I love all things Cruise and add that to my hobby Photography I’m in dreamland, I’m an exTravel agency owner with the inside contacts, so I will try to keep you updated in all things travel related with a side serving of images and other maritime stories.
TUI Cruises has told guests on select sailings they cannot board if they have booked a pre-cruise stay or an overnight before the start of their trip, according to Schiffe und Kreuzfahrten, a leading German blog covering cruising.
Coming on the heels of the news the company will require booster shots, the German brand is essentially telling guests to fly straight to the ship with no pre-cruise activity.
The company also said it will only take bookings with arrival and departure packages (i.e. flights) it books for guests along with the cruise, allowing it to control the full journey. Post-cruise stays are still okay.
Exceptions are being granted for guests that have already booked flights or other transportation, which will be checked by the cruise line at embarkation.
Ships/Itineraries Impacted:
Mein Schiff 2 from Jan. 28 to April 11
Mein Schiff 3 from Jan. 20 to April 24
Mein Schiff 4 from Jan. 23 to April 24
Mein Schiff 5 from March 6 to May 22
Mein Schiff 6 from Jan. 24 to Feb. 28
The Mein Schiff 1 is exempt as it continues to sail from German homeports, which are easily accessible for the company’s German-speaking passengers.
Set to debut in November, the vessel will spend its maiden season sailing itineraries in the Mediterranean.
It will then embark on the company’s 2023-2024 Viking World Cruise, a journey from Fort Lauderdale to London that spans 138 days, 28 countries and 57 ports, with overnight stays in 11 cities.
Torstein Hagen, chairman of Viking, said: “It is always a special day when a new ship meets water for the first time, and we look forward to welcoming guests onboard the Viking Neptune this fall.
“Together with Fincantieri, we have built the world’s most elegant vessels, which truly allow our guests to explore the world in comfort.”
The traditional float out ceremony took place at Fincantieri’s Ancona shipyard on Thursday (13 January).
Following a two-day process that will set Viking Neptune afloat, it will then be moved to a nearby outfitting dock for final construction and interior build-out.
Frank Del Rio, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, spoke on Thursday morning along with Dr Scott Gottlieb, former Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Chairman of the Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings SailSAFE Global Health and Wellness Council.
Del Rio said the company, which operates the Norwegian, Regent and Oceania brands, had spared no expense to operate safely and he still plans to have the company’s full fleet operating by late spring.
“We have made every effort (and) spared no expense to have the most stringent protocols in the hospitality and leisure space,” he said, on a webinar for media and travel partners. “We will simply not take risks with the well-being of our crew and our guests for the sake of profit.”
Commenting on close-in voyage cancellations, Del Rio said that the virus was spreading quickly, but also disappearing quickly.
“With the rapid spread of Omicron across the globe our industry has gotten a lot of press. Most of it negative press,” he continued. “And all of it has been biased to some degree … taking advantage of the fact that our industry offers robust testing, that we track cases and that we diligently report them to the CDC and other public health administrations.”
Del Rio said the different rules for the cruise industry for public safety had hurt the business.
“The media and even some politicians turn to this hard data that we provide and they take this news and sensationalize it for a cheap headline. We are the only industry they can pick on because of our honesty,” he continued, adding that the industry had survived two years of “this monster” and told travel advisors it was not time to quit.
Dr Gottlieb stressed that he thought the Omicron wave was peaking in parts of the U.S. and some areas of the country would see the same in a few weeks before cases start going down. That, combined with new treatments, should paint a positive picture of the future.
Onboard, Dr Gottlieb said the cruise industry had the ability to tightly control the environment and noted that Norwegian had invested heavily in onboard therapeutics and testing.
“The cruising environment lends itself to being able to introduce those measures.”
Del Rio admitted that the Omicron timing had a dampening effect on wave season.
Dr Gottlieb mentioned that he felt confident there would be a low prevalence of COVID this summer, people would be back to travelling and consumer confidence would be up.
In light of the past two years, Del Rio said: “Continue to expect the unexpected and adapt.”
