Who's cruising soon
For all those who miss the joys of ocean travel, you'll be pleased to know many cruise lines have committed to a return in 2021.
Dream cruise has been operating successfully for some time now out of Taiwan and Singapore; RCCL likewise out of Singapore. The latter introduced Ocean Getaways from Singapore last year with the local government’s CruiseSafe Certification, which confirms the sailings meet the comprehensive health and safety requirements developed with the Singapore government. Coral Expeditions has been in the waters since December with cruises around the Barrier Reef and now this has extended to the Kimberley. Now others plan to follow.
CRYSTAL CRUISES will deploy Crystal Symphony, to St. John’s, Antigua for a series of voyages between Aug - Dec 2021. Reservations also opened last month for a new series of 7 night voyages through the Bahamas aboard Crystal Serenity. Those round-trip sailings from Nassau or Bimini will begin in early July. Crystal has also confirmed a new inaugural voyage to Iceland for its expedition ship, Crystal Endeavor, which will debut in mid-July.
LINDBLAD EXPEDITIONS is planning to resume operations for the 2021 season in Alaska and the Galápagos in June. For Alaska, Lindblad will offer 6- and 8-day itineraries aboard its 100-guest sister ships National Geographic Quest and National Geographic Venture, with the first departures on 5 and 6 June 2021, respectively. In the Galápagos, Lindblad will operate a 10-day itinerary aboard the 96-guest National Geographic Endeavour ll, with the first Galápagos departure planned for 4 June 2021.
SEABOURN plans to resume operations from July 2021 with a series of Mediterranean sailings for COVID-19 fully vaccinated guests. 25 seven-day roundtrip voyages from Athens are planned, beginning 3 July. Seabourn Ovation will offer 2 seven-day cruises exploring ports throughout the Greek Isles, with itineraries designed to enable guests to book back-to-back voyages to create a 14-day Wonder of the Aegean journey with different destinations on each.
MSC CRUISES has announced plans to sail more than half its fleet this coming northern summer with at least 10 ships sailing by August. Over the next 3 months, 9 more ships will return to operation, in addition to MSC Grandiosa, which has been sailing since mid-last year. The plan includes 6 ships sailing in the Mediterranean (3 in the Eastern Mediterranean and 3 in the Western Mediterranean), and 4 vessels deployed to Northern Europe. Most cruises will be open to travellers from any country.
AIDA CRUISES will offer new sailings in Greece from May to Oct, having last month opened its 2021 season. Beginning 23 May, 7 day cruises will depart Corfu and travel through the islands of Greece, to Crete, Rhodes, Katakolon and Piraeus. The cruises will begin 9 days after Greece reopens to tourism. In addition to the new Greece cruises, AIDA will sail on 7 day voyages around the Canary Islands through to Jun.
DISNEY CRUISE LINE will go on sale to the general public on 30 Apr, with Disney Magic to operate short cruises of mostly 2 – 3 nights, as well as some 4 night sailings. The program starts with Liverpool departures in July, Southampton in August and Newcastle and Tilbury in September. All sailings are round-trip cruises to nowhere, and are open only to British residents.
So now is the time to book. the 2022 season is already heavily booked and people are looking seriously at 2023.