Carnival Cruise ships are docked at the Port of Tampa Thursday, March 26, 2020, in Tampa, Fla. Thousands of cruise ships employees are not working in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
By Dee-Ann Durbin
Carnival Cruise Lines said Monday that it plans to gradually resume cruising in North America in August, nearly five months after it halted operations due to the new coronavirus.
Sailings will begin on Aug. 1 with eight ships setting off from Galveston, Texas; Miami; and Port Canaveral, Florida. A majority of customers can easily drive to those ports, the company noted.
Carnival said its operations from other North American and Australian markets will be on hold through Aug. 31. It is also canceling planned sailings from Vancouver to Honolulu on Sept. 25 and Honolulu to Brisbane, Australia, on Oct. 6.
Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines is the largest brand owned by Carnival Corp., which also owns Princess, Holland America Line, and other brands. Carnival Cruise Lines has 27 ships and transported 5 million passengers last year.
The company has taken a huge hit from the new coronavirus, which stranded some ships at sea with sick passengers. Multiple ships reported outbreaks and struggled to find places to dock. In early April, two Holland America cruises disembarked in Florida with at least nine passengers sick with COVID-19.
Carnival Cruise Lines halted new sailings on March 13. It initially expected to be able to sail again on April 10.
Still, parent Carnival Corp. is in strong financial shape. It has raised nearly $6 billion in debt and equity since the crisis began. The company wasn’t eligible for loan assistance from the U.S. government because it is incorporated in Panama.
Carnival Cruise Lines said it is offering future travel credits or refunds to passengers whose cruises are canceled. The company said it will engage government and health experts to ensure that it can safely sail in August.
Nestlé has dismissed its CEO Laurent Freixe after an investigation into an undisclosed relationship with a direct subordinate. The company announced on Monday that the dismissal was effective immediately. An investigation found that Freixe violated Nestlé’s code of conduct. He had been CEO for a year. Philipp Navratil, a longtime Nestlé executive, will replace him. Chairman Paul Bulcke stated that the decision was necessary to uphold the company’s values and governance. Navratil began his career with Nestlé in 2001 and has held various roles, including CEO of Nestlé's Nespresso division since 2024.
Kraft Heinz is splitting into two companies a decade after they joined in a massive merger that created one of the biggest food companies on the planet. One of the companies will include brands such as Heinz, Philadelphia cream cheese and Kraft Mac & Cheese. The other will include brands like Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables. When the company formed in 2015 it wanted to capitalize on its massive scale, but shifting tastes complicated those plans, with households seeking to introduce healthier options at the table. Kraft Heinz's net revenue has fallen every year since 2020.
About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.
