Cruising is Making a Comeback

Wow. This past week has been a week. There have been so many positive bits of news to come out – some cruise start dates that feel like they’re going to happen, a date when I can sign up to get my vaccine, and I am actually sitting writing this outside on my back deck to get a bit of sunshine. This also happened to be the week that my husband went back to work on a very empty cruise ship. But, alas, let’s focus on the win’s and what feels like hope and cruising finally making a comeback.

Since about last April-ish when 30 day pauses turned into 60 and turned into a year I have kind of just seen any restart date that a cruise line sets as a provisional holding place. A distant hope. Like winning the lottery. It’d be nice if it happened but it’s best not to plan on it.

In fact, the picture I used for the background of my title image is the sunset I saw from Fremantle, Australia on March 23rd – exactly a year ago today – when the last passengers left the ship I was on. One year is how long it has taken to bring hope back into this industry.

This week has been different though. The hope has come because the announcements made aren’t about a bunch of cancelled voyages – they are for cruises several months away and largely targeted towards guests from countries that have had a strong vaccine roll out. Some of the announced voyages require vaccinations, others require negative COVID tests, and quite a few are in fact cruises to nowhere. A cruise to nowhere might not sound fantastic to some – but you know what it does sound like? Realistic.

The Demand is There

When P&O opened up their voyages to be booked their website went down due to the massive volume of interest int these cruises – and yes, these are cruises to nowhere. Their PR and social media teams also had massively challenging days as there were a lot of people really upset that only vaccinated British Citizens could go on the P&O cruises – leaving out anyone that is either too young or medically ineligible for the vaccine, plus people like yours truly that aren’t in fact, British.

The fact that there is that much demand for cruising is fantastic. It shows other cruise lines that people do want to cruise and it gives crew members hope that someday they will have a job again!

So Many UK Cruise Announcements

In particular cruises for guests from the United Kingdom are on-fire right now. It was a wave of cruise line after cruise line offering coastal voyages. And, it seems like there will be an option for nearly everyone, out of a variety of homeports, and to various scenic cruising locations.

A few other cruise lines have made a quick end-of week announcement that they will start cruises out of the Caribbean ports of St. Maarten and Nassau.

As someone that was on one very long cruise to nowhere and someone that has flown to St. Maarten for a cruise I can attest that these options would not be deal breakers for me if I had the vaccine and the price was right.

So, without further adieu – what was all that exciting news? Take a look for a quick run-down of cruises reopening.

Note: this post may include affiliate links. If you click on these links and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no expense to you.

Cruises US Guests Can Take Part In:

Celebrity

• Roundtrip from St. Maarten
• Adults must be vaccinated, 18 & under must have a negative PCR test within 72 hours of sailing
  • no nationality requirement
• Starting June 5
• Celebrity Millennium

• Celebrity Apex inaugural season
• Roundtrip from Piraeus, Greece
• Adults must be vaccinated, 18 & under must have a negative PCR test within 72 hours of sailingno nationality requirement

Crystal Cruises

• Roundtrip from Nassau, Bahamas
• All guests have to be vaccinated – no one unvaccinated allowed onboard
  • no nationality requirement
• Starting July 3
• Crystal Serenity

Royal Caribbean

• Sailing on the Adventure of the Seas
  • Roundtrip from Nassau, Bahamas
    • Stops in Cozumel and Grand Bahama Island
  • Adults must be vaccinated, 18 & under must have a negative PCR test within 72 hours of sailing
    • no nationality requirement
  • Starting in June

• Sailing on the Vision of the Seas
  • Roundtrip from Bermuda
    • Coco Cay (private island), and overnight in Bermuda
  • Adults must be vaccinated, 18 & under must have a negative PCR test within 72 hours of sailing
    • no nationality requirement
  • Starting in June

Seabourn

• Sailing onboard Seabourn Ovation
  • Roundtrip Piraeus, Greece (port city of Athens, about an hour away)
  • Fully vaccinated guests only
    • no nationality requirement
  • Intensive Greek Isles
  • Starting July 3rd

Cruises for British Passengers:

Cunard Cruises

• More information will be announced in the coming weeks.
• onboard Queen Elizabeth
• cruises go on sale March 31st

Celebrity Cruises

• onboard Celebrity Silhouette
• roundtrip cruises from Southampton
• starting July 3rd, cruises on sale now!

Disney Cruise Line

• Onboard Disney Magic
• Disney announces a series of 2-, 3-, and 4- night cruises
• Departures from London Tilbury, Newcastle, Liverpool, and Southampton
• Health procedures include COVID-19 testing, health screenings, face coverings, reduced Guest capacity and physical distancing.
• Children are allowed!

Fred Olsen Cruises

• Decisions about whether or not guests will need vaccinations to sail onboard Fred Olsen Cruises this summer will be announced after the scheduled April 12th update from the UK government.
• Note: The Borealis and Bolette are the two ships that Fred Olsen purchased from Holland America Line in the summer of 2020. The Borealis was the m/s Rotterdam and the Bolette was the m/s Amsterdam.

• Rosyth, Scotland
  • Onboard Balmoral
  • Sailings starting in July
• Liverpool, England
  • Onboard Borealis
  • Maiden voyage July 5th
• Dover, England
  • Onboard Bolette
  • Maiden voyage August 16th

Marella Cruises

• Marella Cruises by TUI announced that it plans to add UK summer cruises with details to come in the next few weeks.

MSC Cruises

• Roundtrip from Southampton
• Beginning May 20th
• British guests only
• 50% off thank you to healthcare workers
• “Protected” shore excursions on week long cruises
• Vaccinated and unvaccinated guests

P&O Cruises

• Roundtrip from Southampton, England
• On Iona and Britannia
• All guests have to be vaccinated
• Only open to UK citizens
• Travel insurance required

Princess Cruises

• Roundtrip from Southampton
• Only British Guests
• Fully vaccinated guests only
• Onboard Sky Princess and Regal Princess

Royal Caribbean

• Roundtrip from Southampton
• Onboard Anthem of the Seas
• Beginning July 2021
• Going on sale April 7th

Viking

• Domestic UK sailings for UK guests only
• Beginning May 2021
• Onboard Viking Venus
• Sold out to Viking past guest passengers prior to public sale

Virgin Voyages

• UK “Summer Soiree” series
• Beginning in August
• Onboard Scarlet Lady
• Roundtrip from Portsmouth, England
• Only UK residents, 18+ and fully vaccinated

Which Cruise Line Will Be Next?

The saying is that hope springs eternal. It was a beautiful sunny day out today and I am hoping that it is right. In the coming weeks I am hopeful to continue to get good news and that more cruise lines will announce their plans – not just for UK cruise, but for cruises out of other global ports – even if it is just cruises for nowhere.