Iconic UK tourism giant Thomas Cook ceased trading on Monday, leaving German rival TUI in a dominant position in the mass-market arena.
Thomas Cook sold holidays involving all the major cruiseship owners globally, including Carnival, Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises, but did not own vessels.
A notice on its website on Monday said: “Thomas Cook Group, including the UK tour operator and airline, has ceased trading with immediate effect.
“All Thomas Cook bookings, including flights and holidays, have now been cancelled.”
Analysts said TUI had been in a stronger position than its rival through owning its own cruiseships under brands like Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, Marella Cruises, and its joint venture with Royal Caribbean, TUI Cruises.
Thomas Cook had failed to raise an extra £200m ($249m) over the weekend following huge losses and a growing debt mountain.
It has been placed in administration.
Voyages going ahead
Carnival's P&O Cruises told TradeWinds: "We will be contacting all guests who have current or future P&O Cruises holidays booked through Thomas Cook.
"All P&O Cruises holidays booked through Thomas Cook will be going ahead as planned."
It added: "Those travelling on Thomas Cook aircraft on our fly/Caribbean or fly/Mediterranean cruise holidays will also be updated as soon as we have confirmed alternative aircraft."
Fred Olsen Cruise Lines said it was "reassuring" customers who booked through Thomas Cook and its subsidiaries that their trips will go ahead.
"Customers are protected through Fred Olsen’s ABTA bond (for cruises that do not involve a flight) and its ATOL licence (for fly-cruise holidays)," it added.
Fred Olsen will be taking over any cruise bookings made with Thomas Cook.
"Customers can rest assured that they will be going on holiday with Fred Olsen as planned, and we are making the necessary arrangements to ensure this," it added.
"Fred Olsen has had a long-standing relationship with Thomas Cook, Freedom Travel and Future Travel, and we very much sympathise with these companies, their staff and their customers."
Princess Cruises said it will now handle all Thomas Cook bookings directly and is “in the process of contacting all affected guests.”
Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises were also contacting affected customers.
'Nearterm positive'
The collapse of tour operator Thomas Cook Group should give a boost to the European cruise industry, analysts say.
The UK-based company announced Monday that it was going out of business, leaving hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded throughout the world.
A jarring inconvenience to many aside, European majors stand to benefit from Thomas Cook's sudden implosion, analysts at Wells Fargo point out.
"We believe the announced compulsory liquidation of troubled Thomas Cook Group could be a modest nearterm positive for entry level European sourced cruise demand largely benefitting CCL brands Costa, AIDA, and P&O as well as MSC," analyst Tim Conder said in a client's note.
"The nearterm disruption from the liquidation of Thomas Cook's tour/hotel operations should result in UK/Continental European budget consumers looking to vacation/holiday options from stable operators."
Other cruise brands should not have as much to gain from Thomas Cook's bad turn of events, given a lack of sufficient overlap of targeted demographics and sourcing, he said.
