courtesy of Hometown Station)

Japan Coast Guard’s patrol boat, left, is brought alongside the cruise ship Diamond Princess to take passengers tested positive for coronavirus to hospitals off Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. Japan said Wednesday 10 people on the cruise ship have tested positive for the new virus and were being taken to hospitals. Health Minister Nobukatsu Kato said all the 3,700 people and passengers on the ship will be quarantined on board for up to 14 days under Japanese law. (Hiroko Harima/Kyodo News via AP)



Palos Verdes Peninsula-based travel writer John Clayton who is tracking the devastating impacts of coronavirus on the global cruise industry. (Courtesy photo)

The once-flourishing global cruise industry appears, for now, to be an early casualty of the novel coronavirus. Dead in the water, as they say.

All major cruise lines now have suspended operations for 30 to 60 days. Two Princess ships sit empty on San Pedro’s deserted waterfront — next to the also-closed USS Iowa museum ship — with no passengers and no place to go.

Affected in the canceled voyages are Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and MSC. Earlier shutdowns were announced, on March 11 and 12, respectively, for Viking and Princess cruise ships.

The dramatic turnaround in the normally busy and flourishing industry comes in the wake of a devastating public relations moment — the grim specter of glamorous ships carrying stricken and contagious passengers in search of a port, carried on TVs across the world.

Financial nightmare

Refunds for canceled bookings are going out during a period that is clearly a financial nightmare for the usually profitable companies.

Can the industry survive?

“The question in times that are this crazy is how much staying power do they have,” said Carl Winston, director of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at San Diego State University. “Probably every one of those ships has a mortgage.”

In 2019, Carnival, for example, launched several expansion moves, with new ships under construction, according to online records.

Industry insiders are determined to tough out the sudden turn of events.

“Sometimes, this type of proactive action is necessary depending on the severity of the situation,” said Carnival spokesman Roger Frizzell in an email late Friday, March 13. “Like many, I continue to view cruises as one of the best vacation options available, but we will certainly put this pause to good use to drive the actions we outlined in our session with Vice President Pence.”

President intervenes

The Trump administration was instrumental in persuading the rest of the cruise lines to agree to a voluntary suspension, a development that was announced late Friday. President Donald Trump tweeted that the cruise suspension came “at my request.”

“It is a great and important industry — it will be kept that way!” he wrote.

Also on Friday, it was announced that all Canadian ports will be closed to cruise ships carrying more than 500 passengers from April 2 to July 1.

It’s a massive blow, not to mention an immediate logistical challenge, as some 30 cruise ships are now already sailing and destined for U.S. ports, with upward of 100,000 people on board, according to USA Today.

Frantic week

It was a frantic week for travel agent Carl Dreizler, who owns FindACruiseDeal.com in Redondo Beach. Cruises he’s booked had been canceled and he’s been touching base with all of his clients about what happens next.

“It’s not fun,” Dreizler said, taking a break from a round of nonstop telephone calls.

“Devastating” and “unprecedented” is how he described the situation after Princess made the announcement that it will “pause” all cruises for 60 days.

“It’s going to be a big hit for those of us who own travel agencies,” he said. Those like Dreizler rely on commission-only salaries to pay the bills.

But he said Princess, to its credit, is covering agent commission losses and providing generous cancellation packages to its customers. Passengers already booked on cruises will be able to choose between upgraded, all-paid future cruise vouchers or accepting a full refund, he said.

Travel industry ‘hammered’

No one knows how long the virus pandemic will last, making it a time of angst, if not panic, in the travel sector.

The cruise industry especially — not to mention all the ripple effects on everything from travel agencies and airlines to restaurants and hotels — already is set to experience a major financial toll. Employment figures could also begin to rock.

“Every part of the travel industry is just getting hammered,” Winston said. “This is really unprecedented.”

The question, Winston says is how long it will last. And how much cash on hand the companies will have to weather the storm.

Passengers stranded

For passengers, the week has been one of confusion and added expense as well.

Cruise passengers planning to board the Star Princess in the Port of Los Angeles on Friday, March 13, were left hanging.

Scott Gray, who runs the San Pedro Visitors Center, said he spoke with a couple walking by his downtown business on Friday. They had flown in from England for the Star Princess ship’s now canceled two-week voyage to Hawaii and found themselves in a quandary.

“Now they are hearing that maybe airports” will be impacted, Gray said, adding that the couple was working with their travel agent to figure out how to get home.

In the Port of Los Angeles, some 23 cruises will be affected by the 60-day Princess shutdown, affecting an estimated 80,000 to 85,000 passengers, Gray said.

The Norwegian Joy, which has a passenger capacity of about 3,880 and a crew of 1,700, was due back in San Pedro on Sunday, March 15.

Loyal passengers

Loyal cruise passengers like Marsha Barnet hope the rough waters are quickly calmed. The retired Torrance police officer has taken many cruises over the years, including voyages to Alaska and Australia.

She was set to go on a three-day “Cruising for Heroes” trek to Ensenada honoring first-responders and sailing out of L.A. at the end of March. Now, of course, the trip is off.

The delay of Carnival’s Panorama vessel on March 7 in the Port of Long Beach was a foreshadowing of the week to come. The tests for what was a coronavirus scare came back negative and the ship sailed out on the following day. But it would be its last.

“I’m a big fan of Princess,” Barnet said. “Hopefully, people will return to them. I’ve cruised Carnival and Canard and all the big names. But the issue now is they want to make sure the public feels safe.”

Travel writer and former radio host John Clayton, who also is a columnist for the Palos Verdes Peninsula News and a cruise fan, describes the situation as “horrific.”

“Princess has 18 superb ships in its fleet, and all are now sitting idle (or will be) for two months,” Clayton said in an email. “Will all the crews and staff be laid off, or sent home, or will they twiddle their thumbs and do nothing?”

And will they be paid? Winston noted that many have families abroad that rely on those paychecks.

Others have asked if empty ships will remain in local ports when they finally dock or be taken elsewhere for the duration. Yet to be determined, Carnival spokesman Frizzell said earlier last week.

“I believe this is still being fully developed on the heels of the announcement,” Frizzell said in an email. “As you can imagine, there are thousands of individual details in such a massive undertaking like this.”

State Department warning

The precursor to the industry’s temporary shutdown came when the U.S. State Department earlier in the month issued a warning to U.S. travelers, and mainly the elderly, to stop taking cruises until the crisis passes.

That move, Winston said, “took this one industry and just put it up against the wall.”

Travel agents, he said before the suspension announcements, already had told him business has “dropped to zero.”

“I think there’s so much panic out there that this advisory to not go on a cruise ship effectively shut the industry down,” Winston said. “Nobody wants to be on a cruise ship now.”

From feast to famine

The stunning free fall comes after a period of strong cruise industry growth and popularity.

“If you’d asked me four weeks ago how’s the cruise industry, I’d have said it’s never been better,” Winston said. “They’re building bigger and better ships that are massive, there’s a demand (for cruises) all around the world.”

A new cruise terminal is planned in the Outer Harbor at Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro to help handle the expansive growth in the industry. The cruise season, typically only seasonal during fall-winter and spring months, is now going year around thanks to newer and longer cruises filling up the local calendars.

If the government’s caution about cruising during the coronavirus pandemic fired the first warning shot, perhaps the most visceral impact that killed much prospective business came was the dramatic film footage showing sick passengers stuck on board vessels in search of a port.

The Diamond Princess ship was quarantined at sea off Japan after a passenger tested positive for the virus. Tests later showed that about 634 of the 3,711 passengers — or 17 percent — had the virus.

Closer to home, the Grand Princess off the coast of Northern California waited for days before it was allowed to dock in the Port of Oakland on March 12. The two-week cruise to Hawaii that ended in quarantine was dubbed the “cruise from hell” by The Guardian. It took days to get more than 3,000 passengers off the vessel for what would be a 14-day quarantine period. Twenty-one had tested positive for the virus, it was confirmed.

How long for downturn?

It’s hard to say how long the cruise downturn will last, most agreed.

“I hope the waters calm down and we can actually get through this,” Barnet said. “When you put this ‘pandemic’ name on it, people don’t know what to do. … I just hope people don’t go over the edge.”

“In the long term,” Gray said, “I think we’re going to see people gaining confidence in the cruise business.”.

The industry, Winston said, became a leader in sanitation procedures following the norovirus battles.

“They’ve come back from sickness scares and a crashed ship on the rocks in the Mediterranean,” Winston said, referring to the Jan. 13, 2012, incident when the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground and overturned after striking an underwater rock. Thirty-two people died.

“They’ve fought back and I predict they will fight back again,” he said.