Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd issued a new $3.3-billion private offering of senior secured notes that aims to generate cash to repay other loans.

The notes are offered up by backing them up with 28 of the cruise line's ships and intellectual material as collateral.

Royal Caribbean indicated it will use the cash generated by these notes to repay its $2.35 billion 364-day senior secured term loan agreement with Morgan Stanley. Any leftover proceeds will be used to repay additional indebtedness.

Holland America Line President Orlando Ashford announced today he will be leaving the company at the end of May.

Ashford has been the cruise line's President for over five years, having served in the role since November 2014.

Engineering and ship design firm Foreship announed "Project Hygiea" that iams to limit the presence and spread of coronavirus and other pathogens on cruise ships.

There are four steps to the program:

Stage 1 aims to keep the biohazard off the ship. Ports will be designed for efficient interception, with technology installed for testing and measuring body temperature, for example. In the event that a vaccine becomes widely available, passengers will be screened for vaccination before being allowed to board the vessel.

Norwegian Cruise Line opened bookings for new sailings that extend into 2023.

Norwegian announced guests can begin booking cruises in 2021 through 2023, with voyages to over 20 new destinations across all seven continents.

Fifteen Romanian crew members on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas held a hunger strike to protest their inability to return home due to the global spread of coronavirus.

Miami Herald reports the hunger strike began on Thursday afternoon, but by Friday morning, the issue was resolved after the crew members spoke with the ship's Captain.

Norwegian Cruise Line CEO Frank Del Rio commented publicly that he expects the cruise line to sail again in 2020.

Del Rio spoke to CNBC, where he said, "We expect to sail sometime in 2020. It would be irresponsible for me to give you a specific date because we still have to gain clearance from the CDC and other government agencies, but we’re working hard shoulder-to-shoulder with them to develop an enhanced protocol of every kind you can think of."

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd posted an update today, where it provided a glimpse at the business impact of the current global health crisis.

All of its cruises are cancelled through at least June 11, 2020, and it said "continued disruptions to travel and port operations in various regions may result in further suspensions."

Interestingly, booking volumes are not as bad as some thought. Royal Caribbean started 2020 in a strong booked position and at higher prices on a prior year comparable basis.

Holland America Line announced this week it has cancelled all Alaska, Europe and Canada/New England cruises for 2020.

In addition, Amsterdam will not operate the 79-day Grand Africa Voyage from Boston, Massachusetts, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that was scheduled to depart on Oct. 3, 2020.

Royal Caribbean announced it has expanded its popular "Cruise with Confidence" program that allows guests to cancel cruises up to 48 hours before sailing.

In an effort to provide peace of mind to cruisers, new and existing bookings created by August 1, 2020 have the flexibility to cancel their cruise up to 48 hours prior to sailing and receive a full credit of the cruise fare for a future cruise through April 2022. 

In addition, Royal Caribbean has also enhanced “Cruise with Confidence” with new rebooking options.