If you’ve missed it, we’ve been shortlisting two trips for each season of this year and inviting our readers to chime in with your comments if you’ve done a similar trip – and maybe even join us if it suits you!

For the Spring, we suggested a Mississippi River Cruise or a small-ship Alaska experience: https://pamperedcruiser.com/spring-2021-alaska-or-mississippi/

The summer will take us to either the Great Lakes or on a luxury rail trip through the Rockies: https://pamperedcruiser.com/this-is-a-tough-decision-maybe-we-should-do-both-trips/

Today we’re considering two international trips for travel this fall, and they couldn’t be more different. 

These two trips are at opposite extremes in just about every dimension.

Christmas Markets Danube River Cruise

There are Christmas markets all over Europe (and the rest of the world), but the real enthusiasts insist the Germans do it better than anyone. 

The Deal:

• AMA Waterways.  7 Nights from Vilshofen (Bavaria, Germany) to Budapest departing December 13, 2021:
  • Standard (window) room:  $2595 per person
  • French Balcony:  $3294 per person
  • Prices include taxes/fees, a $300 on board cabin credit, a shore excursion in each port of call, beer/wine with meals (and during the daily pre-dinner Happy Hour).
  • The prices above represent $1000 per person off regular prices

What we like about this trip:

• Europe is great in the off-season.  It is true that the Christmas Markets have brought more tourists to Europe in winter, but it is still much less crowded than the summer months.
• More than knick-knacks.  The Christmas Markets are much more than an outdoor shopping mall full of stuff you’ll get rid of at your next garage sale.  There is music and art and culture specific to that unique part of Europe.
• The Budapest Christmas market has strict rules about selling only handcrafted items (no mass-manufactured goods allowed!)

Who it appeals to:

• Previous Europe Travelers.  This is a way to see it from a different perspective.
• Shoppers.  Most obviously, there are markets at every port stop.
• Christmas People.  You know who you are – those who unapologetically revel in the wonder of Christmas.

Insider Tip:  

People often come back with way more luggage than they left home with on these trips.  If you’ve got “nesting” luggage, pack your small suitcase inside your large one, and if you need extra room for all your purchases, you can check two bags on the way home.

Alternatives:

• If you are less interested in the markets themselves, but want to experience Europe off-season, go in the first three weeks of November.  It will be a bit cheaper, and even less crowded.
• There is similar pricing on these Christmas market trips:
  • Dec 9:  Basel, Switzerland to Amsterdam
  • Dec 11:  Vienna to Nuremberg

Tahiti

If beach wear is preferable to parkas, then maybe you’ll want to go in the other direction.  Rather than northeast to Europe, how about south and west to French Polynesia?

The Deal:

• 7-night cruise through French Polynesia with Paul Gauguin Cruises, departing November 6, 2021.
• Prices start at $6045 per person including flights from Los Angeles, all transfers, meals, drinks, gratuities, specialty dining and watersports such as kayaking and paddle boarding.  Book by Feb. 15^th and get a $200 per person shipboard credit… and a box of chocolates for your sweetie.

What we like about this trip:

• We’ve all seen the pictures of the bungalows over water and put it on our bucket list.  Now’s the opportunity.
• It’s immersive.  Paul Gauguin brings Polynesia on board.  Some of the most frequent visitors to Tahiti and French Polynesia are residents of Hawaii, who say it reminds them of their home before it became overrun with tourism. 
• This departure is being hosted by our Virtuoso colleague Scott Harvey from the Folie a Deux Winery in the Napa Valley.  Any time wine is involved, it can’t be bad!

Who it appeals to:

• The Romantics – Paul Gauguin is currently running its aptly named “Take your Sweetie to Tahiti” promotion.  It’s not just for honeymooners.
• People who really need to get some sun after a long stretch of being stuck at home.
• Those who love Hawaii but have found it has become a bit too crowded and busy.
• People who might otherwise go to a tropical all-inclusive resort.

Insider Tip:  Tahiti is only 2 hours further by plane than Hawaii.  While other South Pacific Islands are much more difficult and time consuming to get to, it is not unreasonable to do a quick, one-week getaway to Tahiti.

Alternatives:

• The Treasure Islands – One week trip on a Star Clippers sailing vessel that only holds 170 people.  Tahiti’s pretty hard to beat, but the Eastern Caribbean has some incredible white sand beaches and tropical islands.  Pricing in November starts at $2320 per person.
• The Seabourn Odyssey (450 guests) is also in the Eastern Caribbean this coming winter.  It doesn’t have sails, but it does have a drop-down marina right off the ship, like Paul Gauguin.  Round trip from Barbados for one week from $3499 per person.

Will you embrace the winter, Christmas experience, or the tropical, sunny one for your trip this fall?

Have something to say about this?

Join the conversation on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PamperedCruiser/posts/2921276298154865

If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

Have you sorted out your travel plans for the summer?  Our travel planning for 2021 is starting to look like one of those reality TV shows – although not quite as mindless and with fewer people shouting at each other. 

For each season of 2021, we’ve shortlisted two trips, and are asking our readers to either weigh-in if they’ve done similar trips before, or to join us if they so choose.

Last week we revealed our Spring short list.  It was a toss-up between a Mississippi River cruise on an authentic paddle wheeler OR a small ship cruise to Alaska.  Here’s the link if you missed it:  https://pamperedcruiser.com/spring-2021-alaska-or-mississippi/

This week, we’re eyeing up a couple of options for the summer months.  If you’ve done similar trips in the past, or have an interest in joining us on one of these trips, please leave your comments on our Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/PamperedCruiser/posts/2915496158732879

Great Lakes Cruise from Chicago to Toronto

People come from all over the world to experience the Great Lakes.  It seems the only ones who don’t explore this fascinating part of the planet are the Americans and Canadians that live around the Lakes.  Here’s a chance to correct that oversight. 

The Deal:

• 11-days, departing Chicago on July 20, 2021.
• $1500 off per person, so the pricing starts at $3699 per person (Ocean view stateroom) on the 200 passenger Victory I.
• Includes a hotel stay in Chicago the night before embarkation, all meals, beer/wine, juices, premium coffee, etc., shore excursions in every port, wifi on the ship.
• We are able to get this $1500 discount for any departure all summer if this date does not work for you.

What we like about this trip:

• Both Chicago and Toronto offer incredible urban experiences for pre- and post-cruise stays.
• Both cities are well served by air (both are amongst the largest 5 airports in North America)
• Sandwiched between these two urban greats, are a myriad of tiny ports that are really only (easily) accessible by ship:
  • Mackinac Island, Michigan – A National Historic Landmark with no cars, and  preserved in the Victorian period.  Your fare includes a horse-drawn carriage ride.
  • Sault Ste. Marie – (pronounced “Sue Saint Marie”)  Its name alone is exotic.  This is actually TWO towns (one in the USA, one in Canada) with the same name.  They used to be one settlement but were divided in the war of 1812.
  • Manitoulin Island, Canada.  Visit the world’s largest freshwater island and see indigenous culture on full display. 
  • You also visit Detroit (visit the Henry Ford Museum), Cleveland (visit the Rock n’Roll Hall of Fame), and Niagara Falls.

Who it appeals to:

• Road-trippers/RVers – those who like to explore America will love this trip, and you’ll visit places you can’t get to in your RV.
• People who need to get away this year but would prefer to stay a bit closer to home.

Insider Tip:  

Your ship will depart from the Navy Pier, right in downtown Chicago.  Spend an extra day or two exploring the Windy City.  There is also a 13-day version of this itinerary that drops you off in Montreal, if that is preferable than Toronto for you.

Alternatives:

• This same itinerary is available May through September.
• There are variations of this cruise that include Boston, Detroit, Niagara Falls, and Montreal as embarkation or disembarkation ports.
• If you wanted to explore central Canada, we can offer you small group land tours between Toronto and Montreal.
• Small group land tours between two cities named twice:  New York, New York to Quebec (City), Quebec.

Rocky Mountaineer Luxury Rail trip from Denver to Moab, Utah

We were very excited by Rocky Mountaineer’s announcement this past fall about their pending expansion to the United States.  For the past 30 years, Rocky Mountaineer has run a luxury rail trip through the Canadian Rockies that has quickly become one of the world’s “must-do” train trips.  The experience on the Canadian route is spectacular, and we have the same expectations for the trip between Denver, and Moab, Utah with extensions to either Las Vegas or Salt Lake City. 

The Deal:

• 7-nights departing Denver on September 14^th visiting five National Parks (including the Grand Canyon), finishing in Las Vegas.
• Pricing from $3910 per person includes all transportation (between Denver and Las Vegas), accommodation, National Park entry fees, and meals/beverages while on the train.

What we like about this trip:

• Even if you’ve travelled through the Rockies before, the rail route is much different than the car trip, and you’ll get to see things not visible from the highway.
• There is a high concentration of National Parks on this trip for those looking to get more stamps in their National Park Passport.
• The urban experiences in Denver and Las Vegas are both spectacular in their own way… and could not be more different

Who it appeals to:

• Train enthusiasts – this product will quickly join its Canadian cousin as a legendary rail trip (this is not Amtrak!)
• Photographers – there is a reason so many National Parks are concentrated in the states on this route. 
• Road trippers – there are self-drive options between Moab and Las Vegas, OR Moab and Salt Lake City that can be added onto the rail journey. 

Insider Tip:  Rocky Mountaineer reserves 52 spots on each train trip for “Silver-Leaf Plus” service.  This gives these few passengers access to an exclusive lounge car, and outdoor viewing platform.  At $400, the extra cost is somewhat modest, and we think this class of extra service will sell out very quickly. 

Alternatives:

• Alternate Dates:  There are several departures a month, August through October, with itineraries ranging between 2 and 8 days. 
• Rocky Mountaineer – Canadian Rockies.  There are several different routes and packages ranging between 2 and 12 days over the Canadian Rockies between Vancouver (or Seattle) and Calgary.  Tours run March through October.
• National Parks Land Tour – We can offer you several small group land tours that start/finish in either Las Vegas or Phoenix and explore a number of the National Parks in the Southwest.

Next week, we’ll do a similar article for our two choices for Autumn:  A Christmas Markets River Cruise in Europe, and a trip to Tahiti with a cruise through French Polynesia.

Have something to say about this?

Join the conversation on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PamperedCruiser/posts/2915496158732879

If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

Where will we travel this spring?

Last week we floated the idea of shortlisting two trips for each season in 2021, and then get YOUR feedback as to which one we should set up a group on, if case any of our readers wanted to join us.  So here are our picks for this coming Spring.

If you’re not ready to travel this spring…we’ll follow with picks for the summer and fall in the coming two weeks.  Stay tuned.

American Queen Lower Mississippi River Cruise

There are a ton of cruise variations on the Mississippi River system, the most common being the lower Mississippi itinerary between Memphis and New Orleans. 

The Deal:

• May 30^th, 2021 (New Orleans to Memphis), or June 6^th, 2021 (Memphis to New Orleans).
• $1500 off per person from mid-May through Mid-June (all stateroom categories).  These are the discounted prices:
  • Window:  $2799 per person
  • Open Veranda:  $3099 per person
  • Private Veranda:  $3599 per person
• Includes: pre-cruise hotel night, shore excursions in every port, unlimited beverages, open bars and lounges, alternative dining and room service, unlimited wifi. 

We did a video on American Queen recently on our YouTube channel.  Here’s a link if you want to get a better feel for American Queen Steamboat Company:  https://youtu.be/LLPzn1wD8_Y (the prices in the video are outdated though).

What we like about this trip:

There is no doubt that a significant and important portion of this country’s history relates to the history and culture of the Mississippi River.  So often we marvel at the history, art, food and culture of Europe, and appropriately so – it is impressive.  However, given that the Europeans have a 1000-year head start on us in this regard, we should not discount the amazing history and culture of our own country.

Nowhere is this more vibrant than along the Mississippi River. 

Who it appeals to:

• Those with a keen interest in American history – particularly the civil war era.
• Those who love the music scene will enjoy both New Orleans and Memphis
• Those travelling with children or grandchildren.

Insider Tip:  If you sail upstream (starting in New Orleans), you get one whole day of river cruising.  If you sail downstream (starting in Memphis), you get a port stop in Baton Rouge LA, that is not included on the upstream trip. 

Alternatives:

• If the dates aren’t quite right, you can do this trip at almost any time of the year. 
• Two-week trips between Minneapolis and New Orleans are available in the summer months.
• Trips along the Mississippi tributaries such as the Ohio River through Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
• Columbia River in Washington and Oregon.

Small Ship Alaska

Our other option for a trip this spring is also a domestic trip, but Alaska is really unlike any other state.  This cruise leaves from Vancouver (a great destination in itself), and visits Ketchikan, Sitka, Icy Strait Point, Haines, Hubbard Glacier, and the Inian Islands, before arriving in Juneau.

The Deal:

• May 28^th, 2021 departing from Vancouver for 7-nights, finishing in Juneau.
• We blocked some staterooms quite a while ago on this cruise, so we’ve got a significant price advantage over what is currently available through Seabourn:
  • Penthouse Suite $6699 ($7999 at Seabourn.com)
  • Veranda $3799 ($4799 at Seabourn)
  • Window $3499 ($4299 at Seabourn)
• We have an extremely limited number of staterooms set aside at these prices.
• All the staterooms on Seabourn are suites (minimum 300 square feet).  Includes unlimited beverages, gratuities, specialty dining, wifi, and a $250 per person on board credit. 

We did a similar trip to Alaska with Seabourn in 2019.  Here’s a link to the playlist with our daily video blogs if you want to get a feel for the ship, or any individual port of call:  https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA1r3eOMaDVGIkLzMGzGDOfx8xOSpC2Vt

What we like about this trip:

• This cruise combines some Alaska favorites such as Ketchikan and Juneau, with more rarely visited locations such as Sitka and the Inian Islands.  It’s great for first-time Alaska visitors, or those who may have visited on a bigger ship previously.
• Alaska is best seen on a small ship.  The Seabourn Odyssey holds 450 people, and at only 30,000 tons you can get into places the big ships just can’t go.
• It’s on the Inside Passage that is not only more scenic, but much calmer waters than the open Pacific.
• You can add a Denali Package after disembarkation in Juneau. 
• Ventures by Seabourn provides some expedition-ship features all while enjoying the luxury comfort Seabourn is famous for.

Who it appeals to:

• Those who might have been to Alaska previously on one of the Megaships.
• Those that want the choice of glacier viewing from the deck of a cruise ship OR from a sea kayak or zodiac boat.
• Those ready for a true luxury, small-ship experience (NOTE: if you’ve been on a river cruise and enjoyed it, that’s a good indicator)
• Foodies – Thomas Keller has a restaurant on board, included in your fare
• Spa People – The spa and wellness program is by Dr Andrew Weil.

Insider Tip: 

Go two or three days early.  Fly into Calgary to take the Rocky Mountaineer train across the Canadian Rockies.  The scenery on this famous train trip is every bit as spectacular as what you’ll see in Alaska, and yet completely different.  This is a perfect add-on to an Alaska cruise.

Alternatives:

• Seabourn is in Alaska all season from May through September if these dates don’t work for you
• Just about all the cruise lines are in Alaska this year, so there are tons of options on other lines if you have a preference for one of the others.

Summer and Fall

Next week, we’ll do a similar article for our two summer choices:  The Great Lakes from Chicago to Toronto, or the Rocky Mountaineer Rail trip from Denver to Moab.  The following week, we’ll look at our winter plans for either Tahiti, or the Christmas Markets in Europe.

Have something to say about this?

Join the conversation on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PamperedCruiser/posts/2910581315891030

If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

If you’re like many people, you might have made a New Year’s resolution or two. 

I gave up on these years ago – apparently, I don’t have the discipline to follow through in any meaningful way.  I do, however, use these first few days of each year to do some planning, and the best part of that is travel planning.

It will be particularly sweet this year, after spending an entire year “on the bench”.  I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get out there again.  The last time we were on a plane was almost exactly one year ago (and a domestic flight at that).  By rough calculation, I haven’t been “grounded” this long since the mid 80s.

My challenge now becomes narrowing down my travel choices 2021.  I’m having a hard time deciding so I thought I would put it out to our readers and ask for YOUR opinion. 

Under normal conditions, we take a trip approximately once per quarter – part of the fun of being the travel industry is that we get to call this our “job”.   

My thought here is to put forward TWO ideas for each quarter of the year and get feedback from our readers.  Based on your feedback, we’ll do one of those trips, and put a group together so any of you that want to join can come along.

In the next two or three weeks, I’ll provide a better description of each of these trips, but here’s a sneak preview for you:

Winter: 

We’ll be sitting it out for the first quarter.  Even if there weren’t a bunch of restrictions in place on where and how we can travel, we are insanely busy.  It seems that many people have decided that a year “on the bench” is enough, and they want to get busy planning.  This is the part of the job we enjoy most, so we’re happy to help people book that next trip.

Spring: 

Here are two trips that have caught our eye for this spring:

• Mississippi River Cruise:  We’ve loved our river cruise experiences in Europe.  Now it’s time to explore our own back yard.
• Alaska on a small ship:  We go to Alaska just about every year, and really missed the opportunity in 2020. 

More on both of these options next week.

Summer: 

If you want to join us, here are the two trips we’re contemplating this summer.  We’ll offer more details in the next couple of weeks:

• Great Lakes:  Yes…believe it or not there are cruises on the Great Lakes, and they visit some really interesting corners of our own backyard.  We are eyeing up a cruise from Chicago to Toronto with a whole bunch of port stops in between that most of us have never heard of!
• Rocky Mountaineer Denver to Moab, Utah:  Although Rocky Mountaineer has been traversing the continental divide through the Canadian Rockies for 30 years, the US route is a brand-new product we can hardly wait to check out.

Autumn:

The two trips we’re considering in the fall are a study of contrasts.  Maybe we’ll do both!  We’ll provide more detail on these options in three weeks:

• French Polynesia on Paul Gauguin:  It’s time to live the Polynesian Dream, complete with a few nights at one of those over-water bungalows you see on the cover of all the travel magazines.
• Christmas Markets in Europe:  A Rhine or Danube River cruise looks much different in the winter months, and the European Christmas Markets have been imitated in other countries, but never matched. 

Over the few weeks, we’ll provide more details about these trips.  We invite your feedback if you’ve done any similar trips previously, or if you might be thinking about that trip yourself.

Have something to say about this?

Join the conversation on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PamperedCruiser/posts/2905074876441674

If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

Here we are in the last two weeks of 2020, which means we’ll all be deluged with media pontificating about the year that just was. 

I’m quite happy to forget 2020 completely, so I’m rebelling and instead doing a “Year in Preview” article today.

There is no doubt that our last year under house-arrest will impact how we travel for many years to come, but here are the trends we are seeing now for the immediate months ahead:

Domestic Travel:  The first half of the year will be all about domestic travel, and we are seeing keen interest in Alaska Cruising, as well as the Mississippi and Columbia Rivers, and luxury rail trips in both the United States and Canada.  Cruising on the Great Lakes has also increased enormously in popularity.  Here are links to a few articles we’ve written lately about these domestic travel offerings:

• US-based river cruises:  https://pamperedcruiser.com/river-cruising-in-the-us/
• Alaska Lodges: https://pamperedcruiser.com/guide-to-alaska-land-packages/
• Luxury Rail in the US: https://pamperedcruiser.com/rocky-mountaineer-us-itinerary-rockies-to-the-red-rocks-luxury-train/

Close-in Bookings for 2021.  With so much uncertainty, we will see many people book at the last minute.  It makes sense to wait until you’re sure you’ll be able to do your trip the way you want to do it before committing.  Just remember that everyone else is doing exactly the same thing, so you are risking that your preferred trip will be sold out.  If you really want to do a trip in 2021, but are unsure, you’ll want to be sure you check out the relaxed booking policies that many suppliers are offering – you get the best of both worlds this way.

Earlier Bookings for 2022 and 2023.  It seems that travelers didn’t take kindly to their 2020 plans having been cancelled, so they’re rebooking with a vengeance.  2022 is about 15% more booked up than it would normally be this far in advance (small ship and river cruises).  Normally 2023 wouldn’t be available for booking yet, but it’s already open.  Do you need to panic?  No… you’ve still got lots of time, but if you’re the type of person that is very specific about when, where, stateroom selection etc., then you’ll want to be planning earlier than usual.

Less Inventory (and Newer Cruise Ships).  The cruise lines have accelerated their retirement of older vessels as a cost savings measure for 2020 (the Carnival Group of companies alone retired 13 vessels).  In addition, some of their new builds have been delayed as a result of the pandemic.  The result: there will be a reduction in number of berths available for 2021 and 2022, and those remaining products will be newer. 

From “High Touch” to “No Touch”.  Princess announced that during their furlough, they managed to upgrade all their ships to the Medallion technology.  The Princess Medallion is wearable technology that is connected to your smart phone.  Its most basic features replace the traditional keycard used onboard ships, but it does much more than that.  It expedites embarkation and disembarkation, allows you to order drinks or food from anywhere, acts as an onboard GPS, and reduces the need for physical contact, while enhancing the level of service.  Princess may be first, but they won’t be the last – similar onboard technology is the future of cruising.

Brand Repositioning.  Celebrity made the decision to include beverages, gratuities and wifi in the base cruise fare.  This is a vast improvement over their previous confused marketing efforts that included some perks, for some people, some of the time.  Having these inclusions also sets them apart from their main competitors, and aside from their larger ships, puts them in the category of the luxury lines in terms of inclusions.  SilverSea has made the move to include both return airfare and shore excursions in their fares.  This takes a luxury product and elevates it further.  PrincessPlus fares, where you can pay an extra $40 per day to have beverages, gratuities and wifi included, gives clients a simple choice between a more inclusive offering, or a best-priced fare.  These are just a few examples.  Expect to see other cruise lines make similar moves. 

Deals:  As noted above, we are more likely to see the cruise lines include more in the price rather than providing deals in the form of price reductions.  In the first half of 2021 you’ll see great incentives to get on board a ship.  Most cruise lines have relaxed cancellation policies but be aware:  most of those cancellation policies give you a future cruise credit but NOT a refund.  You won’t lose anything, but don’t expect a cash refund.  In the second half of 2021 and beyond, we do not expect to see price incentives to fill up the ships.  With fewer ships, and reduced inventory, we may see the opposite.

Small is Big.  There is no doubt that travelers are going to be more comfortable with the idea of smaller ships with fewer guests.  This makes river cruising a no-brainer (river ships carry 100-180 guests), and as such river cruises are significantly more booked out for 2021 and 2022 compared to previous years.  Small ocean ships (1000 passengers or less) are seeing similar trends.  The movement towards smaller ships was already in motion prior to the pandemic, so this trend will accelerate beyond 2021.

Bubble Travel:  This term would have required definition just one year ago!  We are seeing a trend towards more multi-generational and multiple-family travel groups.  Some yachts, and also land-cruise operators offer free spots with as few as 8 people.  Part of the move to “bubble travel” is logistic – it’s pretty safe if you control who’s in your group.  The other aspect is the pandemic has made the desire for people to travel with their children and/or grandchildren that much more urgent.  We’ve realized life is short, and we never know when opportunities will be taken away from us (even if only temporarily!).

Longer Duration Vacations.  This has been partially motivated by the necessity (for some of us) to quarantine when we get home, but the larger reason is because we missed travelling in 2020.  In either case, we are seeing diminished interest in one week trips, and much more interest in trips 14-21 days or longer.  The Europeans have been doing longer duration vacations for decades – maybe we’re finally catching up.

Covid Hangover:  I have avoided telling people what to expect on their next cruise, simply because this a target with ever-changing goal posts.  The requirements change weekly, and there is no ONE authority.  The CDC controls all cruises touching a US port (hence maximum 7-night cruises for 2021), but international jurisdictions have their own authorities and their own rules.  Also, the rules in April of 2021 will likely be vastly different than if you choose a cruise in November of 2021.  There are a few things you can likely expect until further notice:

• Masks:  You can expect air travel to require masks until further notice (it will be years).  Outside of the United States, masks are not really a political issue, so any foreign travel will likely require a component of mask-wearing in crowded areas for at least another year.
• Regular testing:  There will likely be daily testing on ships for all passengers and crew.  This is a non-invasive saliva test.  Viking recently put out a short video to explain how they will test all guests.  Here’s the link:  https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/my-trip/health-and-safety/health-and-safety-program.html
• No self-serve buffets:  Those ships that insist on keeping buffets will have staff serve you.
• Lower capacity:  The ships will start up with far fewer passenger (probably 50%), and gradually work their way back to full capacity.
• Sanctioned shore excursions:  In the short term, only shore excursions offered through the cruise lines will be available.  This will be highly dependent on the regulations in the port of call and will change frequently.  It is possible that on a cruise with 6 ports of call, there will six different sets of regulations for shore excursions.  As the virus subsides, this will likely be the first thing to return to normal. 
• No fears about repatriation:  The isolation of passengers aboard cruise ships last February and March is now universally recognized as a mistake.  Authorities were working with the best information they had at the time, and the benefit of hindsight has put alternative protocols in place for cruises going forward. 
• Vaccination requirements:  There is NO indication that proof of vaccination will be required to board a cruise ship.  However, there are some countries in the world that WILL require proof of vaccination that may affect your vacation plans. 

The bottom line is that the environment onboard cruise ships can be much more tightly controlled than at hotels or resorts.  One simple example is that on cruise ships, the crew does not go home to their families/communities every night like hotel workers do, so the risk of introducing unknown variables is greatly reduced. 

The cruise lines are being very careful in how they resume service.  While there were no cruises in North America this past year, there were both river ships and ocean ships sailing in both Europe and Asia.  There were occasional hiccups (that were propelled to the top of the TV news).  What the news media didn’t report were the thousands of guests that took cruise vacations in 2020 with some minor modifications, but who were otherwise pleased with the experience.

We have the benefit of the lessons learned by our European and Asian colleagues, as well as the vaccine, more reliable testing, better treatments, and increasing herd immunity. 

While I don’t believe there will be a lead-up to some definitive “all-clear” signal, I do think we will see a phased and gradual return to safe travelling. 

Bob and I have decided we will leave our mind open to possibilities as they present themselves in the first part of the year.  We have also booked our first post-pandemic cruise.  HINT:  It’s domestic, and rich in food, music, history, and culture… but more on that in the New Year.

All the very best for Christmas, (belated) Hanukkah, New Years, and whatever else you may be celebrating this month. 

2021 has much better things in store for us.

Have something to say about this?

Join the conversation on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PamperedCruiser/posts/2891109417838220

If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley