Cruising is back!
The light at the end of tunnel is getting bigger. Cruise ships are returning to the oceans in increasing numbers.
The United Kingdom started the revival of cruising in May'21, focusing on destinations around England. This week Scotland allowed a return of ships to ports on its coastline including spectacular isolated islands like the Shetlands.
In the North Atlantic this week in Iceland Crystal Cruises introduced its new expedition yacht Crystal Endeavor which set out on its maiden voyage from Reykjavik. The inaugural departure marks the start of a series of five sailings round-trip from Reykjavik exploring Iceland’s dramatic coast.
Norwegian Jade set sail from Athens (Piraeus) on an immersive Greek Isles itinerary, and is the first of NCL’s 17-ship fleet to welcome guests after 500 days.
Viking celebrated its return to the Mediterranean Sea as two Viking ships, Viking Sea and the new Viking Venus, begun cruises roundtrip from Valletta, Malta,
On the west coast of the US, the city of Seattle is once again the home port for Alaskan departures. The Port of Seattle will see 84 round trip voyages to Alaska before the end of October 2021, hosting ships from Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruises and Silversea.
Worldwide, almost 600,000 passengers have set sail since July 2020 in countries where carefully controlled cruise operations have resumed.
The only countries missing out on all the fun are New Zealand and Australia...both governments seemingly incapable of coming up with a future plan. Sadly Australia is placed a distant last globally thanks to its slow local cruise resumption plans.