The year began with the Omicron variant running rampant and record infections throughout the Western world, even leading to travel restrictions. But as quickly as the wave rose, it receded in many countries, and finally, the light at the end of the tunnel began to appear, but…
All entries related to the pandemic timeline are accessible here.
Article from CruisesNews magazine no. 60 – March 2022
First part CruisesNews nº52 Second part CruisesNews nº53 Third part CruisesNews nº54 Fourth part CruisesNews nº55 Fifth part CruisesNews nº56 Sixth part CruisesNews nº57 Seventh part CruisesNews nº58 Eighth part CruisesNews nº59
We hadn't even entered the new year when the situation with the Omicron variant began to deteriorate. Outbreaks on cruise ships, previously limited to 4 to 6 cases per cruise, began to grow significantly, leading the CDC to assign a yellow alert to several ships, which triggered an investigation into the incidents. This prompted voices like that of Senator Richard Blumenthal to call for a new suspension of cruises.
Puerto Rico tightened its requirements for tourism, mandating a COVID-19 test taken within 48 hours of arrival, even for vaccinated visitors. But it wasn't alone, and several Caribbean ports began refusing cruise ships with infected passengers to dock. History was repeating itself.
On December 30, 2021, the CDC again singled out cruise ships, issuing a recommendation against taking cruises even for those vaccinated. The following day, CLIA protested with “perplexity” at this decision, given that cruise ships had a much lower percentage of cases than any land-based population.
Despite everything, the incredible spread of Omicron led NCL and Royal Caribbean to suspend some cruises in January due to too many cases among their crews. Both cruise lines were forced to postpone the return to service of several ships. For example, NCL canceled the Norwegian Star's South American season and the Norwegian Spirit's cruises from Australia scheduled for the end of March. Royal Caribbean canceled the Serenade of the Seas' season from Tampa, scheduled to begin on January 8, but the ship will not return to service until after a dry dock in April. It also canceled several sailings of the Jewel of the Seas, using it as a floating quarantine hotel, eventually taking in 237 infected crew members at CocoCay.
Meanwhile, in Europe, MSC Cruises experienced a significant outbreak on the MSC Grandiosa, which once again made headlines. The German cruise lines TUI Cruises and AIDA Cruises also had to cancel or shorten cruises due to coronavirus cases among senior officers.
The season in Brazil, practically canceled.
On January 3, Costa Cruises and MSC Cruises announced a voluntary suspension of their cruises in Brazil until January 21. This suspension, initially for three weeks, was later extended until early March.
Genting Hong Kong's bankruptcy drags down Crystal Cruises.
Hong Kong authorities banned all cruise operations in early January, forcing Royal Caribbean to cancel several Spectrum of the Seas cruises, as well as Dream Cruises, the Genting Hong Kong group's cruise line. Just a couple of days later, it was revealed that the MV Werften shipyard, also belonging to Genting Hong Kong, where the Global Dream, a 208,000-ton megacruise ship, was being built, owed December wages to 2,000 workers. Two days later, the shipyard declared bankruptcy, dragging the entire Genting Hong Kong group down with it. The group filed for liquidation on January 19, including the cruise lines Dream Cruises, Crystal Cruises, and Star Cruises, the Lloyd Werft shipyard, and Resorts World Manila.
Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio, chairman of the investment fund Heritage Group and formerly chief executive of the luxury cruise line Silversea Cruises, confirmed that he had made two purchase offers for Crystal Cruises, the first in the first quarter of 2021 and the second, after the liquidation announcement, but neither has received a positive response so far.
Amid the Omicron wave, the US revokes the Conditional Sail Order.
On January 15, the controversial “Conditional Sail Order” expired, regulating the return to service of cruise ships with trial cruises and measures that cruise lines considered excessive and discriminatory. From that moment on, the voluntary “COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships Operating in US Waters” took over, not without causing some displeasure in the industry, since the CDC kept cruise ships at alert level 4 (the highest), until it finally lowered it to 3 in mid-February.
Surprisingly, after months of litigation and protests, 18 shipping companies joined the program managed by the US CDC, and surprisingly, the program evolved as quickly as the Omicron wave, and by the end of February it would allow people to do without masks on board ships except in areas of concentration of people, something welcomed by the shipping companies.
After the storm, calm is in sight, but…
In the midst of the Omicron wave, in mid-January, some cruise lines were desperately seeking more safety, and TUI Cruises began requiring its passengers to have received the booster dose of the COVID vaccine from the end of February, and even prohibited them from spending a hotel night before boarding.
On February 1st, we learned that Ritz-Carlton, unable to finish its megayacht Evrima (announcing a further delay until August 6th), was starting the purchase of the shipping company Sea Cloud Cruises, which owns three sailing ships.
Royal Caribbean announced that its brands hosted 1.3 million passengers in 2020, with only 2,500 passengers testing positive for COVID-19, representing a rate of 0.19%, significantly lower than the figures seen on land. Furthermore, the cruise line stated that by early February, demand had already recovered to pre-pandemic levels and that figures were even surpassing those of 2019.
NCL also acknowledged that its booking figures for the second half of 2022 are comparable to those of 2019. Meanwhile, Cunard, which put its 2023 summer cruises on sale, saw its highest booking levels in the last decade. Clearly, the desire to travel had returned.
On February 13, Virgin Voyages inaugurated its new cruise terminal at the Port of Miami, a true symbol of resilience for a company that was caught off guard by the pandemic at the very start of its first cruises.
Towards the end of February, the cruise industry saw the light at the end of the tunnel: Omicron was dropping rapidly, with no new variant in sight, and good booking levels, especially for the second half of the year.
And then war came. Russia invaded Ukraine, and shipping companies quickly reacted by canceling stops in St. Petersburg. This was a major setback for cruises in the Baltic Sea, where the Russian city was a highlight of the itineraries. But that wasn't all; the war would drive fuel prices to astronomical levels and cast a shadow over the global economy. But that's a story for another time.
SHIPYARD ACTIVITY
• January 13: Viking Neptune launched at Fincantieri Ancona.
• January 24: CMHI lays the keel for Ocean Albatros.
• January 27: Chantiers de l'Atlantique delivers Wonder of the Seas to Royal Caribbean, although it will not begin operations until March 4.
• January 28: Fincantieri delivers Discovery Princess to Princess Cruises at the Monfalcone shipyard, although the ship will not begin operations until March 27.
• February 9: Emerald Cruises takes possession of Emerald Azzurra, a 100-berth megayacht built at Ha Long Shipyard, Vietnam.
• February 11: SH Vega launched at Helsinki Shipyard, while Carnival Celebration was launched at Meyer Turku and Disney Wish left the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg.
• February 16: Keel laying and coin ceremony for the Arvia, for P&O Cruises, at Meyer Werft Papenburg.
• February 24: Coin ceremony for the Explora I, the first ship of Explora Journeys, the luxury cruise brand of the MSC Group, at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone.
• February 28: Launch of the new Oceania Vista at the Fincantieri shipyard in Sestri Ponente.
