The cruise line industry is one of the industries worst-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to cripple businesses across the world. Over the last few weeks, there has been a steady increase in the number of cruise cancellations for the 2021 season and beyond.
One of the most notable cancellations is that of Carnival Cruise Line, who was forced to cancel several of its remaining cruises, including some that were scheduled to take in place in 2022, like the Carnival Splendor, Carnival Sunrise, and the Carnival Sensation, which was supposed to take place on March 7, 2022.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has also suspended all Voyages with embarkation dates from January 1, through February 28, and select voyages in March 2021.
The world-famous Prince Cruises has also been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the company having to cancel not only all of its cruises through March 31, but it has also suspended all cruises longer than seven days sailing in and out of United States ports through November 1, 2021.
MSC Cruises, who had already started sailing in the Mediterranean after relaunching its fleet of ships in the summer, has been forced to cancel its cruises, once again, during the 2020 holiday season. This comes after new safety measures were implemented by the Italian government for the period that overlaps with Christmas and New Year’s Eve, according to reports from USA Today.
‘The new measures include extensive restrictions on people’s mobility across the entire country, which would severely impact the ability of future guests — Italian residents as well as international travellers — to reach any of the ships’ embarkation ports in Italy,’ MSC Cruises said in a release provided by spokesperson Paige Rosenthal.
Not all cruise lines have been forced to cancel their trips though. Royal Caribbean International completed its first journey at the beginning of December, with its Quantum of the Seas cruise ship departing from Singapore on Tuesday, December 1, for a ‘two-night trip to nowhere’ according to Travel and Leisure. The Quantum of the Seas was filled to a 30% capacity and had around 1,100 guests onboard. All passengers were required to partake in a rigorous system of PCR testing and contact tracing to ensure their safety.
Prior to their journey, passengers were also required to provide a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of their scheduled departure. They were also asked to wear a special wristband called a ‘Tracelet’, which is designed to monitor if people are adhering to social distancing policies along with helping the contact tracing process.
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