What coronavirus? Cruise ship bookings are up by 40 PER CENT as travelers prepare to set sail in 2021 when crisis will 'be over'
People are still booking trips on cruise lines despite the coronavirus outbreaks aboard several vessels in recent weeks that forced passengers into quarantine.
Even though hundreds of passengers contracted coronavirus while at sea in recent weeks, fans of cruise ships are apparently betting that it will be safe to board them beginning this fall.
According to travel agents and industry observers, bookings for cruise trips in 2021 are up considerably.
CruiseCompete.com, a web site that compares prices of cruise tickets, reported a 40 per cent increase in booking for 2021 compared with 2019, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Heidi M. Allison, the president of CruiseCompete.com, said that just 11 per cent of the bookings are by people who had their trips canceled in 2020.
Holland America Line ships, Zaandam and Rotterdam docked at Port Everglades in Florida on April 2 after at least nine people on board tested positive for COVID-19
Passengers wearing protective masks look out from their balcony on the Coral Princess cruise ship while docked at PortMiami on April 4
‘People are still booking cruises and are anxious to sail again when this is all over,’ she said.
UBS, the large Swiss bank, issued a report on March 31 analyzing the cruise industry.
It found that booking volume for 2021 was up 9 per cent in the last month compared to the same time period last year.
UBS said that some of those bookings included travellers who were given credits by companies after cancelling this year.
The bank said that the amount of bookings ‘still shows a surprising resilience in desire to book a cruise.’
UBS found that travellers were booking the most trips to Asia and Alaska, ‘so there is pent up demand for Asia travel next year.’
The bank’s study found that 76 per cent of those whose cruises were canceled as a result of the pandemic have opted to take a credit for a future trip instead of asking for a refund.
Some cruise lines are even offering passengers credits of up to 125 per cent of the fare of the canceled cruises as well as spending money while on board.
But passengers who accept credits would then forfeit on getting a refund.
The first outbreak of coronavirus was in Wuhan, China. From there, it spread to neighboring Asian countries and territories before making the deadliest impact in Europe and the United States.
In February, Japan forced the Diamond Princess cruise ship (seen above at Yokohama Port near Tokyo on February 26) into quarantine after hundreds contracted coronavirus. At least seven people who were on board the vessel died
The American Automobile Association, which also offers vacation packages to families, also noted an increase in the number of cruise bookings.
AAA Travel said that the bookings were made by people beyond those who were rescheduling canceled trips.
‘We are optimistic that once this crisis is behind us, travel will rebound quickly, which bodes well for 2021,’ said Paula Twidale, a senior vice president at AAA Travel.
CruiseCritic.com, an online review site, conducted a poll of more than 4,600 cruise passengers.
The poll found that 75 per cent of them plan on taking cruises at the same frequency as before or more often after the coronavirus pandemic passes.
The remaining 25 per cent said they plan to cruise less often or stay away from cruise ships indefinitely.
Cruise lines suspended sailings worldwide on March 13.
In recent weeks, several cruise ships reported outbreaks of coronavirus among passengers and crew.
Most recently, two vessels were allowed to dock in Florida after weeks spent stranded at sea.
Arrival of the ships capped a nearly three-week ordeal during which about 100 passengers and dozens of crew aboard the Zaandam reported influenza-like illness and four passengers died as numerous Latin American ports along its route refused the vessel’s entry.The Holland America Line cruise ship MS Zaandam and its twin, the MS Rotterdam, docked on April 2 at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where medical personnel immediately began off-loading 13 severely ill passengers and one crew member for transport to area hospitals.
Nearly two-thirds of the Zaandam’s original passengers - those who cleared a medical screening - were transferred to the Rotterdam before the ships were granted passage through the Panama Canal.
On April 4, the Coral Princess docked in Miami after two people on board died of COVID-19 and at least 12 others were infected.
The ship, which was carrying 1,000 passengers and 878 crew, was initially refused permission to dock in Fort Lauderdale days earlier.
At least one person was rushed off the boat, put in an ambulance and taken to a nearby hospital.
Seven people who were aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was forced into a two-week quarantine while moored in Tokyo Bay in February died of the coronavirus.
More than 700 people on board the vessel, which was carrying a total of 3,711 passengers and crew, contracted the disease in February.
At the time of its quarantine in early-to-mid February, it was the largest cluster of coronavirus cases outside of Wuhan, China.
Several countries, including the United States, organized special transports to Japan to evacuate and repatriate its citizens.
Last week, the US Coast Guard determined that crew members on cruise ships and vessels in Galveston present a public health risk of spreading the new coronavirus and urged operators to form medical plans to care for sick workers.
In letters sent Friday to Royal Caribbean Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line, Coast Guard Capt. K.D. Oditt said the vessels' crews pose 'an unacceptable risk' of spreading COVID-19.
'I have determined your vessel poses an unacceptable risk of medical emergency due to the inherent and high probability of transmission of COVID-19 aboard, which presents a risk to the safety of the personnel aboard your vessel, first responders and the port,' Oditt wrote.
Two Carnival Cruise Line and two Royal Caribbean Cruises ships have been at the Port of Galveston since March 13 as they wait for business to return, the Galveston County Daily News reported Tuesday.
No passengers are on the ships, but they carry thousands of workers.
The companies must prepare to treat sick workers on the ships and plan to bring the critically ill to medical facilities, according to the letter.
The Coast Guard also directed the companies to identify medical facilities that would take in people who get evacuated from ships.
Oditt urged the companies to arrange for private, commercial resources to take sick workers and care for them.
The companies confirmed to the newspaper that they received the orders, and they’re complying.
Not following the Coast Guard’s orders could lead to fines of up to $25,000 or Class D felony charges, the letter says.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday extended its ‘no sail order’ for all cruise ships, as it looks to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas (seen in the above undated file photo) is currently berthed in Galveston, Texas, where US authorities have not allowed its crew members to disembark for fear they can infect others with COVID-19
The new CDC order says that cruise ships have to cease operations for up to 100 days, or the expiration of the Secretary of Health and Human Services' declaration that COVID-19 constitutes a public health emergency, or if the CDC Director rescinds or modifies the order.
The order, dated April 9, comes as the cruise industry takes a hit from the novel coronavirus outbreak, with trips across the globe either canceled or suspended and refunds issued to customers.
Many cruise ship lines have already voluntarily suspended most of their operations.
The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), however, rang alarm bells after the CDC order.
‘We are ... concerned about the unintended consequences of the order in its singling out an industry that has been proactive in its escalation of health and sanitation protocols,’ the industry body said.
Four of the cruise lines belonging to the world’s largest cruise operator Carnival Corp said last month they would extend the suspension of all voyages by a month to May while rival Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd said it would return to service by May 12.
Currently, there are about 100 cruise ships remaining at sea off the East Coast, West Coast, and Gulf Coast, with nearly 80,000 crew onboard, the CDC noted, and said there are 20 cruise ships at port or anchorage in the United States with known or suspected COVID-19 infection among the crew who remain onboard.
The earlier 'no sail order' was issued on March 14.
The CLIA added the potential impact of the order includes a $51billion loss to the American economy and 343,000 lost jobs, if the novel coronavirus pandemic lasts a year.
What coronavirus? Cruise ship bookings are up by 40 PER CENT as travelers prepare to set sail in 2021 when crisis will 'be over'
![What coronavirus? Cruise ship bookings are up by 40 PER CENT as travelers prepare to set sail in 2021 when crisis will 'be over']()
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April 13, 2020
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