Up next in 10
5 CRUISE UPDATES YOU ASKED FOR (Vaccines, Restart Latest, Refits, Euro River & that Sale…)
Jan 28, 2025
In this latest Tips For Travellers cruise update, I discuss the 5 big cruising updates and developments that you have most asked me to cover.
I explore the latest development and news on vaccines being required to cruise, trends on cancellations and planned for resumption of cruising, European river cruising, cruise ship refits and upgrades that are going ahead (and those cruise ships whose refits have been put in hold) and the impacts on the sale by Royal Caribbean of Azamara Cruises.
The up-to-date dates cruise lines hope to resume sailing: http://www.tipsfortravellers.com/cruise-line-cancellations
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
it's time to get the cruise updates
0:02
you're asking for
0:03
just the cruise news and developments
0:06
you want to know about
0:08
i'm gary bembridge and in this my latest
0:10
tips for travellers cruise update i'm
0:12
focusing on the four
0:14
cruising updates that you have been most
0:17
asking
0:18
for me to cover first off one of the
0:20
things that i've been asked to update
0:22
is around the area of vaccinations and
0:24
cruising i did a poll where
0:26
almost three quarters of you said that
0:29
you did
0:30
agree with the idea that cruise lines
0:31
should make vaccinations required before
0:33
people can
0:34
cruise this is something that most other
0:36
cruise channels and sites have found
0:38
so what exactly is happening there's one
0:41
really big move which you may have heard
0:42
about
0:43
saga cruises in the uk have become the
0:45
first cruise line to require
0:47
everyone that cruises with them to be
0:49
vaccinated people that are exempt
0:51
from having a vaccination or just don't
0:53
want to have one for any reason
0:55
will not be allowed to cruise and they
0:57
will receive
0:58
a full refund for any existing booking
1:01
announcing this
1:02
saga said and i quote we have taken the
1:04
decision
1:05
to introduce the requirement that all
1:08
guests
1:09
must be fully vaccinated this means that
1:11
guests
1:12
must have received their full two doses
1:15
of the covered 19 vaccination at least
1:18
14 days before traveling
1:19
with us to be able to cruise the song
1:21
you'd have to be over 50
1:22
and the passengers are often in the 70s
1:25
and older age
1:26
group and so they went on to say of
1:27
course that this is
1:29
the group that is most at risk which is
1:31
one of the reasons they brought
1:33
in this whole ruling so they're the
1:35
first to move
1:36
other lines we know are looking at it
1:37
the norwegian cruise line group and also
1:40
the royal caribbean group
1:41
have said that they are looking at it
1:43
but no decisions have been made
1:46
the cruise line association clear they
1:48
also came out recently and spoke about
1:50
vaccines saying they do not see vaccines
1:52
as being the
1:53
silver bullet that will help cruising
1:55
come back quickly the reason being
1:56
that it's going to take some time for
1:58
vaccines to roll out
2:00
they do believe that the protocols that
2:02
have been agreed
2:03
with all the testing masks social
2:06
distancing reduced capacity cleaning and
2:08
so on
2:09
that will be the key to most cruise
2:11
lines and
2:12
most cruising being able to get up and
2:14
running soon vaccines perhaps
2:16
are a longer term solution so this is
2:18
definitely something to watch that's the
2:19
latest update
2:20
saga have moved no news on the other
2:22
lines but we do know
2:24
that they are looking at it you asked
2:27
for the latest outlook
2:28
on cruise resumptions the biggest
2:32
development here
2:33
is that may has become the month that
2:35
most
2:36
ocean cruise lines have for the return
2:38
to setting dates
2:39
for now anyway in recent days
2:42
norwegian cruise line oceania and region
2:46
seven seas
2:47
have joined azamara celebrity crystal
2:50
cunard fred olsen holland america
2:52
princess
2:53
virgin voyages and winstar cancelling
2:55
cruises
2:56
right through until may now disney
2:59
cruises
3:00
has taken all their april sellings off
3:03
their website
3:04
but they've not yet canceled certainly
3:05
the time recording existing bookings
3:08
yet anyway now as the lines that moved
3:11
to may have cited the current
3:13
situation with the virus and the cases
3:15
and the challenges of working through
3:17
the cdc framework for conditional
3:19
sailing
3:20
as a reason for moving to may i think we
3:22
should definitely watch for the
3:23
remaining u.s
3:24
based lines like carnival and msc to
3:27
follow
3:28
i will cover the latest by the way on
3:30
river cruising returned later in this
3:32
episode
3:33
now as the dates are changing all the
3:36
time and we all no doubt expect the
3:38
remaining lines to move into at least
3:40
may any day now
3:41
i have an easy and a simple way to keep
3:45
up with the latest return to sale dates
3:47
just visit
3:47
the constantly updated list by month for
3:50
both ocean and river
3:51
on my website tipsfortravelers.com
3:54
that's the best way
3:55
of staying up to date with the very
3:56
latest the next update
3:58
is one thing that i definitely had not
4:00
seen coming
4:02
that is that the royal caribbean group
4:03
have sold azamara cruises
4:06
this leaves them focused on their main
4:08
royal caribbean line
4:09
celebrity cruises and silver sea cruises
4:12
brands
4:13
now richard feyne who is the chairman
4:16
and the chief executive officer of royal
4:18
caribbean
4:19
group he said and i quote here our
4:22
strategy has evolved into placing
4:24
more of our resources behind three
4:27
global
4:28
brands royal caribbean international
4:30
celebrity cruises
4:32
and silversea and working to grow them
4:34
as we emerge
4:35
from this unprecedented period
4:39
so all caribbean have sold the line for
4:40
around 200 million dollars
4:42
to sycamore partners it's a private
4:44
equity firm they've acquired the entire
4:46
azamara brand
4:47
including its three ship fleet and the
4:50
deal is expected to close really soon in
4:52
the
4:52
first quarter of 2021. now the azamara
4:55
chief operating officer carol
4:57
cabezas who i hope to pronounce that
4:59
correctly she has been appointed
5:01
the president of the brand so he's going
5:03
with it so how does that affect you
5:05
if you have booked on azamara that's
5:07
what i've been asked to update now
5:09
i've looked and searched and there is no
5:12
information on that in detail as yet
5:14
but it's definitely assumed that all
5:15
those cruisers will stay in place as
5:17
planned as with prices etc of course if
5:19
that evolves
5:20
i will keep you updated many of you have
5:24
asked
5:25
what the lines planning on upgrade for
5:28
2021
5:29
are most of which were put on hold when
5:31
the shutdown happened now it's
5:33
proven quite a task to get a reliable
5:35
update
5:36
but here's what i found out for you on
5:38
the upgrades of
5:40
ships let me get the bad news out of the
5:43
way first
5:44
the upgrade's due on five celebrity
5:46
ships
5:47
under their celebrity revolution program
5:50
to bring some of the
5:51
fantastic design feel and upgrades from
5:53
celebrity edge and apex
5:55
these are on hold there is no timeline
5:58
when that will happen so while
6:00
millennium summit equinox and silhouette
6:02
were all done by
6:04
february 2020 those for constellation
6:07
infinity eclipse solstice and reflection
6:09
that are due
6:10
to be done in 2020 21 they have no dates
6:13
planned so they're
6:14
all on hold cunard's queen mary 2 which
6:18
had been due for a refit to install the
6:19
new mariel
6:21
wellness and beauty spa concept that was
6:22
introduced on board queen elizabeth in
6:24
late 2018
6:26
there's other unconfirmed changes that
6:28
whole refit is also on hold
6:30
and no date has been announced when that
6:32
rescheduled upgrade will happen
6:35
oceania nautica is the latest
6:38
ship in their fleet that was due to go
6:40
through the oceania next
6:41
refurbishment was also lost that was due
6:43
to go through
6:44
that updates staterooms suites public
6:46
spaces as
6:47
nicer decor softer colors it's a really
6:49
nice upgrade that they've been doing
6:51
this is all on hold though there is some
6:54
hints that it could take place
6:55
in the next 12 months silver sea silver
6:59
wind
6:59
was due to go through their project
7:01
invictus refit this is similar to silver
7:03
cloud
7:04
it upgraded with a strength and help for
7:06
ice another expedition
7:07
and decor upgrades this again is on a
7:10
hold with
7:10
no date confirmed royal caribbean has
7:13
put upgrades of
7:14
four of their ships on their royal
7:16
amplified refurbishment program also on
7:18
hold for now
7:19
so let's explore the seas allure of the
7:21
seas liberty of the seas and adventure
7:23
of the seas so no
7:25
timing on when those will be upgraded
7:27
the only major refurbishments taking
7:29
place
7:30
in 2021 itself now seem to be the
7:32
following carnival victory
7:34
is going through upgrades to become
7:36
carnival radiance
7:37
it's going to have four specialty
7:39
restaurants added new bars
7:41
features like the water park and ropes
7:43
course all added so that's
7:44
a big upgrade that's happening windstar
7:47
is still upgrading their star legend and
7:49
star pride
7:50
both of which are actually being
7:51
stretched and they're having extra
7:53
cabins
7:54
added to it pinot australia is also
7:57
continuing with the upgrade of two ships
8:00
that are being added to their fleet that
8:01
specific encounter
8:03
which is previously star princess and
8:06
pacific adventure which is previously
8:07
golden princess also fred olson is doing
8:11
work on the 200 america ships
8:14
that they bought to turn them into
8:16
borealis
8:17
and ballet so that's the situation on
8:20
upgrades if that changes are of course
8:22
keep you posted
8:23
now next up i've had many many people
8:25
asking me to
8:27
do an update on river cruising in europe
8:29
and there's a couple of things
8:30
that you need to know first of all it
8:33
has seemed really quiet
8:35
with not a lot happening because there
8:36
hasn't been the constant round of
8:38
cancellations that we've all become used
8:40
to
8:41
with ocean cruising so does this mean
8:43
that all
8:44
is well with river cruising in 2021
8:47
not quite unfortunately now remember the
8:50
main
8:50
european river cruising season normally
8:52
runs about nine to ten months of the
8:54
year between
8:54
march and end of october beginning of
8:57
november
8:57
and number ships do then run some
8:59
december christmas market cruises but
9:01
the bulk of it is that march to october
9:03
november period
9:05
based on the way that 2020 played out
9:07
there have been no advertised or
9:08
scheduled european river cruises between
9:11
the end of summer 2020 when a few
9:13
operated
9:13
until march 2021 that they could cancel
9:16
so six months of cruising which
9:18
couldn't be cancelled anyway because
9:19
there weren't any however
9:21
things are starting to change and lines
9:23
are already starting to push back
9:25
the start of the 2021 season
9:28
lines that rely heavily on
9:30
english-speaking passengers
9:32
so they need to travel from north
9:33
america australia new zealand the uk
9:36
those lines have been the first to push
9:37
back start dates from march
9:39
already because it's very clear that
9:41
travel restrictions make the usual march
9:43
season start update basically impossible
9:46
so in the days
9:47
before recording this avalon waterways
9:49
joined viking river cruises in
9:51
cancelling
9:52
right through to april crystal cruises
9:54
already cancelled
9:56
right through until may with the outlook
9:59
on international travel looking gloomy
10:01
for some months
10:02
it the beginning of 2021 i expect those
10:05
lines
10:06
and others that rely on international
10:07
travelers very heavily like
10:09
ammo waterways uniworld scenic and
10:11
emerald they
10:12
will start to push back start dates
10:14
further and pretty soon
10:16
if you live outside the eu and are
10:18
looking to book a river cruise on an
10:20
english-speaking line like those i
10:21
mentioned
10:22
i strongly recommend look towards the
10:24
end of the season for now
10:26
if you want to ensure that it's likely
10:28
to happen for you
10:29
i do actually expect regional lines like
10:31
nico cruises
10:32
and across eu lines across europe this
10:35
is actually
10:36
the largest european river cruise line
10:38
now these have mostly french german
10:40
italian spanish guests or eu guests
10:42
they are likely to be able to start
10:44
sailing earlier than those
10:46
international lines because movement of
10:47
residents between eu countries is less
10:49
constrained there's less rules
10:51
and so they're more likely to be able to
10:52
start up and fill their ships
10:55
however the third thing to remember is
10:57
that
10:58
due to the number of guests and the
11:00
nature of river cruising
11:02
river cruises do not have to follow the
11:04
same protocols and guidelines that have
11:06
been put in place
11:07
for ocean cruises river cruises have
11:10
actually developed
11:11
and agreed to follow a kind of a hybrid
11:14
of rules put in place for land-based
11:16
hotels and resorts
11:17
with some of the key ocean ship
11:20
protocols
11:21
and even more importantly they do not
11:23
have to go through
11:25
as many hurdles to get approval to start
11:27
sailing
11:28
in europe they also don't have to take
11:31
nearly as long as ocean ships to return
11:33
to service so this
11:34
creates all sorts of different dynamics
11:36
for example crew numbers are small
11:38
at most 40 on a ship and often much less
11:41
they all live in europe
11:42
it's easy and fast to re-crew river
11:45
cruise ships to train them to get ready
11:47
to
11:48
go they'd have to bring thousands of
11:50
crew back from across
11:51
asia so it makes them easier to start up
11:53
quicker also
11:54
due to the lack of storage on the ships
11:56
they load supplies like food and drink
11:58
pretty much every day when cruising they
12:00
only carry about 80 to 100 passengers
12:02
unlike these
12:03
vast cruise ships so restocking is
12:05
faster it's simpler it's more local
12:08
and it's really easy to get up and
12:09
running
12:11
but despite all of this you might find
12:13
the protocols that are put in place
12:14
may put you off river cruising there
12:17
were a couple of outbreaks linked to
12:18
river cruises running in europe not that
12:20
many but there were some
12:21
and so some of these protocols were
12:23
tightened up mostly with lines
12:25
introducing much more pre-boarding
12:27
or pre-departure testing and medical
12:29
screenings
12:30
but in terms of protocols they have
12:31
frequent temperature checks they have
12:33
enhanced cleaning
12:34
they've reduced capacity to enable
12:36
physical social distancing so social
12:38
distancing is really important
12:39
wearing of mast on excursions and around
12:42
the ship except when you're seated and
12:43
drinking
12:44
and eating for example they've removed
12:47
buffets
12:48
they have one-way systems around the
12:49
ship they have dining in multiple venues
12:52
or in staggered seatings to enable
12:54
social distancing and
12:55
so on so those protocols may still put
12:57
you off so to summarize the start of the
12:59
european river crew season in march is
13:01
looking challenging
13:03
lions led by those relying on english
13:04
english-speaking international guests
13:06
i've started shifting those dates into
13:08
april and may already
13:10
and that could go a little bit further
13:12
depending on how much travel open so if
13:14
you are looking to go
13:15
on river cruise in 2021 look as late as
13:17
you possibly can
13:19
either book right the end of the season
13:20
or hold back before making a book until
13:22
you see how this
13:23
all plays out bearing in mind that river
13:25
cruising could come on stream
13:27
much quicker once they get the go if you
13:29
found this
13:30
latest update helpful or interesting
13:32
remember i have loads more
13:33
tips for travel episodes they're packed
13:35
full of cruising updates
13:36
advice and tips so why not enjoy another
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