One Year Without Cruise Passengers? It Just Happened

Posted on 26 January, 2021 by Spacejunkie2

On Jan. 25, 2020, the cruise industry saw the start of the events that left the industry with damages it’s still recovering from. Cruise lines started cancelling their sailings due to the outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan and around China.

Citing urgent guidelines from the Chinese government to combat the spread of the coronavirus, Costa Crociere, MSC, Royal Caribbean and Genting Cruise Lines all suspended their cruise operations in mainland China on Jan. 25, 2020.

Ships marking a year without passengers:

Astro Ocean’s Piano Land.
MSC’s Splendida.
Genting’s SuperStar Gemini.
Costa’s Serena, Atlantica and Venezia, plus the neoRomantica which has since been sold to Celestyal.
Royal Caribbean’s Spectrum of the Seas.

February continued as cruise lines first banned or put in restrictions for passengers from specific countries.

Then countries in Asia started to shut down to tourism and cruise lines issued non-stop itinerary changes for immediate and future sailings, and slowly relaxed booking and refund policies.

Even more, cruises were cancelled in Asia on Feb. 15, 2020, following the outbreak onboard the Diamond Princess in Japan,

Princess Cruises later reacted to the growing spread of the coronavirus in Asia and worldwide by pausing all of its ship operations for 60 days from March 12, 2020. On the same day, Celestyal Cruises also announced it was suspending operations.

AmaWaterways and Avalon Waterways (as well as its sister brands Globus, Cosmos and Monograms) said they were taking a voluntary pause in operations, too.

On March 13, 2020, the Canadian government announced it would be deterring the start of its cruise season (normally in April) to at least July. The ban was then extended twice, the last time until February 2021, which will make Canada cruise less for nearly a whole year.

Also on March 13, 2020, Windstar Cruises stated it would be suspending its sailings through April 30, 2020.

On March 14, 2020, CDC issued a No Sail Order and Suspension of Further Embarkation for cruise ships in waters subject to U.S. jurisdiction; the No Sail Order was extended on April 9, 2020, July 16, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2020, as cruise lines continued announcing more and more cancelled cruises affected by the order.

July 2020 saw the start of the long-awaited cruise resumptions in Europe with TUI Cruises starting on July 24, MSC on Aug. 16 onboard the Grandiosa and on Oct. 20 onboard the Magnifica, Costa Crociere on Sept. 6, and AIDA Cruises on Oct. 17. Mystic Cruises restarted sailing in early September under its Nicko brand. And in Asia, Dream Cruises’ World Dream has been operating short cruises to nowhere since Nov. 6.

Sadly, the pandemic claimed the lives of the following brands: Pullmantur Cruceros, Cruise & Maritime Voyages, FTI, Blount Small Ship Adventures, and Jalesh Cruises, while a record-high 13 ships were reduced to scrapping in 2020.

However, new brands – such as Swan Hellenic and Tradewind Voyages – were born in 2020, too.

And while safe returns demonstrated by TUI, MSC and other cruise lines give hope already, cruise lovers around the world are still patiently waiting for other brands to join. And, with the No Sail Order being replaced with the Conditional Framework in late 2020, it looks like these times may be just around the corner.

NCL CANCELS ALL REMAINING CRUISES UNTIL END OF MARCH

Posted on 4 January, 2021 by Spacejunkie2

Norwegian Bliss
Norwegian Cruise Line has extended its suspension of operations and canceled all remaining voyages until 31 March.

The line had previously announced the halting of cruises on all ships except Norwegian Encore, Norwegian Escape, and Norwegian Joy but has now extended that to include its entire fleet.

NCL said it would continue to “closely review” the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s conditional sailing framework issued on 30 October and “continue to partner with global and domestic authorities, including the CDC, to chart a path forward”.

“We are committed to taking all appropriate steps and actions to combat the spread of Covid-19 and are working closely and in partnership with local, state, federal, and global agencies,” the line said in a statement on its website.

“Whilst this may result in additional future changes, please know our teams are working around the clock to do what is right by our guests and travel partners. We continue to monitor this situation closely and will provide additional updates as they are available.”

Cruise Ships to Dock at Port of Los Angeles Without Passengers

Posted on 30 December, 2020 by Spacejunkie2

The Port of Los Angeles is expecting cruise ships but without passengers, in the coming weeks, according to a port press release.

The visits for fuel, supplies, and services are part of the cruise lines’ operations to reestablish the ships in U.S. waters as a prerequisite to meet federal regulations in order to resume cruising in the future.

The port said it continues to closely monitor the situation and is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), California Department of Public Health, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and other emergency and public health agencies.

Princess Cruises, Holland America, and Norwegian Cruise Line cruise ships are scheduled to send ships arriving in Los Angeles this week and through the new year, periodically docking at the Los Angeles Cruise Terminal for fuel, food, supplies, and/or services. No vessels will be carrying passengers.

The Port of Los Angeles is expecting more than two dozen cruise ship calls through early February.

In addition to increased precautions to minimize community spread of and exposure to COVID-19, cruise ship safety implementations while at berth include Passenger Ship Safety Certificate (PSSC) training and Marine Evacuation System (MES) replacement.