Posted on 03/21/2021 11:11:29 AM PDT by Capt. Tom
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.
Also Read: MSC Cruises to Begin a Range of UK Sailings From May
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.
Is It A Permanent Thing?
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
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
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!
From the article “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.”
Tom here-The last sentence seems to imply the CDC is just indifferent, whereas I think the CDC is deliberately frustrating Cruising for Americans, for political purposes. -Tom
Not to spout a conspiracy theory, but Florida has been open to business for a long time now, Ron DeSantis is a star to many Republicans, many think he will be running for POTUS one day.....
What better way to hurt DeSantis than cripple the Cruise Industry in Florida which is HUGE...
If it’s safe to start a cruise in the Caribbean then it’s say to start one in Florida.....
I’m sure this is mostly just cruise lines moving to stay afloat pardon the pun. But it also may be cheaper overall to fly passengers to the Bahamas (many of whom are already flying to a port city anyway) than to pay the $80,000 to dock at US Ports.
I’m pretty sure the cruise industry wants to keelhaul Fauxi!
“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.”
Author is evidently uniformed.
Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Carnival (The three umbrella companies for 85-90% of cruise companies) Collaborated with the CDC months ago to create ‘The Framework for a Return to Cruising.” The CDC refused to let them implement it.
And what state did that New Yorker who was elected President move too?-Tom
Exactly....DeSantis is up for re-election as Governor in 2022, look for the Democrats to use whatever means necessary to dirty him up....the 2022 Governor’s race in Florida will be incredibly nasty, if for no other reason than to put doubt in people’s mind is DeSantis decides to run for POTUS, assuming they can’t beat him for the Governor’s job....
“it seems that the CDC has little motivation for a rapid start-up of cruising.”
The CDC is a liberal Federal agency, and on board with the Green New Deal. The goal of the Greenies is to end or severely cut back on fossil fuels. Airlines and cruising have been targets for decades.
Capt. Tom wrote: “Tired of waiting for our CDC to come forward with protocols for cruising from the USA, and their debt rising on a daily basis, some Cruise Lines have made a move to new homeports out side this country.-Tom”
Just another leaf in the wind showing how the CDC and their mandates are becoming more and more irrelevant as more people/business ignore them. Case in point: yesterday wife returned a swimsuit to an anchor store in a large mall. She forgot to put on her mask. She crossed the parking lot, entered the store, made her return, pickout a replacement, paid for it, left the store. All without a mask. No one said a word to her. Just like things used to be. Before anyone accuses her of ‘not caring’, she’s been vaccinated.
Between Corvid and the repeated mass sicknesses that occur on cruise ships, we have decided to stay away from those floating petri dishes. We had fun while they were still safe - great memories.
Before anyone accuses her of ‘not caring’, she’s been vaccinated.
I care, and i am proud of her. If she has been immunized ( i refuse to call it vaccinated if Pfizer or Moderna) , I don’t think she should now wear a mask, even if she ever did need to wear one.
If someone complains, she should hand them a mask sealed in a ziplock, and say , “ if you’re not immunized, i worry about you not being protected wearing a single mask, so have another to put on over top.”
And i would hope that she would hesitate to just tell them STFU.
“As Cruise Hive reported yesterday already, Miami-Dade Mayor is really trying to push and get the industry opened back up.”
All while they are arresting Spring-breakers this week using SWAT teams? Care to explain the disconnect Mayor?
With the rapid increase in the cost of fuel ,to about a dollar a gallon increase I would expect shortly it will cost the moderate sized Cruise ships about $50,000/day while moving. That is about $20 /passenger/day.
Perhaps fuel surcharges are coming back. (or an increase in cruise prices to cover it.)-Tom
My guess is that they are simply suffering from analysis paralysis.
The CDC is afraid to make a decision that could result in another Diamond Princess incident. They might be more afraid of having to house and treat foreign passengers on American soil, unless they open up cruising from American ports to American citizens only.
They are more afraid of the press over such a case, rather than laying the expectation that IF it happens they are ready to handle it.
Either that, or they believe Obama's warning to never underestimate Biden's ability to eff things up.
-PJ
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.
I dont blame them....
Its probably the best business move for them right now...
President Trump was meeting with the cruise lines 6 months ago to restart the cruises but he got the Wu Hu Flu and then Emperor Joe stole the election right after that...
President Trump was trying to save that part of the economy....
Ya notice it was also right after the President and the cruise lines hade agreed to restart the cruises that the CDC came out with that unconstitutional CSO on Oct 30...an order they had been working on for months...
Ya really think the CDC is interested in saving the cruise industry ???
The CDC has driven the cruise lines away from our shores...RICO...
Well if brave Americans hadnt risked the Indians the West would not be populated to this day...
Oh dear no California...that state would still be Spanish/Mexican...and NM, AZ, and TX...
America would still be only 13 colonies...
When does Port Everglades open again for cruises?
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