At the end of March, the US CDC lifted its recommendation against cruise travel, paving the way for a relatively normal season. In the second quarter of the year, many cruise lines managed to bring their entire fleets back into service.
All entries related to the pandemic timeline are accessible here.
Article from CruisesNews magazine no. 61 – June 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 – Ninth part CruisesNews nº60
The Russian invasion of Ukraine partially disrupted this return to normalcy, forcing cruise lines to redesign their summer season plans in Northern Europe. Norwegian Cruise Line was among the first, announcing the cancellation of the Norwegian Getaway's Baltic cruise season, opting instead for a Caribbean itinerary. Later, Costa Cruises canceled the Costa Favolosa's season, which had been scheduled to be based in St. Petersburg. The ship will remain in port until October.
On March 27, P&O's Arcadia returned to service with cruises to the Canary Islands, meaning the British shipping company's entire fleet was now operational. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the Discovery Princess, which had been delivered to the company in January, also began its service life.
On April 7, the Costa Firenze began operating from Genoa, and on that same day Royal Caribbean began offering its crew members the possibility of disembarking in some Caribbean ports, something that ceased to be possible during the long pandemic, which frustrated the crew members and made their recruitment much more difficult.
Initially, the lack of work, followed by restrictions on crew members' daily lives (quarantines, bans on going ashore, restricted onboard leisure activities, etc.), led many to abandon their plans to return to the industry and seek other employment. The industry now faces the challenge of recruiting crew members for the return to operations and the projected growth in the coming years. So much so that, just days after announcing the full return to sailing of its fleet, P&O was forced to cancel seven cruises on the Arcadia due to a lack of personnel. Then, in mid-May, with the entire fleet operational, Carnival announced that a couple of its specialty restaurants would not be opening for dinner service due to staff shortages.
On April 8, Spain eliminated the requirement for antigen tests before embarking on cruises, but its effect was limited, since most cruises departing from Spain visit Italy, and Italy still requires passengers to present a negative test before boarding. However, antigen testing ceased at cruise terminals, and cruise lines began requiring passengers to obtain a test on their own within 48 hours of boarding if they were vaccinated.
In early April, Holland America Line's Koningsdam became the first cruise ship to dock in Victoria, Canada, one of the main embarkation ports for Alaskan cruises, since October 2019. The same thing would happen a couple of weeks later on the Atlantic coast, with the Viking Octanis being the first cruise ship to call at Charlottetown in two years.
Throughout April, 47 cruise ships resumed operations worldwide, undoubtedly a significant boost. This was true globally, with the exception of Asia, which continues to face pandemic-related restrictions. This forced Celebrity Cruises to cancel the Celebrity Solstice's planned season in the region this coming fall and instead relocate it to the Riviera Maya. Holland America Line followed suit, rescheduling the Westerdam from Asia to Australia and New Zealand in the fall.
Swan Hellenic altered its plans to offer cruises in the Russian Far East and instead planned a season of cruises to the Arctic, but in the "western" area (Iceland, Greenland, east coast of Canada).
At the end of April, Carnival Corporation announced a major change: Arnold Donald, the company's current president and CEO, will leave his post on August 1st to hand the reins to Josh Weinstein, the current COO.
In May, 51 ships were scheduled to enter service, starting with the Carnival Splendor on May 2, which marked the complete return of the Carnival fleet to service, while on May 7 the Norwegian Spirit did the same, sailing from Tahiti with passengers, completing the return to service of all Norwegian Cruise Line ships.
Spain removed the requirement to test all passengers for COVID before boarding.
For its part, Royal Caribbean announced that several of its ships were already operating in North America at 100% capacity and that bookings were getting better and better, with May 23 being the date on which the Rhapsody of the Seas entered service and completed the return to sailing of the entire fleet.
However, those good times will never return for the historic Asian company Star Cruises, which, in mid-May, following the bankruptcy of its parent group, Genting Hong Kong, laid off its last employees and sent its three ships to the scrapyard. The Crystal Cruises ships were to be auctioned in June, but the Genting Dream, the practically new megaship that operated under the Dream Cruises brand, will resume operations under a new company: Resort World Cruises, in which the same owner of the Genting Group, Lim Kok Thay, holds a stake. The Global Dream, a giant whose construction is 75% complete at the Meyer Werft shipyard, will fare worse and appears destined to be sold off for parts.
In Spain, ports have seen a significant increase in cruise activity. For example, by the end of May, Valencia had already received more cruise ships than in all of 2019. Furthermore, MSC Cruises announced the immediate deployment of the MSC Bellissima to the Mediterranean, with embarkation in Valencia, Barcelona, and Genoa, after canceling its program in the Arabian Gulf, as demand in Asia has yet to fully recover.
While the Queen Victoria resumed sailing in early June, Virgin Voyages decided to cancel the inaugural season of the Resilient Lady in the Greek Islands, embarking in Athens, and postpone the launch of its third ship to May 2023. Undoubtedly, the company was born at the worst possible time, and with a groundbreaking concept, which is why it is finding it so difficult to enter the market.
With Americans fearful of the war looming in Europe and the requirement to present a negative test before returning to the US, few were expected to travel to Europe. But on June 10, the US government eliminated the negative test requirement upon return, removing another barrier to American travel to Europe.
On June 14, Viking Cruises removed the requirement to present a negative Covid test to board, unless the destinations the cruise visits require it.
In this final stretch of the pandemic, some instability remains, both because Asia does not seem to be recovering in terms of tourism, and because of new crises: war in Ukraine and international inflation.
It has taken us two years to learn to live with COVID-19, which doesn't mean the virus has been eradicated by any means. Outbreaks are significant, but they aren't statistically recorded. People can go to school and work with the virus, even healthcare workers, but shipping companies remain fearful. They don't want to be singled out in the media again, and they are applying more restrictive protocols. But little by little, the measures will be relaxed, and the virus will become endemic, and with it, its impact on daily life will be accepted.
