Amid difficulties hiring back crewmembers after the crushing effects of COVID-19 on the cruise industry, cruise lines are scaling back operations and services. This is leaving some cruise customers with canceled trips, or facing the prospect of fewer onboard services on their cruises.

As similar problems afflict the entire hospitality industry, Norwegian and Cunard have been forced to cap their cruise ship capacities due to limited staff. Normally operating with over 900 staff, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America is now operating with only 550 workers. As a result it has cut ship capacities on its Hawaiian cruises, and forced some customers on overbooked ships to reschedule on different cruises.

Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria ships have had to limit guest numbers and cancel some cruises after difficulties hiring which it blamed on the “wider impact of COVID-19.” There may not be an immediate relief in sight, but a Cunard spokesperson has told Insider that these “necessary” cancellations and capacity issues will be “short term.”

Holland, meanwhile, has decided to, “pace its restart over the year,” according to a spokesperson. Although Royal Caribbean has said it is facing similar difficulties in hiring staff, the cruise line says it does not foresee canceling any future itineraries. Carnival has temporarily closed two restaurants on all of its ships, although it has decided not to cancel any itineraries.

“Our rapid restart has required us to bring back thousands of crew members in a very short time, which has increased the number of resources needed for government officials to process the large number of visa applications and slowed down our ability to fully staff some of our functions, including our culinary team,” a spokesperson for Carnival said.

As all of these difficulties play out, the news has reported that Carnival was one stock which was noted to have high insider buying activity in the beginning of May, and several hedges moved into larger positions in the company. This might point to executives at cruise lines and hedge funds seeing the cruise industry as artificially suppressed post-COVID due to temporary difficulties which are being sorted out. They may believe that as a result, they are on the cusp of a growth phase, as the COVID epidemic dies back, and those individuals who love cruising return to the seas.