San Diego’s cruise industry is facing an economic hit as major cruise companies, from Disney to Holland America Line/HAL, are now canceling scheduled sailings well into the remainder of 2020 due to the still serious threat of COVID.
At a time when the port city would normally be getting ready to launch in September its fall-to-spring season, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has extended its no-sail order through September 30, while cruise companies have decided to take more aggressive steps, with some canceling planned sailings into mid-December 2020.
In all, Port San Diego CA is losing 49 cruise ship calls accounting for ~174,000 tourists. In terms of passengers, that represents ~40% drop in what the port city had been expecting for season 2020.
Prior to the Coronavirus crisis, there were 137 scheduled port calls and expected ~450,000 cruise passenger between September-May 2021 - the highest in a decade - after San Diego started rebuilding its cruise shipping industry post-recession.
With the cancellation of 49 ship calls, the estimated hit to the local economy is ~USD 79 million, according to port officials. Of the 49 canceled visits, 12 are by Disney and 17 by HAL, which operates the largest number of departures from San Diego.