The Cruise Industry Is Looking Elsewhere

Some exciting headlines yesterday as Royal Caribbean announced new homeports in June for two of its cruise lines. In two separate announcements, Celebrity Cruises will start sailing from the Dutch Caribbean island of St. Maarten, while Royal Caribbean will be sailing from the Bahamas.

The news came after the announcement from Crystal cruises which will also begin operations from the Bahamas.

It seems then that the cruise lines believe that we can indeed cruise safely and securely. The move to announce homeports away from the United States will be seen as a power play as the cruise industry has traditionally been a massive contributor to the U.S. economy, and Florida in particular.

As Cruise Hive reported yesterday already, Miami-Dade Mayor is really trying to push and get the industry opened back up.

Why Is This Happening? The cruise industry has been taking hit after hit over the last 12 months. The cruise lines first adopted a voluntary stop to cruising last year in a sign of good-will.

However, despite the massive contributions the cruise industry has always made to the United States economy, it seems that the CDC has little motivation for a rapid start-up of cruising.

This is in stark contrast to many other nations which have been actively pursuing a restart of cruising within their borders, acknowledging the financial implications of not doing so.

The U.K., Italy, Spain, Israel, Singapore, The Bahamas, and St. Maarten have all eagerly accepted the ships within their borders. With heavy health restrictions, we should add. Ships are required to have at least PCR testing done, and in some cases are requiring guests to be fully vaccinated.

But, the countries are accepting the ships to sail and acknowledge that the results from the last few months onboard ships from Royal Caribbean, Dream Cruises, MSC, Costa, TUI, etc., are a testament to the safety of cruising right now. Something the CDC seems to be dismissing.

The move away from U.S. homeports will not be a permanent thing. We can expect to see the ships moving back to the States as soon as the opportunities are there. The infrastructure that is in place in the States cannot be replicated anywhere else, at least not in just a few months.

However, it seems that the CDC has missed a chance to set the right tone for cruising. As it stands now, they are behind the facts. The CDC could and should have taken an active and leading role in the return of cruising post-COVID.

This would have made sure the cruise lines were sailing under US-mandated policies. While now, the cruise lines all have their own policies. The CDC has therefore missed a great opportunity.

So Where Can We Cruise? Several cruise lines have announced different homeports in the Caribbean and elsewhere, including Europe, the U.K., and Singapore. In the last days, things are looking good for those in the U.S. who want to go on a cruise this summer:

Celebrity Cruises is to restart operations with the Celebrity Millennium cruise ship. The vessel will homeport in the popular eastern Caribbean port of St. Maarten. There will be two different Caribbean itineraries Celebrity Millennium will offer.

One week-long itinerary will include calls at Aruba, Curacao, and Barbados. The other itinerary will include visits to Tortola, St. Lucia, and also Barbados. Look here for more information on Celebrity Cruises from St. Maarten.

Royal Caribbean Royal Caribbean is back with cruises in the Caribbean starting from June! Adventure of the Seas will be based out of Nassau in the Bahamas, and she will offer 7-night cruises.

Starting from June 5, the Royal Caribbean cruise ship will have two back-to-back days at the cruise line’s private island of Perfect Day at CocoCay, a chance to explore Grand Bahama Island, and a visit to Cozumel, Mexico. More info here!

Crystal Cruises’ “Bahamas Escapes” will be offered on the Crystal Serenity luxury cruise ship from July through October.

The seven-night cruises will have two embarkation ports of Nassau and Bimini, offering further choice for those in the U.S. looking at flying over. The line even offers special fly packages too. More information can be found here.

We could see more cruise lines making the same moves to operate from different Caribbean ports. MSC and Royal Caribbean have been linked to Cozumel in recent weeks, while Barbados has always been a popular homeport for many smaller cruise lines. The wait could well be over if this trend continues!

Royal Caribbean - Libera company

Norwegian - Bermuda company

Carnival - Panama company

21 posted on 03/21/2021 4:53:06 PM PDT by Reeses (A journey of a thousand miles begins with a government pat down.)

Someone posted on an earlier cruise thread that this is also a way to punish American cruisers, who are primarily whities.

Maybe they see this a twofer....a hit at DeSantis and the typical cruiser.

🤷‍♀️

I have no idea as we are NOT cruise folks.

22 posted on 03/21/2021 4:58:05 PM PDT by Jane Long (America, Bless God....blessed be the Nation 🙏🏻🇺🇸)

Disagree that cruising is a “whitey” thing.

I have been on many cruises and can assure you that cruising attracts people from all races and ethnicities. Of course the demo skews older, but it depends on the cruise line. Some lines are more family oriented.

The point is that cruising attracts people from all walks of life.

I would think the union dockworkers would be all over their bosses to get the ports reopened to cruising.

And with the Ft. Lauderdale and Miami airports busy with cruise travelers, the union airport workers would be clamoring for the business, too.

-PJ

24 posted on 03/21/2021 5:03:45 PM PDT by Political Junkie Too (Freedom of the press is the People's right to publish, not CNN's right to the 1st question.)

25 posted on 03/21/2021 5:05:48 PM PDT by Jane Long (America, Bless God....blessed be the Nation 🙏🏻🇺🇸)

When does Port Everglades open again for cruises?

Cruise ships aren't going anywhere in the USA with paying passengers for 3 month after the CDC gives the go ahead for them to do test cruises.

So just add 3 months onto the date the CDC gives them the test go ahead.
The CDC hasn't done that thru this date. -Tom

26 posted on 03/21/2021 5:41:20 PM PDT by Capt. Tom (.It's COVID 2021 - The Events, not us, are still in charge -Tom)

The assumption is that the CDC gives a damn about economics at any level. Indeed, the Dems in general don’t give a damn. Otherwise, one is hard-pressed to explain how killing key projects (e.g., Keystone Pipeline and 11,000 jobs and energy independence) and raising taxes makes any sense at all. I’m tired of the hypocrisy of Gates, Buffet, and some Hollywood types saying “taxes are too low”. Really? Then open up your billion dollar checkbook and write a check to the IRS. The rest of us are struggling out here.

“At one time Boston was a major Port for cruises. But Charlie Parker made sure he killed MassPort along with 1000’s of Jobs. Plus, Mr. Frosty Ed Markey voted against expanding MassPort and the Mass Sheep still re-elected him.”

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24610-scenic-group-moving-to-florida-from-boston.html

28 posted on 03/22/2021 1:38:22 PM PDT by Capt. Tom (.It's COVID 2021 - The Events, not us, are still in charge -Tom)

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