We believe that reduced demand stemming from the broadening global reach of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) will cause Carnival Corp.'s adjusted leverage to increase above our 2.5x downgrade threshold this year. Given recent events, including highly publicized quarantines and incidences of COVID-19 on cruise ships, we believe it is increasingly likely that the demand for cruises will remain weak even after the virus is contained, which will jeopardize Carnival's ability to improve its cash flow and reduce its leverage by the end of next year. We are placing our issuer credit rating on Carnival and our issue-level rating on its unsecured debt on CreditWatch with negative implications. At the same time, we are affirming our 'A-2' rating on the company's
