Contingencies and Commitments

6 Months Ended

May 31, 2021

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Litigation

We are routinely involved in legal proceedings, claims, disputes, regulatory matters and governmental inspections or investigations arising in the ordinary course of or incidental to our business, including those noted below. Additionally, as a result of the impact of COVID-19, litigation claims, enforcement actions, regulatory actions and investigations, including, but not limited to, those arising from personal injury and loss of life, have been and may, in the future, be asserted against us. We expect many of these claims and actions, or any settlement of these claims and actions, to be covered by insurance and historically the maximum amount of our liability, net of any insurance recoverables, has been limited to our self-insurance retention levels.

We record provisions in the consolidated financial statements for pending litigation when we determine that an unfavorable outcome is probable and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated.

Legal proceedings and government investigations are subject to inherent uncertainties, and unfavorable rulings or other events could occur. Unfavorable resolutions could involve substantial monetary damages. In addition, in matters for which conduct remedies are sought, unfavorable resolutions could include an injunction or other order prohibiting us from selling one or more products at all or in particular ways, precluding particular business practices or requiring other remedies. An unfavorable outcome might result in a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, financial position or liquidity.

As previously disclosed, on May 2, 2019, two lawsuits were filed against Carnival Corporation in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida under Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act, also known as the Helms-Burton Act, alleging that Carnival “trafficked” in confiscated Cuban property when certain ships docked at certain ports in Cuba, and that this alleged “trafficking” entitles the plaintiffs to treble damages (the “Cuba matters”). On July 9, 2020, the court granted our motion for judgment on the pleadings in the Cuba matter filed by Javier Garcia Bengochea, and dismissed the plaintiff’s action with prejudice. On August 6, 2020, Bengochea filed a notice of appeal. On January 21, 2021, the court continued the trial date in the second Cuba matter to January 31, 2022. We continue to believe we have a meritorious defense to these actions and we believe that any liability which may arise as a result of these actions will not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Contingent Obligations – Indemnifications

Some of the debt contracts we enter into include indemnification provisions obligating us to make payments to the counterparty if certain events occur. These contingencies generally relate to changes in taxes or changes in laws which increase the lender’s costs. There are no stated or notional amounts included in the indemnification clauses, and we are not able to estimate the maximum potential amount of future payments, if any, under these indemnification clauses.

Other Contingencies

We have agreements with a number of credit card processors that transact customer deposits related to our cruise vacations. Certain of these agreements allow the credit card processors to request under certain circumstances that we provide a reserve fund in cash. Although the agreements vary, these requirements may generally be satisfied either through a withheld percentage of customer payments or providing cash funds directly to the credit card processor. As of May 31, 2021 and November 30, 2020, we had $939 million and $423 million, respectively, in reserve funds relating to our customer deposits to satisfy these requirements which are included within other assets. We expect a portion of new customer deposits to be withheld under these agreements. Additionally, as of May 31, 2021 and November 30, 2020 we had $166 million of cash collateral in escrow, of which $136 million is included within prepaid expenses and other.

We have and may continue to be impacted by breaches in data security and lapses in data privacy, which occur from time to time. These can vary in scope and intent from inadvertent events to malicious motivated attacks.

We detected ransomware attacks in August 2020 and December 2020 which resulted in unauthorized access to our information technology systems. We engaged a major cybersecurity firm to investigate these matters and notified law enforcement and regulators of these incidents. For the August 2020 event, the investigation phase is complete, as are the communication and reporting phases. We determined that the unauthorized third-party gained access to certain personal information relating to some guests, employees and crew for some of our operations. For the December 2020 event, the investigation and remediation phases are in process and regulators have been notified.

We have been contacted by various regulatory agencies regarding these and other cyber incidents. The New York Department of Financial Services (“NY DFS”) has notified us of their intent to commence proceedings seeking penalties if settlement cannot be reached in advance of litigation. To date, we have not been able to reach an agreement with NY DFS. In addition, State Attorneys General from a number of states are currently investigating a data security event announced in March 2020 and have indicated an intent to seek a negotiated settlement.

We continue to work with regulators regarding cyber incidents we have experienced. We have incurred legal and other costs in connection with cyber incidents that have impacted us. While at this time we do not believe that these incidents will have a material adverse effect on our business, operations or financial results, no assurances can be given about the future and we may be subject to future litigation, attacks or incidents that could have such a material adverse effect.

COVID-19 Actions

Private Actions

We have been named in a number of individual actions related to COVID-19. Private parties have brought approximately 72 lawsuits as of June 21, 2021 in several U.S. federal and state courts as well as in France, Italy and Brazil. These actions include tort claims based on a variety of theories, including negligence and failure to warn. The plaintiffs in these actions allege a variety of injuries: some plaintiffs confined their claim to emotional distress, while others allege injuries arising from testing positive for COVID-19. A smaller number of actions include wrongful death claims.

Additionally, as of June 21, 2021, ten purported class actions have been brought by former guests from Ruby Princess, Diamond Princess, Grand Princess, Coral Princess, Costa Luminosa or Zaandam in several U.S. federal courts and in the Federal Court of Australia. These actions include tort claims based on a variety of theories, including negligence, gross negligence and failure to warn, physical injuries and severe emotional distress associated with being exposed to and/or contracting COVID-19 onboard.

All COVID-19 actions seek monetary damages and most seek additional punitive damages in unspecified amounts.

As previously disclosed, a consolidated class action complaint with new lead plaintiffs, the New England Carpenters Pension and Guaranteed Annuity Fund and the Massachusetts Laborers' Pension and Annuity Fund, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on December 15, 2020 on behalf of all purchasers of Carnival Corporation common stock and/or Carnival plc American Depositary Shares, and sellers of put options and purchasers of call options on those securities, between September 16, 2019 and March 31, 2020, alleging violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. On May 28, 2021, the court dismissed the complaint without prejudice. Plaintiff's current deadline to file a second amended complaint is July 2, 2021.

We continue to take proper actions to defend against the above claims.

Governmental Inquiries and Investigations

Federal and non-U.S. governmental agencies and officials are investigating or otherwise seeking information, testimony and/or documents, regarding COVID-19 incidents and related matters. We are investigating these matters internally and are cooperating with all requests. The investigations could result in the imposition of civil and criminal penalties in the future.

Ship Commitments

As of May 31, 2021, we expect the timing of our new ship growth capital commitments to be as follows:


(in millions) Year
Remainder of 2021	$	1,263
2022	4,709
2023	2,517
2024	1,725
2025	1,017
Thereafter	—
	$	11,231