The head one of the world’s biggest cruise companies has boldly predicted a bright future for the industry and insisted his ships are perfectly safe, despite recent outbreaks of the deadly novel coronavirus on board. Arnold Donald is the CEO of Carnival, the parent company for Carnival Cruises and Princess Cruises, which owns the notorious Diamond Princess ship that saw 705 people on board become infected in the early weeks of the pandemic. Donald defended his company’s response to COVID-19 in an interview with Axios on HBO. “Cruise ships are not a source for coronavirus. We have hundreds of cruise ships out there. Very few had cases on them,” said Donald. “All I’m suggesting is that a cruise ship is not a riskier environment. People perceive it that way. But the reality is, it’s not.” Donald predicted that people will flock back to cruising once the pandemic is over, saying: “I think cruises ultimately will be even better than they were before... People love cruising. Up until the day we paused, people wanted to cruise.”