These two cruise ships are nearly identical, and the Casino Royale is equally impressive on both ships. It covers an area of 18,000 square feet and offers slots, video poker, roulette, poker, craps, blackjack, and baccarat. As cruise director, my primarily responsibility was seeing to the happiness of 6,322 passengers and 2,200-plus crew. Over the course of a week, I had my hands in every department, from ship.

• Cruise Ship Slot Wins
• Cruise Ship Slot Machine Wins
• Cruise Ship Slots
• Cruise Ship Slot Pull Rules

It’s official: The cruise ship ordering boom is on hold — perhaps for some time.

Citing the ongoing impact of the coronavirus crisis, the leaders of the world’s four big cruise companies on Tuesday said they had no plans to order new vessels anytime soon.

“I don’t think anybody should be concerned about (orders for) new ships being placed,” MSC Cruises executive chairman Pierfrancesco Vago said at the keynote opening session of Seatrade Cruise Virtual, an online version of the cruise industry’s annual meetup. “We have enough already on order that must be delivered.”

For more cruise news, reviews and tips, sign up for TPG’s new cruise newsletter.

Vago noted that MSC Cruises already had 11 vessels on order for delivery. The company announced a trio of shipyard deals for six new ships in January, just weeks before the cruise industry began shutting down due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Vago’s comments came just moments after Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings president and CEO Frank Del Rio suggested the company wouldn’t be ordering new ships until 2022 at the earliest. The company already has nine vessels on order for its three brands: Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

“I think I’ll take delivery of at least one vessel for those brands before I start thinking about additional orders,” Del Rio said.

Related: The best credit cards for booking cruises

None of the nine vessels that the three Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings brands have on order are due for delivery until 2022.

Royal Caribbean Group chairman and CEO Richard Fain and Carnival Corporation president and CEO Arnold Donald also suggested they wouldn’t be ordering vessels for some time.

Royal Caribbean Group is the parent company of Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, Azamara and Silversea. Carnival Corporation is the parent company of Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America, Seabourn and five overseas brands.

More Seatrade news: Cruise executives sound off on a U.S. cruise comeback

Cruise ships can take years to build, forcing cruise executives to forecast demand far in the future when ordering vessels. In the past few years, with the future of cruising looking bright, there was a frenzy of orders such as the one placed in January by MSC Cruises.

Cruise Ship Slot Wins

Now some of those ships may not be needed — at least in the near term.

Still, Fain noted that none of the cruise companies had canceled any of the orders — a sign they see demand for cruises rebounding relatively quickly after the COVID crisis has passed.

Fain noted that COVID-related disruptions at shipyards and their suppliers would result in delivery delays for vessels already on order, leaving less need for lines to order now for far-off years.

More Seatrade news: One cruise line says it may never bring back the buffet

“I think it’s a little early for us to start speculating on what happens (with orders) given the ships that we have on order are already going to take longer to deliver,” he said.

Longer-term, Fain made clear that he expected demand for cruising to grow strongly, resulting in a need for more ships.

“This is not (a situation where) the industry is going to tail off,” Fain said. “I think what you’re going to see is the industry will continue to grow. Once we’re past this crisis, people will see the value of cruising.”

Donald said something similar, noting that only 30 million people in the world take a cruise each year — a small fraction of the 500 million people he said took some sort of vacation annually.

More Seatrade news: This new shore excursion may be the most offbeat ever

“There are plenty of new ships on order, but to be honest with you, they are going to be needed,” Donald said. “There will be demand. There will be need for capacity. Shipbuilding will stay robust in terms of bringing new ships into the global fleets.”

In one more little tidbit of news that came out of the discussion, Del Rio suggested that the next ship order from his company would be for the Regent brand. He noted the company only had one vessel on order for the brand, a sister ship to the recently unveiled Seven Seas Splendor that’s due in 2023.

There currently are six ships on order for the Norwegian brand for delivery between 2022 and 2027. There are two vessels on order for the Oceania brand for delivery in 2022 and 2025.

Planning a cruise? Start with these stories:

Featured image courtesy of Carnival Cruise Line

SPONSORED: With states reopening, enjoying a meal from a restaurant no longer just means curbside pickup.

Cruise Ship Slot Machine Wins

And when you do spend on dining, you should use a credit card that will maximize your rewards and potentially even score special discounts. Thanks to temporary card bonuses and changes due to coronavirus, you may even be able to score a meal at your favorite restaurant for free.

Cruise Ship Slots

These are the best credit cards for dining out, taking out, and ordering in to maximize every meal purchase.

--

Cruise Ship Slot Pull Rules

Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.