Will Cruise Stocks Ever Be Profitable Again?

No industry has gotten hit harder by the coronavirus pandemic than cruise lines.

The three major cruise lines, Carnival (NYSE: CCL), Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL), and Norwegian Cruise Lines (NYSE: NCLH), have all been forced to dock their ships due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the trio of stocks remain down about 75% since February, despite bouncing aggressively off their lows in recent weeks as some investors spy opportunity for a comeback.

It's easy to see why the pandemic is such a nightmare for the industry. Cruise ships are incubators for viruses like norovirus in normal times. A highly contagious deadly disease like COVID-19 that often spreads undetected turns a floating party into a death trap. In January, an outbreak on the Carnival-owned Diamond Princess ship led to 712 passengers contracting the virus and nine deaths.