In this packed episode, I reveal 6 new updates that give cruise fans like you and me something
to celebrate - and importantly how they will affect us. Although there is some bad news
in here too later on
Get ready to hear about why the US State department admits they got it wrong up on
cruising, scores of ships piling back into the US, new cruises sailing with passengers,
big changes in future cruise credits, the worst kept secret in cruising exposed and
in troubling news why July looks like when the lines and experts think cruising will
really return.
First off, the good news that the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC)
has not put a no-sail ban on cruising to September 2021, despite the US State Department saying
they had.
The confusion began when the State Department updated their travel advice site (travel.state.gov)
when the new administration was sworn in which said (quote) "The CDC has extended its
No Sail Order for all cruise ships through September".
After being challenged, the State Department and CDC confirmed this was incorrect. The
Framework for Conditional Sailing issued in October that lays out the stages to go through
to resume sailing, is still in place and has not, and there are no plans, to replace it
with any no-sail order.
Linked to that, the great news is that there are now (at time of recording) a massive 66
ships back in USA waters actively working with the CDC through that Framework.
Before this framework was put in place, there were only around 20 ships in US waters. So
a really big change.
I have taken a look at the latest data on who is most engaged right now in the program
with the CDC
It shows that just under half are Carnival Corporation ships, with a total of 30 ships
back in the US and working with the CDC. This is a significant ramp in the last 4 weeks,
as they withdrew all ships out of US waters during the lockdown.
Now there are 16 Carnival Cruise Line ships, with more including their new Madri Gras due,
7 Princess Cruises ships, 6 Holland America ships, and 1 Seabourn ship (Odyssey).
Royal Caribbean Line has 17 ships and their sister line Celebrity has 9.
The least engaged of the major groups is Norwegian Group, with just 3 Norwegian Cruise Line ships
(Norwegian Gem, Norwegian Jewel and Pride of America) and 1 Oceania ship (Oceania Regatta).
W And one big step they made as I record this
suggests they are taking a very pessimistic view about the US, and also Europe, opening
any time soon.
In the days before recording this the crew website Crew-center.com reported that Norwegian
has told the over 1,000 crew they had brought back to re-crew ships at the end of last year
in the hopes of returning to service, that they are being put back on 2 ships that will
sail them all back to their homes in India, the Phillipines and Indonesia.
The two ships being used are the Norwegian Joy, which is currently in Aruba will gather
crew from ships stationed in the Caribbean, and the Norwegian Encore which is currently
located near Southampton.
Disney has 3 of their 4 ships back and MSC Cruises has two (MSC Armonia and MSC Meraviglia).
Progress is being made too, with 80% of those ships having successfully passed the
first stage of the CDC Framework which is focused on Covid protocols and plans for the
crew.
You can track all of this on the CDC website, and see if the ship you are due to cruise
out of the US anytime this year is in the program or not. That could be an early indication
on what the future likelihood of that cruise may be! Link in the notes of the episode.
In other current good new news, cruising has just (as I record this) resumed after a break
during the Italian lockdown over December.
Of course, sailings are still going on in the Canary Islands by Royal Caribbean joint
ventures Hapag Lloyd, Hurtigruten in Norway, Dream Cruises and Royal Caribbean Quantum
of the Seas in Singapore, and other sailings in Japan and Taiwan
MSC Grandiosa has now resumed sailings from Genoa running 7-night cruises in the Mediterranean
which includes Italy, Greece and Malta. MSC carried over 30,000 passengers last year on
cruises between August and early December.
MSC Cruises return is important as they have led the way in defining protocols for the
cruise industry. And continue to do so again with these new sailings.
They were first major line to restart Mediterranean cruises, and was the first cruise line to
mandate COVID-19 swab tests at embarkation, on-board distancing and dining changes, and
created those controlled cruise line only shore excursions.
Their success and methods became the industry recommended protocols.
And now, in response to the changes in the way countries manage borders, requiring everyone
to have a Covid-19 negative test on return, MSC now test all passengers on board during
the cruise before disembarkation to meet that requirement. So, they are trialing and showing
how this can be done.
Keeping an eye on their protocols and how they adjust them, will be worth doing as their
success is being used as the test case for other countries still deciding how and when
to allow it.
It also, therefore, struck me as really significant and probably very intentional, that the new
global chairman of CLIA, the cruise industry body representing all the cruise lines, just
announced is a European for the first time.
And that is the man behind MSC Cruises and all of these protocols and plans.
Pierfrancesco Vago, the executive chairman of MSC Cruises, has been appointed to a two-year
term as global chairman of CLIA. He served as CEO of MSC Cruises for 10 years until 2013,
before becoming executive chairman.
It is good news that the Chairman has the direct experience and credibility of working
with governments and their agencies to get cruising successfully return, while meeting
and addressing their concerns.
Another great development announced in recent days, is that lines are increasingly letting
cruisers combine their Future Cruise Credits against payment of one booking. Something
that I had not really realised you could not do in most cases.
Many lines would only let you apply one future cruise credit certificate towards one cruise.
But as cancellations continue, and people build up multiple credits, some lines have
started to lift this restriction.
The biggest announcement on this is from Royal Caribbean who recently announced it will now
allow guests to combine multiple future cruise credits on one reservation.
So, I recommend you check carefully before you take Future cruise credit for any more
cruises cancelled, to see if your line allows this. Especially if you already have one or
more cruises cancelled with that line and are holding credits.
But it is good to see lines adding another element of flexibility, along with easier
moving of dates, shorter final balance payments and ability to cancel for future cruise credit
up to 48 hours before sailing (based on the line) instead of losing large sums in cancellation
penalties.
But do check what your line rules are, as they do differ.
As discussed in my last update, Azamara is in the process of being bought by Sycamore
Partners from Royal Caribbean Group.
As I mentioned, this could be exciting times for fans of the line, as it stopped being
the neglected sister in that group to an owner who surely would invest and build it.
This was confirmed with news that they have bought Pacific Princess, which is the same
R-Class ship of the 3 other Azamara ships. The ship will leave the Princess fleet and
undergo a total refit and enter service in Europe in 2022.
So good to see a line that looks like it will emerge from the shutdown with new enthusiastic
owners, new ship and plans.
So, that is the recent good news. Let's talk about some of the less cheerful developments
and what they mean for us you and I as cruisers
First off, as you already know, most of sailings out of the US and places like the UK have
been blanket cancelled until May. Although I think we are all expecting this date shifting
back further.
Port Canaveral added to that feeling when, in a recent financial update, they said they
only expect ships to be sailing from there in July, with three lines sailing just one
ship each, with a few more added in months after that.
Behind these blanket restart dates we are seeing much more specifics of the form resumption
will take with the each announcements by the lines.
In all recent updates the lines are starting to lay out ship by ship hoped for start dates,
and are already delaying some ships well into end of the year and 2022.
A good example is Carnival who just announced that although they hope to start some sailings
in May, now Carnival Magic, Paradise and Valor are cancelled to end October 2021, Carnival
Miracle sailings from San Diego are cancelled and the ship will be based in Long Beach sailing
routes originally planned for Carnival Radiance.
The CEOs of the lines have always said that the return will be staggered, and will not
be a big bang.
Expect future cancellations to have much more ship by ship detail and changes, and so watch
very carefully where and what any ship you are booked on is located and doing.
I have been asked a ton of questions and asked to update again on this topic, after the last
update where I discussed Saga Cruises decision that all guests would have to be fully vaccinated
before sailing with them.
There are 4 things you need to know right now based on what I have ascertained
No other line has made a decision on vaccinations either way yet. Though, the lines have confirmed
it is being considered and looked at. Surveys and studies show it is popular with most cruisers.
A Cruise Critic poll of over 3,000 had 81% supporting a vaccination requirement.
Most lines have said they hope that all crew can be vaccinated, irrespective of the decision
on passengers. Vaccine requirement may eventually be out
of the lines hands and control, as there is some expectation in the travel industry that
countries may require visitors be vaccinated to enter. Some airlines are also looking at
requiring it so people would need it to fly to join cruises.
Testing will still be part of the protocols, certainly until it is known of vaccines stop
transmission.
Hope you found this update interesting. I have loads more tips for travellers episodes
packed full of cruising updates and tips, so why not enjoy another one right now?