Up next in 10
BIG CRUISE UPDATE : USA Fallout From No-Sail Lifting, Europe Drama, Viking Cruises and More
Jan 28, 2025
In this cruise update, I look at 6 of the biggest and latest cruise news updates and explore what is now happening on resumption of cruising and cancellations in the USA after the CDC No-sail order lapsed and was replaced with the Framework for Conditional Sailing. I also look at the state of cruising in Europe as cases surge and Italy, France, Spain, Germany and other countries go into further lockdowns, and discuss cruise cancellations, changes in cruising and its impact, as well as exploring big news from Viking Cruises and the UK.
To find out more about what the CDC Framework for Conditional sailing really entails, watch my video: https://youtu.be/rOJba9dUx70
BECOME A TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS MEMBER
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Become a Channel Member to get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join
Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers
BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTs
---------------------------------------------------------
Check out my T-Shirt range: http://bit.ly/TFTStore
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA
---------------------------------------------------
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers
Instagram: http://www.instgram.com/garybembridge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bembridge
TikTok: @garybembridge
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
here are six breaking cruise news
0:02
stories
0:03
that you need to know about including
0:05
why cruise cancellation is a gathering
0:07
pace
0:07
despite the lifting of the u.s no sail
0:09
order viking cruisers announce a big
0:12
first for cruising
0:13
why europe cruisers are now shutting
0:15
down why key west are saying no to most
0:18
cruise ships and what countries are
0:20
opening to cruise ships
0:22
right now i'm gary bemidge and this is
0:24
another of my tips for travellers cruise
0:26
updates
0:27
where i unpick the biggest cruising news
0:30
and discuss
0:31
what it means for all of us as cruisers
0:35
first of all the fallout from the uscdc
0:38
letting the no sale order lapse on the
0:40
31st of october and replacing it
0:43
with their framework for conditional
0:45
sailing has become
0:46
ever more clear cruise lines have now
0:49
cancelled
0:50
all their usa cruises until at least the
0:53
end of the year
0:54
as they digest and work through the
0:56
fairly demanding requirements but don't
0:58
start planning to cruise early in 2021
1:01
as the lines are strongly signaling that
1:04
more cancellations
1:05
into 2021 are highly likely and they may
1:08
go on for
1:08
much longer than many cruisers think why
1:12
do i say that first of all kelly
1:14
craighead the president and ceo of clear
1:17
the cruise line association
1:18
issued a statement at the beginning of
1:20
november that said and i quote
1:22
clear's ocean-going cruise line members
1:25
have decided to extend
1:27
our current suspension of operations in
1:29
the us through
1:30
at least the end of december we will
1:33
evaluate over the next 30 days
1:35
whether to extend that further note the
1:38
statement says
1:38
they have extended suspension through to
1:41
at least
1:42
the end of december and that they will
1:44
evaluate over the next
1:45
30 days whether to extend further
1:48
hinting
1:49
that it is likely shortly afterwards
1:52
richard feyne who runs
1:54
the royal caribbean group which includes
1:56
rock caribbean
1:57
celebrity azamara and silversea
2:00
made a video talking to travel agents
2:02
and said that while
2:04
the cdc's decision to provide a
2:05
framework for cruisers to restart
2:08
is a big step it's not the end of the
2:11
cruise
2:11
shutdown saga he went on to say and
2:14
again i'm quoting
2:15
it will take some time to go from where
2:18
we are
2:19
to our first commercial sailings but it
2:21
will take some time
2:23
because the order calls for a lot of
2:25
details that will need to be specified
2:27
clarified
2:28
or adjusted over the coming period in
2:30
addition he pointed out it will take
2:32
time to reposition ships
2:34
get crew back quarantine them train them
2:36
restock ships
2:37
and then run the test cruises the
2:40
industry
2:41
appears to be trying to set expectations
2:43
that cruisers
2:44
should be prepared for more delay
2:47
if you want to know more about why this
2:50
replacement to the no cell order looks
2:52
challenging for cruise lines watch my
2:55
video covering this
2:56
in more detail of course while lions
2:58
work through the new framework
3:00
and stages cruisers like me are getting
3:03
reminders that
3:04
final balances are due for january
3:06
cruises
3:07
that look increasingly unlikely to be
3:10
able to sail
3:10
so i'm trying to decide what to do most
3:12
likely i will use the lift and shift
3:15
option to push my january cruise out a
3:17
few months
3:18
secondly there is more big news about
3:20
limits on cruising in the united states
3:24
key west voted on three referendum
3:27
questions
3:27
when they went to the polls all of which
3:30
proposed
3:31
major curtails to cruising there voters
3:34
overwhelmingly agreed to drastic cuts in
3:37
cruise visits to the port with over 60
3:40
percent
3:41
agreeing with each of the proposed curbs
3:44
the changes
3:44
are only 1 500 passengers can disembark
3:48
in kiwis per day
3:49
they will prohibit ships carrying more
3:51
than 1 300 people
3:53
both crew and passengers from even
3:55
calling there and they will
3:56
prioritize ships with better
3:58
environmental
3:59
footprints so we should expect though
4:02
the legality of all of this to be
4:03
challenged in court as
4:05
peer b development corporation the owner
4:07
of one of the three
4:08
crew stocks in key west have indicated
4:10
they will challenge it
4:12
the other ports in kiwis by the way are
4:13
owned by the city and the navy
4:16
so this is definitely one to watch to
4:18
see how it all plays out
4:19
and if the popular key west core will
4:22
have to be dropped
4:23
off cruise itineraries in 2021 and
4:25
beyond
4:26
one of the key cdc requirements in their
4:29
framework for conditional sailing is for
4:31
cruise lines to build
4:33
onboard capacity for testing of crew
4:36
and of passengers now travelers out of
4:38
the usa ports
4:39
will have to be tested before boarding
4:41
peer site and also
4:43
before disembarking when cruises start
4:45
up again
4:46
the first major announcement was made in
4:49
recent days
4:49
on this viking cruises confirmed that is
4:52
completed installation of the first
4:54
full-scale pcr laboratory at sea this
4:57
new on-board
4:58
facility enables viking to conduct pcr
5:01
testing of all
5:02
crew members and guests the laboratory
5:05
has enough capacity for daily testing of
5:08
every crew member and guest and the
5:10
first laboratory was installed
5:12
on viking star now no doubt we will be
5:14
hearing much about developments like
5:16
this
5:16
from viking and the other cruise lines
5:18
over coming weeks
5:20
and months meanwhile in europe the surge
5:23
in curved cases
5:24
and return to lockdown in many countries
5:26
has caused more disruptions
5:28
cancellation of cruisers that had
5:30
resumed particularly by german and
5:32
italian lines
5:33
and also some new curved outbreak issues
5:36
now the lines catering for german
5:38
travelers have been the most
5:40
active in cancelling due to germany's
5:42
stricter lockdown
5:44
where non-essential travel for
5:46
recreation purposes
5:47
is not allowed carnival's aida line has
5:50
paused
5:51
all cruisers planned for november as has
5:55
the royal caribbean part-owned hapag
5:57
lloyd line while their other part online
5:59
mine shift
6:00
has cancelled its remaining 2020 cruise
6:03
program
6:04
out of keel with the mine shift one now
6:06
this was selling
6:07
cruises to nowhere featuring all sea
6:09
days now the lions say they will
6:12
reassess all the space on when germany
6:14
lifts its lock down
6:15
carnival's other european line costa
6:18
which caters for
6:19
italian guests has changed itineraries
6:22
and dropped calls
6:23
in france and in spain that were due to
6:25
commence in mid-november and now this is
6:27
due
6:28
to the level of cases and lockdowns in
6:30
those countries
6:31
they will only call on italian ports now
6:34
now this is possible despite italy
6:36
moving to stricter covert
6:38
restrictions while some of the early
6:41
draft of those restrictions
6:42
reportedly had a navigation ban for
6:44
passenger ships this was actually
6:46
removed
6:47
before they were announced the country
6:49
has said they will let cruise ships
6:51
operate
6:52
around italy based on the health and
6:54
safety protocols previously approved
6:57
in august now there was a covert
6:59
outbreak on the jacques
7:00
cartier ship which is operated by the
7:02
french luxury line ponon and this led
7:05
to that cruise being refused entry into
7:07
italy 13 people tested positive among
7:10
the 60 passengers and 93
7:12
crew the ship was eventually allowed to
7:14
sail to marseille in france
7:16
in agreement with french health
7:18
authorities there people were
7:19
disembarked
7:20
and those who ill were cared for so as i
7:23
discussed
7:23
in my last update the trend of this
7:25
virus means that lions and passengers
7:27
are having to adapt to sailings based on
7:30
you know constantly changing travel
7:31
advice changing situations and ports
7:34
and they have to keep a real tight
7:36
control of the protocols
7:37
designed to minimize the risks of
7:39
outbreaks on ships when
7:41
they do resume it's still really
7:43
unpredictable times
7:44
even when cruisers get the okay to
7:46
resume so this is something we will need
7:48
to consider
7:49
and bear in mind for when cruisers do
7:51
eventually resume
7:52
out of the united states now japan is
7:54
joining singapore
7:55
and taiwan in resuming cruisers in a
7:58
limited way
7:59
the no sale order there expired at the
8:01
end of october and so local operators
8:03
have started trials of short cruisers
8:05
calling only on domestic ports one of
8:08
the first was the nippon
8:09
maru run by the mitsu osk passenger line
8:12
and they sailed with 200 guests
8:14
and 100 crew on a three-night cruise so
8:17
it's small scale
8:18
but another country tentatively opening
8:21
cruising
8:22
meanwhile cruising out of the uk remains
8:24
on hold
8:25
with no signs that this will change
8:28
anytime soon
8:29
now most lines have canceled already
8:30
into the spring so lions
8:33
like cunard that's base there's
8:35
scheduled to only start sailing
8:37
from the end of april and to may saga
8:40
the uk based line that caters for the
8:42
50-plus market you have to be
8:43
at least 50 to cruise with them has
8:46
pushed back
8:46
their inaugural selling of their new
8:48
ship the spirit of adventure to may
8:50
the fourth and its sister ship the
8:52
spirit of discovery to the
8:54
end of april they cited the trend of
8:56
cases in the uk
8:57
and the expected seasonal nature of the
8:59
virus
9:00
with england entering another month long
9:02
lockdown until december
9:04
all travel both domestic and
9:05
international for recreation purposes
9:07
has actually been outlawed
9:09
so things look to remain on hold in the
9:12
uk
9:12
for a while those are the six biggest
9:16
news stories breaking that i felt you
9:17
need to know about and what i think they
9:19
mean
9:19
for us as cruise lovers i have loads
9:22
more
9:23
tips for travis episodes full of
9:25
cruising advice and tips
9:26
so why not enjoy another one right now
#Cruises & Charters