The roller coaster continues.
Most of the inquiries we get right now are directly related to the cancellation and rebooking of existing plans.
The NEXT most common question is one we’d all like to have the answer to: “When can we cruise again?”.
Nobody knows the answer to that unless they have a particularly shiny crystal ball that can accurately foretell the future.
Virtually all the cruise lines have suspended their operations through to the end of June, and there is no doubt those companies debate daily about the return to service date.
There are a number of variables that are completely out of the cruise lines’ control:
- The status of the pandemic itself, and whether it is advancing or retreating.
- Control measures that may be available in the future. We’ve been told a vaccine is several months away, but better detection methods and treatments might become available sooner.
- Whether airlines are ready to fly. It’s one thing to have a cruise ship ready to go, but most people fly to their embarkation point, so they will need restored air service before we can get cruising again.
- Foreign Governments’ action. Regardless of what restrictions are placed or lifted inside the United States, foreign authorities will decide for themselves when to reopen their own borders.
It’s also safe to say that cruising will be different when things do start up again.
That is NOT to say the cruise lines will be back to business-as-usual after all this has receded.
The overwhelming majority of our clients still believe that cruising is a safe method of travel and are not particularly influenced by the fear-mongering that has been undertaken by some media outlets.
The most reliable source of information about what has actually happened on cruise ships, the sanitization and inspection regimes, and the standards the cruise lines are required to meet is the CDC’s website. It also provides the context that the media does not.
So what can you expect on your next cruise? Here are a few ideas of how it might be a bit different than the last cruise you took (to be clear, this is just an educated guess):
- More rigorous embarkation requirements: At the very least, they will be taking your temperature before you board. Some people may require a physician’s note to travel.
- Scheduled embarkation time: As a result of the extra screening to get on a ship, embarkation will take longer, and may require staggering guests’ appearance at the dock.
- Enhanced sanitation on turn-over days: In reality, the sanitization procedures on board cruise ships are already significantly more rigorous than hotels, planes, and other tourist venues. These methods will become even more stringent. For this reason, cruise lines may increase the time between disembarkation of guests at the end of a cruise, and embarkation of the next set of guests.
- More frequent sanitization of high traffic areas: Look for crew to be wiping down elevator buttons, hand-railings etc. every hour, or even more often.
- Self-serve buffets will be gone: The food will continue to be a highlight of cruising, but the self-service options will be greatly reduced or eliminated.
- Shore excursions will be re-imagined: You’ll still be able to get out and explore the ports of call, but you may do so in smaller groups in order to maintain some social distancing.
Finally, people have been asking what the impact of the pandemic, and these potential new measures, may have on the price of a cruise.
On one hand, the cruise lines will incur greater costs, and therefore may look to raise prices. Conversely, if the demand for cruising falls, there is a good argument the cruise lines could drop prices to entice more people on to their ships.
I think both these perspectives are simplistic, so I don’t really know how it will play out.
The vast majority of cruises that we book are on small ships and river ships, and because many of the problems with cruising are much more applicable to the megaships, we’re not personally seeing a huge drop in demand.
Many of our cruise line partners tell us that their bookings for the first half of 2021 are much higher this far ahead than they’ve seen in previous years. This makes sense, with many people pushing their cruises one year into the future.
The other demand element here is that of the 30 million people who went on cruises last year, the majority will eventually cruise again. However, I suspect the new-to-cruise guests will be less forthcoming. In other words, most non-cruisers won’t go on a cruise no matter how cheap it gets.
Perhaps the cruise lines will simply run ships less-than-full for the next year or two. That would help with social distancing on a ship with several thousand people.
We still believe that river and small-ship ocean cruising is a great vacation choice. Once the logistics are ironed out for getting people to these ships, and getting underway again, the cruise experience will be a positive one, as always.
We can’t wait to get going on our next trip.
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I look forward to hearing from you.
Sue Bradley
Sue Bradley
