Sunday Times’ 12-Page Cruise Supplement – Other Cruise News: Royal Caribbean To Base Grandeur of the Seas In Barbados – New US Inbound Flight Requirement
by Kevin Griffin
This week we look at more positive developments. From London’s Sunday Times came suggestions of dozens of cruise, mostly by smaller ships. While no cruise ships are operating from the USA at the moment, plenty is available for European cruisers. And in one effort to avoid the malign influence of the Centers for Disease Control, Royal Caribbean is going to base a ship in Barbados, beyond the CDC’s control.
THIS WEEK’S STORY
Sunday Times’ 12-Page Cruise Supplement
In well over a dozen years of producing this column we cannot remember a time when we celebrated the appearance of a cruise supplement.
For ten months now however, we have not seen one, so it is worth remarking now.
Rocky Mountaineer: the dome car and the restaurant at the lower level
The Sunday Times supplement yesterday included four full-page adverts, two from Regent Seven Seas Cruises and one each from Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and Celebrity Cruises and the Rocky Mountaineer rail journey, the last combination offer sponsored by Reader Offers Limited.
The biggest feature item was a piece on an Arctic Circle cruise on board Viking Cruises’ 930-berth Viking Venus, to take place in January 2022.
And following were many other features, some on ships we had not even heard of yet.
Other items cover Windstar’s 312-berth Star Breeze in the Caribbean this May, Celebrity Cruises going all-inclusive, Abercrombie & Kent celebrating its 30th anniversary of offering expedition cruises, with Ponant’s 264-berth Le Boreal, sailing the Northern Searoute over Russia, from Oslo to Nome in 25 nights, and CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princesse II sailing river cruises from Prague.
Windstar Cruises’ Star Breeze (November 2020: courtesy Fincantieri)
Luxury ships included Silversea’s Silver Moon in the Adriatic, Saga’s 992-berth Spirit of Adventure and Sea Cloud’s new Sea Cloud Spirit.
Golden Horizon (Former Flying Clipper to Sail for Tradewind Voyages – Credit Brodosplit Shipyard)
Expedition ships included Silversea’s 100-berth Silver Origin in the Galapagos, Swan Hellenic’s latest Minerva in New Zealand, Ponant’s 270-berth Commandant Charcot in the Wendell Sea, Aurora’s new Sylvia Earle on the Antarctic Peninsula, and Seabourn’s 264-berth Seabourn Venture in Norway, plus Tradewind’s new sailing ship Golden Horizon around Denmark.
Half a dozen river cruises were also covered including Aqua in the Amazon, AmaWaterways on the Nile, Uniworld cruising around Venice, TUI’s three new Rhine cruisers and the Viking Saigon in Vietnam.
The AmaDahlia (Artist rendering, courtesy AmaWaterways)
Although there are no cruise ships sailing from America now, big ships covered included Celebrity, Carnival, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Holland America Line and P&O Cruises.
OTHER CRUISE NEWS
Royal Caribbean To Base Grandeur of the Seas In Barbados
Royal Caribbean announced last week that it will begin offering round-trip cruises from Barbados at the end of 2021 on board the 1,950-berth Grandeur of The Seas. The new itineraries were announced on Wednesday and will the first Royal Caribbean has offered from Barbados.
The Grandeur of The Seas will sail from Bridgetown.
Three distinct 7- and 14-night itineraries will feature a unique line-up of destinations – including three new ports of call in the islands of Tobago, Trinidad and St. Vincent. Showcasing the natural beauty and cultures of the region, week-long sailings will call at a different destination every day or offer late-night stays in the ABC islands – Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. Grandeur’s longer escapes will include an overnight stay in Aruba coupled with visits to Cartagena, Colon and Puerto Limon, among others.
Grandeur of the Seas
The itineraries depart on Sundays and ports of call for each are:
• 7-night Southern Caribbean Island Hop: Departing Bridgetown and visiting Tobago, Trinidad, Grenada, St Vincent, Dominica and St. Lucia
• 7-night Southern Caribbean Adventure: Departing Bridgetown and visiting Grenada, Bonaire, Aruba, Curacao and Trinidad
• 14-night Ultimate Caribbean: Departing Bridgetown and visiting Grenada, St Vincent, Bonaire;, Aruba (overnight); Curacao, Trinidad, Cartagena, Colon and Puerto Limon
New US Inbound Flight Requirement
Not unlike other countries such as the UK, Canada and Australia, which have announced a requirement on arrival for a Negative Covid-19 test within three days of arriving, the United States has implemented such a requirement effective January 26, 2021.
(Kevin Griffin is managing director of The Cruise People Ltd in London, England. For further information concerning cruises mentioned in this article readers can visit his blog)
