April was a month of nervousness due to the paralysis of the authorities, in May we finally received good news from the authorities and from mid-June, the industry gradually began to operate.
All entries related to the pandemic timeline are accessible here.
Article from CruisesNews magazine no. 57 – June 2021
First part CruisesNews nº52 Second part CruisesNews nº53 Third part CruisesNews nº54 Fourth part CruisesNews nº55 Fifth part CruisesNews nº56
The second quarter of the year began with great hopes, but also with great uncertainty. Vaccination was starting to pick up speed, and people looked forward to summer with optimism, but on the other hand, neither the CDC was relaxing its requirements, nor did the Spanish government seem to be in any hurry to authorize the return of cruise ships. It wouldn't be until mid-May that good news would begin to arrive.
In early April, Norwegian Cruise Line announced its summer plans, with the Norwegian Jade sailing to the Greek Islands starting in late July, the Norwegian Bliss cruising the Caribbean from Montego Bay, Jamaica, and the Norwegian Gem departing from La Romana, Dominican Republic, starting August 15. This initial schedule underwent several changes in the following months based on new developments, although the Norwegian Jade's Greek Islands cruise remained unchanged. The announcement also included the cancellation of the Norwegian Epic until September 1, meaning the summer season from Barcelona was lost. To embark on Norwegian Cruise Line cruises through October 31, 2021, the requirement is to be fully vaccinated at least 14 days prior to the embarkation date.
Virgin Voyages again delayed the entry into service of the Scarlet Lady, scheduled for July 4, to September 17, although just one day later it reversed itself to announce its deployment in the United Kingdom to offer scenic (non-stop) cruises of three and four nights from August 6.
Hopes of saving the summer were fading, while Royal Caribbean Group suspended all its cruises until June 30, except for those announced from ports outside the U.S.
With no progress made with the U.S. CDC, even luxury cruise lines like Crystal Cruises began advertising Caribbean cruises from alternative ports, such as the Crystal Symphony departing from Antigua in August. Fed up with the situation, the state of Florida sued the CDC, arguing that it lacked the authority to impose such sweeping restrictions that were damaging the region's economy.
In Europe, the United Kingdom and the Greek Islands continued to attract cruise lines: Marella Cruises was advertising summer cruises in the UK, while TUI Cruises and AIDA were doing the same with the Greek Islands.
In mid-April, the president of the Port of Barcelona announced in a televised interview that they expected to receive cruise ships starting in mid-June, following approval from health authorities. Finally, a glimmer of hope.
MSC Cruises, for its part, signed an agreement with Saudi Cruise Line to begin operating in the Red Sea from the 2021/22 season with the MSC Magnifica, based in Jeddah. For the Mediterranean, it announced that the MSC Seaside would operate a route exclusively in Italy until July 1st.
Costa Cruises decided to appeal to passengers left without Pullmantur and once again promote the "Spanish product" on board, announcing its summer season without official confirmation of being able to operate in Spain. The Costa Smeralda would cruise to Italy, France, and perhaps Spain starting in July, with the Costa Firenze taking over from July to September, cruising only in Italy, while the Costa Luminosa and Costa Deliziosa would operate in the Adriatic and Greek Islands. The season in Northern Europe was canceled due to the uncertainty surrounding the opening of several destinations. It was also announced that the Costa Firenze would operate international cruises with a stopover and embarkation in Spain, if possible, starting September 12th.
Norwegian Cruise Line was also betting on September, announcing that the Norwegian Epic would resume operations from Barcelona on September 5. The group's premium cruise line, Oceania Cruises, was scheduled to begin operations at the end of August, as was Azamara Cruises.
At the end of April, we were still hopeful, but also fearful of a summer without cruises in Spain, something that would be tremendously negative for thousands of Spanish travel agencies, the shipping companies themselves, and the auxiliary and port industry.
The American Mess:
In early May, the US CDC announced that cruises could resume by mid-July if its guidelines were followed. The health agency relaxed its regulations based on the advanced vaccination rate in the US, allowing, for example, cruise ships with 98% of crew and 95% of passengers vaccinated to be exempt from conducting trial cruises.
However, the industry encountered an unexpected enemy: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who had sued the CDC the previous month, signed an order prohibiting any company or organization from denying service based on whether a customer was vaccinated. Therefore, the major strategy of American cruise lines to sail with 100% vaccinated crew and passengers would not be possible in Florida ports.
On the other hand, cruise lines realized that most of their summer customers were families with children, and that, since children were not yet eligible for vaccinations, they would not be able to travel that summer. This situation meant that many families who had paid for their 2020 summer cruise had not been able to enjoy it that year, nor would they be able to do so in 2021, and would have to wait, with their money held by the cruise line, for a third summer in 2022. The tension was at its peak.
April was a month of waiting in which several shipping companies announced cruises in the Greek Islands and the United Kingdom.
So the cruise lines decided on a mixed strategy: on the one hand, they began scheduling cruises from other states that did not prohibit the requirement of the vaccine, such as Galveston, Texas, and on the other hand, they agreed to conduct trial cruises from Florida under the new CDC guidelines, which promised to respond to their requests in 5 days instead of the previous 60-day deadline.
But the monumental mess in the US didn't end there. The state of Florida's lawsuit against the CDC reached the end of its mediation period, and the judicial phase began in early June. The final ruling, issued on June 18, favored the state of Florida, although this didn't mean the immediate lifting of restrictions. The judge allowed the application of the measures outlined in the CDC's Conditional Sail Order (CSO) until July 18, but after that date, the health measures would become a protocol to be followed, similar to those in other industries like hospitality and aviation, but would not constitute an explicit ban on sailing. The judge also ordered the CDC to submit, before July 2, a new regulation fully supported by scientific evidence, adequately justifying the methodology used and publicly disclosing the names of the scientists who drafted said regulation.
May in Europe: Good News Begins to Arrive.
Returning to Europe, in early May, MSC Cruises began vaccinating its crew members, and the MSC Seaside resumed its cruises to Italy and Malta. The Costa Smeralda returned to sailing routes in Italy, awaiting the resumption of international cruises to France and Spain.
In addition to their struggle to resume operations in the US, North American cruise lines continued announcing cruises to other parts of the world. Holland America Line announced cruises to the Greek Islands in August, Celebrity Cruises a return to the Galapagos, and Crystal Cruises added cruises from St. Maarten.
Meanwhile, AIDA, the Costa group's shipping company for the German market, announced the extension of its operations with the AIDAperla in the Canary Islands until July.
On May 11, Catalonia approved its protocol for receiving domestic cruise ships. Since the country was not yet open to international cruises, several autonomous communities had developed protocols to accommodate domestic cruise ships, as was the case in Italy.
On May 13, the MSC Virtuosa, the latest unlaunched MSC Cruises ship, arrived in Southampton to begin the UK cruise season a week later, and it was announced that the MSC Seaview will operate in the Baltic Sea from Kiel starting on July 3.
The creation of Ambassador Cruise Line, successor to Cruise & Maritime Voyages, is announced, as it is led by the same management team.
In the second half of May, the Costa Luminosa begins its cruises through the Adriatic and Greece.
On May 20, Puertos del Estado (the Spanish Port Authority) announced at FITUR (the International Tourism Fair) that Spanish ports could receive international cruise ships in June, but in President Pedro Sánchez's speech announcing Spain's reopening to international tourism from June 7, no mention was made of cruise ships. It wasn't until May 29 that it was officially confirmed that international cruise ships could also return to Spain starting June 7.
Some peninsular ports, such as Cartagena, Valencia or Malaga, are starting to confirm summer calls.
June, the staggered restart begins with vaccination in full swing.
At the beginning of June, MSC Cruises confirmed that the MSC Grandiosa would operate cruises embarking in Barcelona from June 26, while Royal Caribbean announced that the Harmony of the Seas would also operate from the Catalan city from mid-August.
Also in early June, many cruise lines began announcing summer cruises from the US, such as Norwegian Cruise Line and MSC Cruises, confident that they would successfully complete the trial cruises. Once sailing from the US was permitted, Norwegian Cruise Line canceled its Caribbean cruises departing from La Romana (Dominican Republic) and Montego Bay (Jamaica), opting instead to operate from Miami and other North American ports.
Back in the middle of the month, Costa Cruises reported that the Costa Smeralda would operate cruises embarking in Barcelona from July 5th.
Little by little the first stops on the peninsula began to arrive, the first being that of the Mein Schiff 2 to Malaga on June 16, a ship that would also pass through Cadiz on June 21 and through Valencia on June 27.
The first cruise ships arrived on the peninsula in mid-June.
Celebrity Cruises began operating its cruises in the Greek Islands with its new Celebrity Apex and Silversea Cruises did the same with its new Silver Moon, in addition to also putting its cruises in the Galapagos Islands into operation with the new Silver Origin.
Denmark announced the opening of its borders to tourism and that, starting June 26, vaccinated cruise passengers could disembark in the country without restrictions.
In Spain, at the end of June, vaccination is progressing rapidly in the 40-49 age group, while people between 30 and 39 years old are beginning to receive their first vaccination appointments.
Finally, on June 26, Barcelona welcomed the MSC Grandiosa, where Spaniards were able to embark for a cruise through the Mediterranean.
Undoubtedly, the next quarter, July, August, and September, will be very busy in ports and shipping companies, although 2021 will still be a year of transition and limited operations
