It has been a wild week at the Pampered Cruiser Headquarters (aka: our home office), a week of tremendous ups and downs.
The Good News!
- Our health authorities have confirmed a timeline for the vaccine rollout. There will inevitably be some ups and downs, but it looks like everyone who wants a shot will have one by the late spring.
- Anecdotally, we have had contact with a ton of our clients this past week and so far, 100% of them have either been immunized or have it scheduled within the next couple of weeks
- Costa and Aida, two ocean cruise lines that cater to Europeans, are planning to resume sailing in just a few weeks (the middle of March). They were sailing last summer, so it’s not an unrealistic endeavour. Not only is this a very encouraging situation, but these cruise lines will also gain valuable experience in their return to operations that other cruise lines will benefit from.
- Globally, the rate of new covid-19 infections has dropped in half in the past 3 weeks. Scientists are trying to explain why and how, but I’ll take it as good news for now.
Our Challenges this Week:
- Viking told us on Tuesday they would be sending out cancellation notices to our April/May clients the following day. Thank you to all of you who are caught up in this for your patience – we no longer have any administrative support, so it’s just me and Bob managing all the cancellations and re-bookings.
- Nobody would confirm this officially for us, but reading the tea leaves, we believe Viking COULD have sailed in May, but chose not to because of uncertainty around the politics related to the resumption of travel. An example is given immediately below.
- Last week the Canadian government closed its cruise ports for another full year, with the effect of spooking many travel suppliers who wonder whether other governments will follow suit. The Prime Minister of Canada was asked directly why the government did not instead put a vaccine requirement in place, along with the current measures of advance testing and a national mask mandate. He wouldn’t answer, which leads one to assume that his government is willing to devastate the tourism economy in Canada (& Alaska) to avoid reminding Canadians that Americans and Europeans are going to be getting their vaccines months before Canadians will get theirs (Canada is 53rd in world for vaccine rollout). Such political games are unfortunate for the resumption of tourism globally – not just in Canada. Hopefully the cruise lines, and other governments will identify this cynical action taken by the Canadian Government for what it is.
When we take into consideration all of the above factors, we are simultaneously exhausted (we’ve been doing this nonsense for a year now), and optimistic (we believe all the evidence supports a resumption of international travel – including cruises – in June or even sooner).
This is what I’ve heard consistently over the past couple of weeks:
“WHAT IF I CAN’T WAIT TILL JUNE AND WANT TO TRAVEL NOW!”
Our clients often self-identify as “cruisers”, although that’s not the only type of travel for most of them. Here are a few reasons they gravitate towards cruising:
- Logistics: They like everything arranged for them – they are perfectly capable of navigating airports, hotels and transportation on their own, they’d just prefer not to.
- Food: The cruise lines our clients tend to select on are synonymous with great dining options.
- Entertainment and Activities: One of the great things about cruising is you can do as little or as much as you want, and all those options are within close proximity.
- Social: Cruisers like to meet other like-minded travellers when they are on vacation.
Based on these preferences, here are a few of suggestions for travel in the next three months based on trends we are seeing:
- River Cruises and Rail Options in the USA
We’ve written lots about these before — call us if you’d like more information here. Cruises on the Mississippi and Columbia Rivers are resuming within the next month!
2. Small Group Tours (or as we like to call them – “Land Cruises”)
There are a number of suppliers that offer escorted land tours with small groups, or even individual bubbles. Groups as small as 8 people can do organized “land-cruises” across different parts of the world. We are seeing the most interest right now for domestic tours, and the most popular of those are:
- National Parks Tours – most often in the northwest, or the southwest.
- Southwest Desert and Cultural Tours (yes… I know it snowed the southwest states last week, be we appear to be past that now).
- Northeast Museum and Historical tours (often these include Washington, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, but there are lots of variations).
3. City Stay Packages
These are short (7 days or less) packages designed to let you feel like a local in a specific city.
You’ll be able to unpack once and settle in.
You’ll get an immersive, guided tour experience, with some meals included, access to a Tour Manager, and planned excursions to the city’s must-see destinations and hidden secrets only locals are aware of. Alongside planned excursions, there is built-in downtime in the itinerary so you can explore (or relax!) on your own.
City Stay Packages are available for:
- New Orleans
- Washington DC
- South Dakota (Mt. Rushmore & Badlands)
- New Orleans
- New York City
- San Antonio
- Santa Fe
- Nashville
4. Extended Stay at a Ranch, Spa, or Resort
This is a trend that is likely the result of people being very tired of being under “house-arrest” for a year now. They are flying to a Resort, Ranch or Spa, and staying for 3 or 4 weeks. There are many features of such trips that are similar to cruising:
- You only unpack once.
- There are tons of choices for activities on site, and in some cases, you can rent a car and explore a bit further afield if you choose to do so.
- Many of these facilities have entertainment on site on a nightly basis.
- The food options are every bit as good and diverse as you would get on a small-ocean ship, or a river boat.
You might not get to check off a bunch of European countries or visit a ton of historical sites like you would on a European cruise or river cruise, but since that’s not available in the next couple of months, one of the ideas above might hold you over for the time being.
Might I also suggest that one of these trips would be a great way to celebrate getting immunized and surviving a year of house arrest? You deserve it.
We’re ready to help you with whatever you’ve got planned next.
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I look forward to hearing from you.
Sue Bradley
Sue Bradley
