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HUGE CRUISE UPDATE : CDC NO TO CRUISE, 2021 Cancellations, Caribbean Ports, Carnival Latest & More
Jan 29, 2025
In this latest cruise news update, I explore 6 big cruise news updates including including a surprising CDC intervention against cruising, why April looks like when cruises will really resume among more cancellation news, some progress in the UK for cruising to return, what Caribbean ports are saying and doing about cruises calling again, and the latest on cruise lines cash burn and chances of surviving the on going extension of cruising increasingly further into 2021.
Watch my video about cruise lines and chances of surviving: https://youtu.be/jLz38mNphjs
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
it's been another busy week of cruise
0:02
news and developments
0:03
including a surprising cdc intervention
0:05
against cruising
0:07
why april looks like when cruisers will
0:09
rarely resume
0:10
more cancellation news lots of progress
0:12
in the uk
0:13
what the caribbean is saying about
0:16
cruisers calling again
0:17
cruise lines cash burn and so much
0:21
more i'm gary bembridge and this is
0:24
another of my tips for travellers
0:26
cruise updates where i will unpick the
0:29
biggest
0:30
breaking cruising news and discuss
0:32
importantly what it means for all of us
0:34
as cruisers first up i want to discuss
0:37
the latest move by the cdc that's the
0:40
centers
0:40
for disease control and prevention in
0:42
the united states
0:44
in the past week they surprised pretty
0:46
much
0:47
everyone by ramping up their advice
0:50
against cruising to the highest
0:52
possible level it is now level four very
0:55
high level of curve at 19.
0:57
it says and i quote the cdc
1:01
recommends that all people avoid travel
1:04
on cruise ships
1:05
including river cruises worldwide
1:08
because the risk of covert 19 on cruise
1:10
ships
1:10
is very high the timing
1:14
is extremely interesting as first of all
1:17
there are
1:17
no options for u.s citizens to go
1:19
cruising at the time this announcement
1:22
was made
1:22
yet they still made it let's take a look
1:25
at the situation
1:26
remember there are no cruisers operating
1:29
in
1:30
or out of usa ports the option for u.s
1:32
residents to cruise in the caribbean
1:34
is gone after the sea dream put their
1:37
cruises on hold
1:38
after the outbreak on their first voyage
1:40
and the limited cruises that are
1:42
operating in asia and europe
1:44
are only open to local residents
1:47
on top of this the cdc and lions are
1:50
supposed to be working
1:51
and partnering together to get cruising
1:54
to resume
1:55
out of usa ports as soon as possible
1:58
this of course is based on the cdc's
2:00
very own framework for conditional
2:02
sailing which replaced the no
2:04
sale order now this plan includes lines
2:07
running
2:08
test voyages which the lines are hoping
2:11
that they can do
2:11
as soon as early january so the
2:14
implications
2:14
of this new advice on these running at
2:17
this stage is not clear but it seems
2:19
hard
2:20
to see how they can run with advice is
2:22
that nobody should be cruising
2:24
now many of you will remember that when
2:26
the current white
2:28
house corona task force placed pressure
2:32
on the cdc about lifting the no cell
2:34
order in october it was reported at that
2:35
time that the cdc
2:37
wanted the order to be extended to at
2:39
least the end of
2:41
february 2021 so over the coming weeks
2:44
it is worth remembering this
2:45
and also that the cdc decide the pace
2:48
that cruise lines will pass through
2:50
their defined stages to resume
2:52
cruising and so in my view anyway their
2:55
latest update
2:56
advising people not to cruise does not
2:59
suggest
3:00
an easy smooth or fast timeline ahead
3:04
the uk is another country with strong
3:06
travel advice against
3:07
ocean cruising there is now though some
3:10
exciting progress towards cruising
3:12
resuming the uk
3:13
with three new items of news
3:16
first of all the uk government has
3:18
agreed a pathway for cruising to reopen
3:21
as they accept the clear and cruise
3:24
lines proposed protocol so that's a big
3:25
step forward
3:26
now in an interview with the telegraph
3:28
newspaper in the last few days grant
3:30
shaps who's the uk transport secretary
3:33
he said that the crew sector has worked
3:35
hard to guarantee kind of covert secure
3:38
travel
3:39
and that for the finer clearance lines
3:41
first of all had to prove
3:43
compliance to those protocols and
3:45
secondly the government required
3:47
that the cruise lines guarantee that
3:48
they would pick up any cost of
3:50
repatriation
3:52
if there were any outbreaks on ships
3:53
while cruising kind of further than the
3:55
uk
3:56
now he said i'm going to quote what he
3:58
said is provided
4:00
that the agreement on repatriation is
4:02
agreed
4:03
this green lights cruisers as long as
4:06
they are covert secure
4:07
and using covered tests however there is
4:11
a catch as a specific date has
4:14
not been agreed the uk global travel
4:17
task force
4:18
which deals with all these things they
4:20
recommend cruising should
4:21
only restart once the country's national
4:23
coronavirus
4:24
alert level is reduced from the current
4:26
level down to about a three or a two
4:28
so although they have not set a specific
4:31
date this is in my view a really
4:33
important step forward as the uk have
4:35
accepted
4:36
the proposed cruise line protocols which
4:38
include testing before boarding
4:40
reduced capacity masks social distancing
4:44
controlled excursions all those kind of
4:46
things and unlike the us
4:49
which added lots more layers and
4:51
requirements the uk have only added
4:52
the repatriation costs requirement now
4:55
clear
4:56
the cruise line association is lobbying
4:58
for a much more specific date to be set
5:00
especially what they're pushing for is
5:01
let lines start running uk
5:03
only port sailings for uk residents only
5:07
in other good news in the uk msc
5:09
cruisers will home porter's ship
5:11
every single year in southampton from
5:13
this coming summer so 2021
5:15
they're going to start with a massive
5:17
msc magnifica
5:18
now this is the first time a ship has
5:21
been home ported by them in the uk for
5:23
many years so showing lots of faith
5:24
in cruising also in southampton which is
5:27
the biggest cruise port in the uk
5:28
they've announced they're going to open
5:30
a
5:30
fifth cruise terminal also in the summer
5:33
of 2021
5:34
and this is going to be designed to
5:35
handle ships capable of carrying up to
5:37
6000 passengers
5:38
and that is about to be built right now
5:40
returning back to the united states
5:42
for a while one big milestone did happen
5:45
this past week that i'm recording this
5:47
as the first
5:48
carnival cruise line ship has returned
5:50
to u.s
5:51
waters now early on after the shutdown
5:54
in the u.s carnival cruise lines and
5:56
their sister alliance that includes
5:57
things like princess holland america and
5:59
so on
5:59
they pulled all their ships out of usa
6:01
waters and they have been
6:03
out of the u.s for many many months
6:06
now many of the carnival cruise ships
6:08
actually stayed quite close
6:09
to the us so they were in like the
6:11
bahamas or other caribbean islands
6:12
but many of them also sailed all the way
6:14
to europe or even to asia
6:16
to repatric crew but a few are now
6:19
heading back to the united states to
6:20
start the process
6:22
of being able to sail again the carnival
6:25
horizon
6:26
was the very first of their ships back
6:28
it returned to miami
6:29
early on the 23rd of november to start
6:32
working on those complicated processes
6:34
to prepare for returning to service
6:35
horizon is the first
6:37
carnival cruise line ship that is
6:39
scheduled to return to sailing in the
6:41
u.s
6:41
the second will be the carnival breeze
6:43
and this is also due to return to the
6:45
united states
6:46
pretty shortly so the return of the
6:48
first carnival ship
6:50
to the u.s is definitely a milestone and
6:52
definitely a step
6:54
on the journey for them to resume
6:55
cruising in the u.s
6:57
other ships that also left the usr are
6:59
also on their way back
7:00
including ships from disney and from
7:02
holland america so despite all the news
7:05
from the cdc there is steps looking
7:08
forwards
7:08
now as i covered in the last update
7:10
cruise lines especially those
7:12
that rely on multi-country itineraries
7:14
are having to cancel
7:15
deeper and further into 2021
7:18
and this continued this past week
7:21
now despite all the moves in the uk
7:24
pinot cruises based there has just
7:26
extended their cancellations
7:28
into april 2021 and they say this is in
7:30
response to the
7:32
huge uncertainty still around if and
7:34
when european ports
7:35
will be open to be honest looking at the
7:38
way cancellations are moving globally
7:40
the signs are increasingly that april
7:43
looks like the month that most lines
7:45
really believe
7:46
that sailings will resume globally so
7:48
after winter has
7:49
passed people have asked me to include
7:52
the latest situation on the return to
7:53
cruising
7:54
for the major lines in these updates
7:56
from now on so
7:58
here is the latest at the time of
8:00
recording though i have to say
8:02
i am almost 100 sure that the january
8:05
resumptions currently
8:07
scheduled will move back it's hard to
8:09
see them just happening
8:10
so the dates i'm also going to give you
8:12
are based on when at least
8:14
one ship in the lion's fleet is due to
8:16
start sailing
8:17
so let's take a look at them in january
8:19
you have royal caribbean
8:21
norwegian celebrity marella
8:24
region seven sees oceania and virgin due
8:27
to start sailing
8:28
in february you have carnival disney
8:31
cruises fred olson
8:32
and viking ocean march azamara celestial
8:36
cruisers
8:37
crystal cruises cunard and windstar
8:40
in april pinot cruisers star clippers
8:44
holland america princess saga cruisers
8:46
seabourn and silversea
8:48
although these are target dates and
8:49
allow much to happen msc cruisers
8:52
has just announced that they are the
8:53
first international cruise line to
8:55
receive
8:56
the required health and safety
8:57
certification to be able to resume
9:00
cruising in japan as scheduled also in
9:03
april 2021.
9:04
so msc bellissima they'll be deployed to
9:06
japan again home port
9:08
in yokohama they'll sell six to nine
9:10
night cruises in april may and june
9:13
and again during october and november
9:15
although
9:16
for all of us unfortunately these
9:18
cruises will be
9:19
for japanese guests only but it's good
9:22
to see
9:23
more countries looking to open but again
9:25
that magical date
9:26
of april many of the popular ports
9:29
across the caribbean
9:30
are using the shutdown especially as it
9:32
drags on
9:33
to upgrade and increase capacity to take
9:37
more cruise ships rather than fewer
9:39
cruise ships we've seen big investments
9:41
to make it easier for more ships to call
9:44
at some points especially
9:45
the large mega ships clearly caribbean
9:48
governments
9:49
absolutely believe that people will
9:50
return to cruising and in growing
9:52
numbers
9:53
in the years ahead they're showing huge
9:55
faith
9:56
in cruising bouncing back and building
9:59
basically capability to deal with that
10:01
cozumel already one of the busiest and
10:04
most well-known of all the cruise
10:05
destinations in the caribbean they've
10:07
been given the green light by the
10:08
mexican
10:09
government to build a fourth cruise ship
10:13
dock in cozumel cozumel already has
10:16
the punta langoster cruise pier which is
10:19
downtown
10:20
at san miguel they've got the puerto
10:21
mayo cruise facility
10:23
this caters mostly for carnival
10:24
corporation ships further
10:26
south of downtown and nearby is the
10:29
international pier which is mainly used
10:31
by the royal caribbean group vessels so
10:34
a fourth
10:34
terminal coming to cozumel construction
10:37
on the new development
10:38
it's begins in december and the period
10:41
that they're building is dedicated for
10:43
the new
10:43
mega ships that are coming into service
10:46
so the biggest ships
10:47
that are coming they can take now
10:48
meanwhile in nassau which of course is
10:50
the main cruise port in the bahamas
10:52
they're also ramping up its cruise
10:54
capability and
10:55
big works also starting there in
10:58
december
10:58
in addition to repairs to existing peers
11:01
they're adding a berth that can hold
11:02
two oasis-class ships and they're
11:05
extending appear to handle
11:07
the third oasis size vessel they're also
11:10
transforming the waterfront
11:11
with new shops new restaurants and all
11:13
sorts of new cruise facilities
11:15
now the bahamas of course expects to
11:16
become even more important
11:19
to cruise lines sailing out of u.s ports
11:21
through 2021
11:22
as it's the closest island to florida
11:24
home ports
11:25
and they definitely expect lions to
11:27
return in the u.s initially with short
11:29
cruises focused
11:30
on their own private islands most of
11:32
which are actually in the bahamas
11:34
and possibly add-on stops in nassau so
11:37
they really are
11:38
aggressively building capability now i'm
11:40
often also asked if
11:42
the major cruise groups and lines will
11:44
survive
11:45
and which lines will go bust now these
11:47
questions
11:48
started up again with more urgency
11:51
following so many lines extending their
11:53
cancellations into 2021
11:56
now an analysis i received this week
11:58
actually from an investor group
12:00
has calculated that the cruise industry
12:03
is going to lose
12:04
a staggering 20 billion dollars in
12:06
revenue
12:07
across the world that's a 71 plunge in
12:09
revenue year on year this is
12:11
just massive now i've actually made a
12:14
specific
12:14
episode previously looking at the whole
12:16
financial health
12:18
of the major groups and the huge amounts
12:20
of funds that they have raised
12:21
so far from this investment so if you
12:24
want to delve into that a little bit
12:25
more
12:26
take a look at that episode however
12:29
in the last week the cruise lines have
12:31
just taken in even more cash
12:33
to tie them over even longer i guess
12:35
with these cancellations and delays
12:38
dragging on now the norwegian group
12:40
which includes of course norwegian
12:41
cruise line
12:42
oceania region seven seas they issued 40
12:45
million shares
12:46
and raised 830 million dollars of cash
12:49
during november
12:50
they have a projected burn rate at the
12:52
moment of about 175 million dollars
12:54
every single month
12:55
so this new fundraising adds another
12:58
five months of cash so
12:59
they now have enough money to have
13:02
no sailing no revenue right into the
13:05
summer
13:06
2021. the carnival group that includes
13:08
of course carnival princess
13:10
holland america seabourn cunard piano
13:13
cruises and many others
13:15
they are losing up to 650 million
13:17
dollars a month
13:18
they had raised a staggering 12 billion
13:21
dollars from investors
13:22
up until november and in november they
13:25
added another
13:26
two billion dollars through issuing of
13:28
shares and you know various debt
13:30
notes so they now have enough cash to
13:32
carry them
13:33
right through the summer with no selling
13:35
and no revenue so the major lines
13:37
have funds and what we're seeing is the
13:39
financial community but like the
13:41
caribbean
13:42
and they're seeing a huge confidence
13:44
that cruising will return and grow and
13:46
they're putting a lot of money into the
13:47
lines
13:48
the lines of course are not getting any
13:50
government bailouts
13:51
because they're incorporated and their
13:53
ships are registered in tax havens like
13:54
panama
13:55
liberia and so on these are the biggest
13:59
news stories breaking in the last week
14:02
or so that i felt you needed to know
14:03
about
14:04
and a little bit of analysis about what
14:05
i think they mean for us as cruise
14:07
lovers i have
14:08
loads more tips for travellers episodes
14:10
full of cruising advice
14:12
and tips so why not enjoy another one
14:16
right now
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