Up next in 10
In this latest cruise update, as news broke that 8 lines were cancelling their cruises into June and July, along came unexpected and truly remarkable developments that look to be (at last) game changing on restart dates. Although in what remains a roller coaster ride, as all that excitement built, Disney threw a wobbly ball into the mix for USA cruise passengers, and Cunard made a huge decision about 2021
So, what is going on? Join me as I explore and unravel all of this, and more importantly give my take on what it means for travellers like you and me keen to start cruising again.
00:00 Start
00:36 Country-By-Country Change
02:54 UK Cruising Returns
06:51 USA Outlook and Latest
12:44 Australia Latest
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0:00
get ready for a real roller coaster
0:03
of a cruise update just as news was
0:05
breaking that
0:06
eight lines were canceling their cruises
0:08
into june and july
0:09
along came some unexpected and truly
0:12
remarkable developments
0:14
that look to be at last game-changing as
0:16
all of that excitement built
0:18
disney through a wobbly ball into the
0:20
mix for us
0:21
cruise passengers and cunard ramped up
0:23
and further added to the dismay
0:25
so what is going on and what does all of
0:27
this contradictory news
0:29
mean for travelers like you and me keen
0:31
to really understand
0:32
when is cruising going to start up again
0:33
and when can we go cruising
0:35
data lines i mentioned that have just
0:37
pushed their earliest start dates into
0:39
june july
0:40
are princess holland america seabourn
0:43
celebrity silversea azamara virgin
0:45
and royal caribbean however in those
0:48
announcements the first big signs
0:50
that things were starting to change for
0:52
cruising but not the biggest which i
0:53
will get to
0:54
next were buried in those for me the
0:57
most significant part of the
0:59
announcement by
1:00
royal caribbean line specifically that
1:02
they were cancelling cruises into june
1:04
is where they had to say well actually
1:07
we are not
1:07
cancelling everything singapore sailings
1:10
for singapore residents on quantum of
1:12
the seas
1:13
that have been selling incident-free for
1:14
many months they continue
1:17
odyssey of the seas that will be
1:18
starting up for vaccinated israeli
1:20
residents to greece and cyprus
1:22
will be starting up as planned as will
1:25
chinese
1:25
sailings for both locals on the spectrum
1:28
of the seas and voyage of the seas
1:30
they're starting up in a few weeks time
1:32
so this came just days
1:34
after ben bouldin the vice president of
1:36
europe middle east and africa for that
1:38
line
1:39
he told cruz critic that they are
1:40
actively looking around the world for
1:42
countries that
1:43
also want to work on starting running
1:46
cruises for local residents
1:48
even if that means offering domestic
1:50
itineraries only
1:51
he stressed that the key was that
1:54
successful restarts depend on
1:56
really good cooperation from politicians
1:58
in government both in terms of the home
2:00
ports
2:01
but also agreeing the places that you
2:02
can actually visit so this is true as in
2:04
addition to those countries i mentioned
2:06
so far
2:07
the others with sailings allowed have
2:08
been italy where there's a massive
2:11
cruise ship building industry and where
2:12
the prime minister was actively involved
2:15
in helping and letting cruising open
2:17
they're also happening with german lines
2:19
including the royal caribbean part
2:21
undermined schiff and habek
2:22
lloyd lines another country with a huge
2:25
cruise ship
2:26
building industry and of course
2:27
therefore leveraged with government
2:28
they're also happening
2:29
in norway where hertiglurten is locally
2:32
owned
2:32
and sails between all the ports along
2:34
its vast coast
2:36
sailings of course have also been taking
2:37
place successfully in japan
2:39
and taiwan again because governments
2:41
have pushed for that
2:42
announcements by holland american
2:43
princess interestingly also spoke
2:45
about cancellations by region and even
2:48
by port suggesting
2:49
we're heading towards more regions
2:51
opening before
2:52
others so bearing all that in mind along
2:55
came the pleasant
2:56
surprising news that cruising will be
2:58
allowed to resume in the uk
3:00
from may 17th the first time that
3:02
something was about to happen was when
3:04
the biggest uk
3:05
baseline pinot cruisers they suddenly
3:07
pulled all their advertised cruisers
3:09
through to september october saying they
3:11
would aim to introduce
3:13
domestic cruises for uk residents once
3:15
that was possible that was quickly
3:16
followed by princess cruises
3:18
who were due to have three ships selling
3:19
out of the uk they did the same for all
3:21
of the uk departures canceling
3:23
those saying they would do the same
3:24
cunard meantime said they will also do
3:26
domestic
3:27
uk cruises in summer on queen elizabeth
3:30
cancelling their existing queen victoria
3:32
right to the end of august queen
3:34
elizabeth to the length of october
3:36
and queen mary 2 until the 12th of
3:38
november
3:39
royal caribbean at the same time they've
3:41
got ship space in the uk
3:42
in the summer said it's possible they
3:44
would do the same but they didn't
3:45
actually cancel anything
3:47
then the big news came as in those other
3:50
countries where we've seen settings
3:52
happen
3:53
the uk maritime minister robert courts
3:55
he took a leadership
3:56
move he was encouraged by the very first
3:58
round of vaccines in the uk
4:00
and the prime minister's road mapped
4:02
opening travel for may the 17th
4:04
and he announced the government will
4:05
support the resumption of cruising
4:07
from the 17th of may now there are five
4:10
big
4:10
unanswered questions that are worth
4:12
thinking about number one
4:14
will this be for all of the uk or
4:15
england only the road map and the date
4:18
for opening of travel from
4:19
and cruising for may the 17th is
4:20
currently only for england
4:22
and the devolved administrations in
4:23
scotland wales and northern ireland
4:25
they define their own road maps however
4:27
jackie doyle price
4:29
she's the chair of the transport
4:31
committee she's the mp for tilbury which
4:33
is the home of the london cruise
4:34
terminal
4:35
she said this is the point we will be
4:37
taking up with devolved administrations
4:38
in the coming days
4:39
to ensure that the reopening of domestic
4:41
crews is uk
4:43
wide second question is what will the
4:46
protocols be will there be those
4:47
proposed by clear and the lines they
4:50
those mirror
4:51
those being used by msc cruisers in
4:52
italy or caribbean and singapore those
4:54
kind of things
4:55
so it's reduced capacity testing masks
4:58
distancing
4:59
lining excursions or are they going to
5:01
incorporate vaccines
5:02
as per royal caribbean in israel or will
5:05
they be closer to
5:06
pre-pandemic cruising as the road map in
5:08
the uk it actually
5:10
has the goal of removing restrictions
5:11
like social distancing
5:13
from the middle of june that's by when
5:15
all uk adults who want to
5:17
be vaccinated will have been so that's
5:19
something we still need to find out
5:21
the third question is when will the
5:22
cruisers actually
5:24
start up all the lines are saying it
5:26
will be many many weeks or even months
5:28
that they will need to plan the cruises
5:30
they'll need to plan the ports
5:32
they'll need to get the crew back
5:33
they'll need to train them implement any
5:35
new protocols restock ships and all that
5:37
kind of stuff
5:38
now piano cruisers have said it's going
5:40
to take several weeks
5:42
after may the 17th to restart cunard
5:45
have said
5:46
in a tweet some months before sailing
5:49
saga have suspended until late june
5:51
anyway fred olson
5:52
also suspended till the end of june who
5:54
to grutten they've suspended right
5:56
through to the end of may so we're not
5:57
sure when these cruisers will actually
5:58
be starting
5:59
but they are allowed from the 17th of
6:02
may
6:03
the fourth question is how many ships
6:05
will be sailing
6:07
even with lots of demand from uk
6:09
residents keen to have a break this
6:10
summer it does seem
6:11
hard to see all the fleet from piano
6:14
princess
6:14
maybe cunard maybe royal caribbean
6:16
embassy cruisers fred olson saga
6:19
hutu grits and all those other lines
6:20
that sell out of the uk
6:22
is it going to be enough demand to put
6:23
on all the ships if they're just going
6:25
to uk
6:25
ports the fifth question is when will
6:28
they be able
6:29
to sail further afield there's a really
6:32
really strong suggestion
6:33
that the uk will not be lifting the
6:35
travel advice against
6:36
international ocean cruising so they
6:39
won't be letting ships sell
6:40
out of the uk so that's a really big
6:42
question
6:43
how long will it be just uk
6:46
now the answers to these will of course
6:48
emerge and i will update you
6:50
as they do the key point that all of
6:52
this
6:53
it shows it takes government and
6:55
political will
6:56
to open up cruising which brings me to
6:58
what is happening and what this all
7:00
means
7:00
for the united states now disney are the
7:03
latest line to give their thoughts on
7:05
timing
7:06
and they said they do not expect
7:08
cruising in the united states until
7:11
autumn which is a really really long way
7:14
away bob chapek who's the ceo of disney
7:17
he said at the latest
7:18
shareholders meeting and i'm going to
7:19
quote exactly what he said
7:21
as of right now we don't have any
7:23
definitive information
7:25
in terms of when we will be able to open
7:28
our cruise lines
7:29
we are anticipating that with some luck
7:32
and the increase in the number of
7:33
vaccinations out there
7:35
and the encouraging that we are seeing
7:37
that maybe
7:38
by this fall we might be able to have
7:41
some
7:41
limited operations of our cruise ships
7:45
so that's pretty pessimistic timing in
7:47
terms of what is likely to happen in the
7:49
united states
7:50
there is i think one big problem the usa
7:54
faces that
7:55
those other countries like the uk don't
7:57
now some of you of course will say it's
7:58
the cdc and i will come to that
8:00
but unlike the various countries that
8:02
are opening to cruising the united
8:04
states
8:05
does not have the option of doing
8:06
domestic cruises
8:08
or even cruises to nowhere ships have to
8:11
sail
8:11
to a foreign port due to the passengers
8:14
vessel
8:14
services act almost all of the countries
8:16
allowing cruising like the uk
8:18
like italy are domestic cruisers for
8:21
residents only
8:22
those governments and their health
8:24
authorities they have more control they
8:25
have total oversight
8:26
they have the support networks there for
8:29
their residents any ports they call on
8:30
it stays within the country but for the
8:32
usa the ships
8:34
have to leave and call somewhere that is
8:36
not under u.s
8:37
jurisdiction and supervision this has to
8:40
be an issue in my view
8:41
kind of bubbling in the background you
8:43
know politicians and governments
8:45
in those other countries they have
8:47
really been supporting cruise opening
8:49
but it's all domestic because it's
8:50
really totally everything's within their
8:52
control
8:53
then united states there is of course
8:55
the cdc
8:56
now the cdc still well certainly at the
8:58
time of recording
8:59
it's not issued the technical
9:01
specifications for even the test cruises
9:02
they require
9:03
despite early in february saying it was
9:05
just a few weeks away
9:07
so cruising is really in limbo with no
9:09
timeline
9:10
now as i was preparing this mandate i
9:12
noticed the cdc
9:14
remain unenthusiastic not just about
9:17
cruising but travel opening more
9:19
generally in
9:20
and out of the united states which does
9:22
it really doesn't bode well
9:23
this revelation came in a white house
9:25
coronavirus response briefing
9:27
just after the cdc had said that those
9:29
who are vaccinated can meet with others
9:31
who are vaccinated indoors
9:33
in private settings without sexual
9:34
distancing or mass now that initial
9:36
announcement excited many who thought
9:38
this could be a sign of high protocols
9:40
for things like cruising could head
9:41
once vaccines are rolled up further kind
9:43
of restriction free however
9:45
the recently barn appointed cdc director
9:49
dr rochelle
9:50
wallensky said and i'm going to quote
9:52
here every time
9:53
there is a surge in travel we have a
9:55
surge in cases
9:56
in this country so that doesn't all go
9:58
well for their enthusiasm to
10:00
open travel two federal health officials
10:03
they
10:04
actually told the cnn that as the cdc
10:07
worked to prepare guidance for people
10:08
who are fully vaccinated against cover
10:10
19
10:11
there was a discussion around the
10:12
possibility of changing travel
10:14
recommendations
10:15
but there was not a lot of enthusiasm or
10:17
momentum within the cdc
10:19
to adjust that right now so that's not
10:21
very encouraging
10:22
building on that as i've covered before
10:24
cruise line executives are also
10:26
wondering
10:26
if the cdc are wrestling with having
10:29
vaccines in any final requirements
10:31
so for example asked about the
10:32
requirement of vaccines to cruise
10:34
in the last couple of days tom mccarpen
10:37
of virgin voyages
10:38
he told travel weekly magazine i'm going
10:40
to quote him
10:42
a lot of this depends upon what the
10:44
requirements
10:45
of the cdc are i'm not a scientist so
10:48
don't understand how all of that works
10:50
but i suspect that as we get a very high
10:52
level of folks vaccinated within the us
10:54
and the uk things may change we may not
10:56
have to get 100 vaccinated
10:58
it would be nice to get 100 but i don't
11:00
know that is achievable or
11:02
needed so again lots of questions still
11:05
looming so based on all of this it seems
11:07
there is still
11:08
little or even no change in the momentum
11:11
such as in the uk
11:12
for the us administration to yet put
11:14
dates and timing
11:15
to that framework for conditional
11:17
sailing so there's an interesting part
11:19
in looking in
11:20
in those countries where cruising has
11:21
opened it has definitely
11:23
been led by the government it's been led
11:25
by ministers not by the health
11:27
authorities in re
11:28
practice according to the cdc so until
11:30
that changes it does feel like
11:32
usa cruising is not going to move that
11:35
much
11:36
there therefore has been lots of
11:38
speculation if u.s lions will try
11:40
and set up home porting in the caribbean
11:43
mean time
11:44
again this seems pretty unlikely because
11:45
the logistics to build their supply
11:47
chains
11:48
to cope with the massive volume of
11:50
supplies
11:51
getting the numbers of people in and out
11:53
to join multiple ships and cruises it
11:55
will probably
11:56
take as long as waiting and working
11:58
through the cdc process
12:00
which of course once that eventually
12:02
gets done it'll be simpler it'll be more
12:03
lucrative it'll be more
12:05
easy for everybody involved now of
12:07
course royal caribbean will be using
12:09
barbados
12:10
as a home port with the grandeur of the
12:12
seas from december
12:13
they're going to be doing 7 and 49 some
12:16
caribbean itineraries from that island
12:18
cozumel as you might have seen has been
12:20
lobbing
12:21
to get cruises to homeport there but
12:22
that does seem a long shot doesn't have
12:24
the infrastructure
12:25
so as news of these kind of small scale
12:28
but really steady openings
12:29
are happening around the world for
12:31
cruisers to get back
12:32
onto ships in summer we are still
12:34
waiting for moving from the u.s
12:36
the rate of vaccinations it does seem
12:38
really hopeful
12:39
and confidence to maybe move to the test
12:41
crew stage
12:42
we'll hopefully hear about soon now as
12:44
we look at other big
12:45
cruising nations australia too has
12:48
the government and minister engaged the
12:50
federal health minister
12:52
greg hunt he's already said the
12:54
government they're working very closely
12:56
with state
12:57
and territory agencies national health
12:59
committees and the cruise industry to
13:01
develop kind of a framework
13:03
for the stage resumption of cruise ships
13:06
in what he calls a manner that's
13:07
proportionate to the public health risk
13:09
now of course ships are banned
13:10
until the middle of june in australia
13:13
and in reality the season is over
13:15
because they're heading into winter
13:16
so the real impacts also may not be
13:18
until much later in the year but the
13:19
good news is
13:20
there is the government engaged so
13:22
clearly
13:23
we're starting to see pockets of
13:25
domestic cruising opening
13:26
and i'm sure more are going to come and
13:28
i think these updates are going to
13:29
really accelerate
13:30
with how many more are coming now if you
13:32
found this update helpful i've pulled
13:34
together a short list of three other
13:36
tips for travellers
13:36
videos which have some key information
13:38
about the cruising outlook and
13:40
importantly the protocols
13:41
and what to expect for the rest of this
13:43
year i think you'll find those
13:44
interesting
13:44
so why not click to watch those
13:48
right now
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