Eight ships To Undertake UK-Based Cruise Re-Start – Other Cruise News: North American Cruise Re-Start To Begin In The Caribbean – Sailings To Australia

by Kevin Griffin

The return of cruising is beginning to gain momentum in both the UK and North America by way of Caribbean ports.

THIS WEEK’S STORY

Eight ships To Undertake UK-Based Cruise Re-Start

After the cancellation by many cruise lines of their UK-based spring cruises, the same line are now in the midst of announcing a series of 3-, 4-, 5- and 7-day itineraries.

And some lines will offer longer cruises. The new itineraries are scheduled to take place between June and September.

Five cruise lines will be offering cruises on eight ships this summer. Berth capacity is lower berths, but due to social distancing, ships will be held at about 65% of normal capacity. This is usually achieved by eliminating inside and ocean-view cabins from the inventory offered to passengers.

• Cunard Line
Queen Elizabeth, 90,900 tons, 2,101 berths

• Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines
Bolette, 63,375 tons. 1,360 berths
Borealis, 59,8559 tons, 1,360 berths

• P&O Cruises
Britannia, 143,730 tons, 3,737 berths
Iona, 184,089 tons, 5,206 berths

• Princess Cruises
Regal Princess, 142,229 tons, 3,560 berths
Sky Princess, 142,229 tons, 3,560 berths

• Viking Cruises
Viking Venus, 47,800 tons, 933 berths

Others looking at UK to UK restricted operations include Hurtigruten, Marella Cruises, MSC Cruises, Royal Caribbean Group and Saga Cruises.

While we say UK-UK, we actually mean England-England in the case of Southampton, Dover and Liverpool, as health matters such as Covid-19 are the responsivity of the devolved regimes in the UK, i.e. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

OTHER CRUISE NEWS

North American Cruise Re-Start To Begin In The Caribbean

Now that it has become patently obvious that cruising from US ports has become impossible under the jurisdiction of the US Centers for Disease Control, some cruise lines are abandoning any hope of sailing from US ports and will base ships in suitable Caribbean ports.

Most of the new itineraries begin in June but Grandeur of the Seas comes on in November.
The first to be announced was Splendour of the Seas at Barbados, and later Crystal Cruises at Nassau.

Of the four ships so far announced, three are from the Royal Caribbean group, who also have single ship operations in Singapore and Israel.

• Barbados
Royal Caribbean: Grandeur of the Seas Alternating 7- and 11-day itineraries

• Nassau
Crystal Cruises: Crystal Serenity Harbour Island, Gr. Exuma, San Salvador
Royal Caribbean: Adventure of the Seas Grand Bahama Island & Cozumel

• St Maarten
Celebrity Cruises: Celebrity Millennium Aruba, Curacao & Barbados
Same ship, alternating itineraries: Tortola, St Lucia & Barbados

Sailings to Australia

Unlike North Americans and Europeans who have still been able to fly Transatlantic, many Australians have been calling us after they found themselves stranded in Europe after their flights back to Australia were cancelled.

Normally, one can sail home, either by cruise ship or by passenger-carrying container ship via Mauritius and Reunion. But Princess Cruises’ usual July cruise from Dover to Sydney has been cancelled this year and Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV)’s traditional pre-Christmas cruise from Tilbury to Sydney was cancelled after CMV could not afford o repatriate its crews after Covid-19 brought all cruising to a halt.

After ceasing the carriage of passengers in March 2020, CMA CGM, who operates the cargo ships, have decided not to carry any passengers in 2021. The result is no cargo-passenger service for 21 months!

So the space available to Australia this year is limited to the three or four world voyages performed by the following ships. However, if one can route over Singapore there is a lot more choice:

• SOUTHAMPTON-SYDNEY:
1) THU 6 JAN 2022 – 24 FEB 2022 ,49 nights, ship BOREALIS ,
2) 2) MON 10 JAN 2022- 6 MAR 2022,55 nights,ship QUEEN MARY 2 ,
3) 3) MON 10 JAN 2022 – 1 MAR 2022 ,49 nights, ship QUEEN VICTORIA ,

• SYDNEY -SOUTHAMPTON:
1) MON 21 FEB 2022 -13 APR 2022 ,51 nights,ship AURORA ,
2) THU 24 FEB 2022-17 APR 2022, 52 nights,ship: BOREALIS ,
3) TUE 1 MAR 2022- 29 APR 2022 ,59 nights,ship QUEEN VICTORIA ,
4)- SUN 6 MAR 2022 -24 APR 2022 ,49 nights,ship QUEEN MARY 2 ,

• SINGAPORE – SYDNEY:
1) 15 OCT 2021 – 04 NOV 2021 , 20 nights , ship: ROYAL PRINCESS  ,
2) 13 NOV 2021 – 03 DEC 2021 ,20 nights ,ship: REGATTA ,
3) 28 NOV 2021 – 21 DEC 2021 ,23 nights ,ship: SEABOURN OVATION ,
4) 29 NOV 2021 – 17 DEC 2021 ,18 nights ,ship: SILVER MUSE ,
5) 02 DEC 2021 – 20 DEC 2021 ,18 nights ,ship: SEVEN SEAS EXPLORER ,
6) 06 DEC 2021 – 23 DEC 2021 ,17 nights ,ship: NORWEGIAN SPIRIT ,
7) 11 FEB 2022 – 06 MAR 2022 , 23 nights ,ship: QUEEN MARY 2 ,
8) 30 OCT 2022 – 15 NOV 2022 ,16 nights ,ship: QUEEN ELIZABETH ,
9) 21 NOV 2022 -12 DEC 2022 , 21 nights ,ship: REGATTA ,
10) 02 DEC 2022 – 20 DEC 2022 , 18 nights ,ship: SILVER MUSE ,
11) 12 DEC 2022 – 29 DEC 2022 , 17 nights ,ship: SEVEN SEAS EXPLORER ,
12) 16 FEB 2023 – 12 MAR 2023 , 24 nights , ship: QUEEN MARY 2.

• SYDNEY – SINGAPORE:
1) 19 FEB 2022 -09 MAR 2022  ,18 nights ,ship SILVER MUSE ,
2) 20 FEB 2022 – 02 MAY 2022 ,72 nights ,ship SEABOURN SOJOURN
3) 21 FEB 2022 – 16 MAR 2022 , 23 nights ,ship: AURORA ,
4) 22 FEB 2022 – 11 MAR 2022 ,17 nights ,ship: AZAMARA JOURNEY ,
5) 22 FEB 2022 – 15 MAR 2022 ,21 nights ,ship; SEVEN SEAS MARINER ,
6) 23 FEB 2022 – 21 MAR 2022 ,26 nights ,ship: SEABOURN OVATION ,
7) 27FEB 2022 – 12 MAR 2022 , 13 nights ,ship: SERENADE OF THE SEAS ,
8) 01 MAR 2022 – 26 MAR 2022 ,25 nights ,ship: QUEEN VICTORIA ,
9) 06 MAR 2022 -22 MAR 2022 ,16 nights ,ship: QUEEN MARY 2 ,
10) 09 MAR 2022 -24 MAR 2022 ,15 nights ,ship: QUEEN ELIZABETH ,
11) 18 MAR 2022 – 08 APR 2022 ,21 nights , ship: MSC POESIA ,
12) 24 FEB 2023 – 14 MAR 2023 ,18 nights ,ship: SILVER WHISPER ,
13) 01 MAR 2023 – 23 MAR  2023 ,22 nights ,ship: QUEEN VICTORIA.

(Courtesy: Cruise Timetables)

(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)

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