Tag Archives: China

Royal Caribbean brands extend cruise suspensions

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Three Royal Caribbean Group brands have confirmed an extension to their suspension of cruises until September 15.

The company’s Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara lines have pushed back their restart to the proposed date announced by Cruise Lines International Association last week.

The announcement excludes sailings from China, which are suspended to the end of July, and sailings to Bermuda, which are suspended through to October 31.

It also does not include the company’s luxury line Silversea, which announced its latest return plans last month.

A statement by the RCL Group said: “Given ongoing global public health circumstances, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has decided to extend the suspension of most sailings through September 15, 2020, excluding sailings from China, suspended through the end of July, and sailings to Bermuda, suspended through October 31, 2020.

“We are working with our guests and travel partners to address this disruption to their holidays and are genuinely sorry for their inconvenience.”

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 In alignment with the Cruise Lines International Association’s (CLIA) announcement, we’ve extended the suspension of all global sailings departing on-or-before 9/15/20. We know how important vacation is, and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience https://bit.ly/3fRH1TK 

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China could be first for cruise return

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Shanghai at night photo credit Dave Jones

China could be one of the first destinations that Carnival Corporation resumes sailings to, since it has already recommenced social gathering, according to chief executive Arnold Donald.

The boss of the nine-brand cruising giant said: “The most important thing affecting our decision-making is that as long as there’s no social gathering, we are not able to cruise. Cruise, by definition, is a social gathering. When society is ready for social gathering, then we can talk about cruising.

“We are hoping it will be sooner rather than later but we won’t be driven by what we want to do, but by what society is prepared to do.”

And Donald said: “China has resumed some social gathering and it’s possible that China could be somewhere that cruise may resume first. Logically, because they are moving to a social gathering already and other areas of Asia are handling it [Covid-19] well, it could be a possibility that it may be the first place, but we don’t know yet.”

He pointed out that a lot would depend on whether China and other countries would accept cruise passengers.

“There is a lot of evaluation going on, but the world is not yet aligned around the epidemiology of this virus. There are still debates on-going about testing etc. The world’s scientific and medical community are pulling this all together and once there’s a better understanding of this virus, then we can engineer specific steps and actions.”

Donald predicted a staggering return to worldwide cruising.

“I doubt all destinations will open simultaneously. Different countries will have different protocols and compliance. So there will be some changes to our business model short-term and certainly, for the first three months, there will be changes to itineraries to some degree.

“But the long-term business model is secure. As the world overcomes this pandemic and it goes into the background or is not around at all, then we’ll return to normal. Over time, we’re going to have a great cruise industry again.

“Once this particular storm has passed, we’ll be able to continue to do what we love, and that’s to take guest cruising all over the world.”

Costa Mediterranea Sails to Get Crew Home; Sets Course for China

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Costa Mediterranea (Photo: JD Schwartz / tributestudios.com)

Costa Crociere is preparing to use the Costa Mediterranea to get crew from the Philippines and Indonesia home, according to a document circulated on board the vessel.

According to Costa’s plan, the 2003-built ship will first sail to La Spezia on April 10.

European crew will be disembarked, as will crew not required for operational reasons that can also get home.

All other crew members, with the exception of the Filipino and Indonesian crew aboard, will be then moved to the Costa Pacifica.

“For these crew members we are restlessly working with Governments and air companies in order to guarantee a safe journey back to home,” the company’s letter said.

Meanwhile, Filipino and Indonesian crew aboard the Pacifica, except for those needed for minimum safety manning, will be transferred to the Costa Mediterranea.

The Mediterranea will then sail to Brindisi and meet the Costa Fortuna, taking on the Filipino and Indonesian crew from the latter ship.

Finally, the Mediterranea will set her course for Shanghai with projected port stops in Indonesia and the Philippines to disembark crew.

Costa said it is working closely with local government and manning agents to get crew home safely.

It is unknown what the company’s plans are for the ship in China, but the Mediterranea, along with the Atlantica, has recently been transferred to Carnival Corporation’s joint venture with China State Shipbuilding.

The Mediterranea has previously been scheduled to leave the fleet in 2021.