Stop Start Cruising
This is a re-post from one of the travel newspapers. It looks like this will be the way forward for cruising for at least the next few months. Short cruises; 3 or 4 nights ... most to nowhere; limited numbers of board .. to test the waters (so to speak)
Nine months after Royal Caribbean International shut down its cruises due to the global health crisis, Quantum of the Seas will sail from Singapore on Dec. 1, and begin offering three- and four-night cruises only to residents of Singapore with no port stops. Royal Caribbean halted operations on March 14, 2020 and has not offered another cruise since. Quantum of the Seas will be the first to offer paid cruises since then.
Although capable of carrying 4,905 guests, this first sailing on Quantum is capped at about 1,000 to allow for plenty of social distancing. A variety of comprehensive new health protocols will be implemented as well, including testing and screening, upgraded heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems that enhance filtration, stringent cleaning practices, and expert medical care and onboard facilities. For the next four months, Quantum cruises will be round-trips with no ports of call, sailing at a reduced capacity of up to 50 percent, and only open to Singapore residents.
It appears there was at least one preview cruise over the weekend, which was a two-night sailing open to select invitees before official cruises commenced. The test sailing was limited to a small number of guests who helped test the new health protocols, which included contact tracing tokens, RT-PCR testing and face masks.
While Quantum will be able to restart in Singapore, the rest of the Royal Caribbean fleet is shut down until further notice. Australia cruises are cancelled through to the end of January 2021, and cruises elsewhere are halted until the end of December 2020, although many expect more cancellations soon into 2021.
Royal Caribbean has shared no firm restart plans anywhere other than Singapore,though the cruise line is working diligently to prepare its ships to meet the new standards set forth by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Even though the framework for conditional sailing does open the possibility for cruises to resume in North America, there is no sense of when the CDC will approve its phased in plan to restart cruising. Of course with this testing of the waters, Royal Caribbean joins MSC Cruises and Costa Cruises, which have already commenced cruising successfully, with AIDA Cruises to follow.