LIVES OF THE LINERS: CRUISING, CRUISE SHIPS & THE COVID PANDEMIC – APRIL 10, 2021

From Bill Miller

April 2021

Sun Apr 4th  Miami Mayor Daniella Levine Cava posted on social media that she had a conversation with the CDC Director, who informed her the agency will be providing cruise lines “shortly” with new guidance.

Wed Apr 7^th Miami  The president of Carnival Cruise Line, the world’s largest cruise company, is turning up the volume on warnings that the company will move its ships out of the U.S.  With no end in sight to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s cruise industry shutdown, cruise companies say it’s a matter of survival to get business somewhere else. Carnival Cruise Line has more ships based at Port Canaveral than any other cruise company, making its cancellation of all cruises at least through June 30 a big deal.
An even bigger deal is its threat to take its ships out of U.S. ports because of the CDC’s cruise industry shutdown.

Thu Apr 8^th Cancellations!  Cruise fans on Tuesday faced another barrage of cruise cancellations from some of the world’s biggest cruise lines. Industry giant Carnival Cruise Line said it had pushed back its return to service by another month with the cancellation of all June sailings. Also canceling all June sailings was Disney Cruise Line, and Disney also canceled all of its Europe sailings through Sep 18.

More cancellations also came on Tuesday from fast-growing Viking, which canceled all June and July sailings that had been on its schedule. In their place, the line announced plans to operate a very small number of voyages out of Bermuda and Reykjavik, Iceland, in addition to a handful of U.K. sailings.

In addition, as part of a return-to-service plan announced early Tuesday, Norwegian Cruise Line canceled all July and August sailings aboard eight of its 17 ships: Norwegian Breakaway, Norwegian Dawn, Norwegian Escape, Norwegian Getaway, Norwegian Sky, Norwegian Spirit, Norwegian Star and Norwegian Sun. Norwegian also canceled voyages on two more ships — Norwegian Epic and Norwegian Pearl — through Sep 1st and Nov 7th, respectively. For now, Norwegian only plans to restart operations over the summer with three vessels.

Norwegian’s two sister brands, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, also canceled more voyages on Tuesday, removing all July sailings from their schedules. Both lines now plan to restart operations in August.

The flurry of cancellations came even as more cruise lines announce plans to restart cruise departures in very limited ways over the summer. Norwegian’s announcement on Tuesday included plans for new sailings out of Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Greece starting in July and August.

Also on Tuesday, Seabourn revealed plans to restart cruising in July with sailings of a single ship operating out of Piraeus, Greece (the port for Athens).

Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises & Crystal Cruises in recent days also have announced new or expanded restart plans that involve a small number of ships.

Fri Apr 9^th Virgin Voyages is the latest cruise line moving sailings abroad as the timeline to resume cruising in U.S. waters remains unclear.  “Virgin Voyages has been looking forward to sailing, and we’re so excited to announce our plans to sail from the UK,” said Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, in a statement. 

The cruise line had a slow start because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which squashed Virgin’s plans to launch in April 2020. But after multiple delays, its first ship, Scarlet Lady, will make its debut in August in the United Kingdom with a series of voyages open to residents of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.  The Scarlet Lady will be departing from Portsmouth, England, with all passengers and crew required to be fully vaccinated.

Viking Ocean Cruises will require all passengers to be vaccinated for its summer cruises, making it the latest cruise line to make the jab mandatory on board. The cruise line will open up summer sailings to Bermuda and Iceland in June, requiring guests to be both inoculated as well as undergo saliva PCR tests at embarkation and “frequent” testing throughout the journey. Additionally, Viking will add more sailings to its “England’s Scenic Shores” cruises in the United Kingdom, which it started offering in May for British citizens.

Carnival Corporation will have nine ships operating soon between its AIDA, Costa, Cunard, Princess, P&O UK and Seabourn brands, and hopes to continue with a staggered restart.  How many ships will it take before the financials start looking better? Using 2019 as a baseline, a fleet of 25 ships operating may be the magic number, according to David Bernstein, chief financial officer, speaking on the company’s first quarter business update call on Wednesday.

Bernstein said that using 2019 numbers, if the company had its top 25 ships operating, at full occupancy, they would generate enough cash flow to cover the pause costs of 60 to 65 other ships  Full occupancy will take time however, as Arnold Donald, CEO, said that initial sailings from the UK would start at modest occupancy levels.

Sat Apr 10^th The Long Beach City Council moved forward this week on a plan to possibly transfer control of the land that encompasses the iconic but financially beleaguered Queen Mary to the Long Beach Harbor Commission, which governs the Port of Long Beach.

Cruising remains the only sector of the economy that is prohibited by the U.S. Government from operating at this time. This is due to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Conditional Sailing Order, which bans cruise ships from sailing from ports in this country.

This has been a great source of frustration not only to cruise lines and cruise fans but also to the State of Florida, where many homeports, such as Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Port Canaveral, are located. On Thursday, TPG reported that the state of Florida had filed suit against the federal government to force it to allow cruise lines to resume sailing out of U.S. ports.

Celebrity and the Sunshine State aren’t alone in this fight, though. Major players in the industry, from Norwegian Cruise Line to Royal Caribbean to the industry’s CLIA association, are all asking Congress to take action. They believe it’s necessary to restart cruising from U.S. ports and their customers agree. According to Celebrity’s email, more than 300,000 jobs have been lost in the U.S. because of the suspension of cruise travel.

Royal Caribbean Group and Carnival Cruise Lines are sending empty ocean liners to the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent to assist with the evacuation of thousands of people as an eruption from La Soufriere volcano appears likely.

“An explosive phase of the eruption may begin with very little warning,” the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Center said in a statement to the Associated Press.   The Carnival Legend and Carnival Paradise vessels along with Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas and Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Reflection (RC and Celebrity have the same parent company) are expected to dock at the island Friday to help transport some of the 16,000 people who live within the volcano’s red zone and have been forced to evacuate.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday the state will file a lawsuit against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, demanding cruise ships be allowed to resume sailing immediately.

Princess Cruises has announced that it will be leveraging new satellites for what it’s calling “super-charged internet connectivity,” and is now promoting its ships as the perfect “remote workstation” for virtual workers who need fast internet for their jobs.

Upon its return to sailing, every ship in the Princess Cruises fleet will feature land-like connectivity as part of its MedallionNet wifi service. MedallionNet’s seamless integration will ensure that passengers can work from their deck chairs as efficiently as in their office back home, with access to their cloud-based applications such as storage, videoconferencing, and email.

There will be an access point in every stateroom and every public area across the ships, meaning passengers wishing to go online won’t have to be sitting in that one corner of the lounge to get high-speed wifi.

Crystal Cruises:  Less than a month after announcing its roundtrip Bahamas sailings for this summer, Crystal is back with another 2021 cruise option: Iceland.  The Crystal Endeavor is Crystal Expedition Cruises’ very first ship, and she will be spending her inaugural season circumnavigating the beautiful landscapes of Iceland. The vessel will operate five 10-night immersive voyages in the region beginning July 17th.

More from Crystal:  Crystal continues to be at the forefront of the cruise industry’s return as the company announced that the Crystal Symphony will sail a series of 15 10-night Luxury Caribbean Escapes round-trip from St. John’s, becoming the first ship ever to homeport in Antigua. Beginning August 5 through December, including a holiday sailing on December 23, the Crystal Symphony will visit the island locales of Barbados, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago*, St. Maarten and British Virgin Islands, offering travelers tropical luxuries and ample wide-open spaces to discover the local cultures with plentiful air options from most major U.S. cities. Crystal Symphony’s return to sailing marks the resumption of service for 97 percent of Crystal’s oceangoing fleet in the summer of 2021.

Out of the old shoebox:   Above:   Independence at Pier 84, New York, 1966;   below:   Angelina Lauro at Capetown.

Thank you to all our readers, correspondents, those “agents” in faraway places! 

LIVES OF THE LINERS:   CRUISING, CRUISE SHIPS & THE COVID PANDEMIC – April 4, 2021

From Bill Miller

March 2021

Sun Mar 28^th  Hiatus!   During this long gap, many cruise lines are taking the opportunity for overhauls and refits.   The Oosterdam & Eurodam are seen below at the Damen shipyard in Brest.

Beating the Scrappers:   Change in plans:  The 70,000-ton Satoshi has been saved from Indian scrap merchants and now seems to have been  sold to a new startup cruise company.  Having been arrested in Panama late last year, the 1991-built ship was recently released and arrived in Bar City in Montenegro last week, a port that has been commonly used for crew transfers and warm layups during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The ship originally entered service as the Regal Princess in 1991, transferring to P&O Australia in 2007 for year-round service in the Australian market. She was built at Fincantieri and was originally ordered by Sitmar Cruises.

Norwegian Cruise Lines has a very diverse schedule of itineraries.  But here’s one departing on Jan 2^nd 2022 onboard  the Norwegian Jade (below).  The 12-night voyage begins at Cape Town and then touches several African ports:  Mossel Bay (South Africa), Port Elizabeth (South Africa), Richard’s Bay (South Africa), Durban (South Africa), Luderitz (Namibia) and Walvis Bay (Namibia)

Mon Mar 29^th:  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shot down calls from the cruise industry to allow business to restart in July,

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is threatening to sue the federal government if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) doesn’t allow cruises to restart by the summer.

The Italian Government has announced that it will be temporarily diverting the flow of large cruise ships from Venice to Marghera, a mainland industrial port across Venice.

Tue Mar 30^th  Around Britain cruises for the upcoming summer season are now also being offered by MSC Cruises, Celebrity and Saga (below).   These voyages are for vaccinated UK citizens only.

Wed Mar 31^st Oceania’s seventh ship will named Vista. And as with last week, the return of cruising is gaining momentum with Royal Caribbean Group adding two more ships in the Mediterranean, while further operators examine joining the UK coastal trades to English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh and Manx waters.   The 30,000-ton ship is one of the R-Class from Renaissance Cruises and later sailed as the Pacific Princess.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has a beef with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He says if the CDC doesn’t lift its “conditional sailing order” on cruise ships soon, allowing them to resume sailing out of U.S. ports this summer, his state will sue the government entity.

French News!   Our good friend Philippe Brebant reported yesterday: MSC Virtuosa forced to leave St Nazaire to give room for the next to be launched Celebrity Beyond yesterday is now en route to Le Havre where she is due to arrive on April 2nd for more than one month lay up. She will sail then to Southampton where she is due to be based for summer time cruising around Britain instead of North Sea as previously planned from Kiel. She will become then the largest vessel operating out from Southampton at 181,548 tons and with total accommodation for 6,344 passengers. She will be also the largest ever to enter Le Havre. Another meeting has been cancelled today:   We were waiting for Jewel of the Seas to switch a portion of crew to the newly delivered Odyssey of the Seas. But due to pandemic alerts onboard, this meeting has been cancelled. This Papenburg-built ship meeting will take place somewhere else instead. 

Thu Apr 1^st  Royal Caribbean International has confirmed a summer 2021 cruising season in the UK on the Anthem of the Seas. Select key workers will have an opportunity to sail for free.

Lindblad Expeditions announced plans today to resume operations in June for the 2021 season in Alaska and Galápagos.

Japan:  NYK Group has ordered a new 744-guest cruise ship from Meyer Werft for its Asuka Cruises brand, which currently operates the luxury Asuka II  (ex-Crystal Harmony).  The 51,950-ton ship will be delivered in 2025.   NYK is the former owner of Crystal Cruises.   

Fri Apr 2^nd  Carnival Corp:  Like many others, Arnold Donald is missing cruises.  “I’ll be on the first cruise ship I can get on as soon as restrictions lift!” says the Carnival Corporation president and CEO. “I can’t wait to feel the sea breeze and catch up with our amazing crew members to let them know how grateful we are for everything they have done, and continue to do, for our business and for our guests. I’m also excited to meet our guests and see the happy expressions on their faces as they enjoy our innovative ships and delight in the life-changing experiences we offer.”

It’s been a year since Donald was forced to halt all cruise operations across Carnival Corporation’s AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, P&O Cruises, P&O Australia, Princess Cruises and Seabourn brands due to the global Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. Neither Donald nor anyone else in the cruise industry expected the virus to still be ravaging countries around the world after 12 months.

Cunard:  From over in England, our “agent” Alan Parkhurst reports:  The launch of Cunard’s Summer at Sea luxury UK voyages has driven the busiest booking day in the UK for a decade.   Cunard’s Summer at Sea voyages onboard the Queen Elizabeth (below), sailing between July and October 2021, comprise scenic cruises along the UK coastline, voyages that include ports of call around Britain or those that simply sail to wherever the sun shines brightest. All are round-trip from Southampton.

“This record-breaking day follows a phenomenal response to our Centenary World Voyages, onboard the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Victoria in 2023, which went on sale a few weeks ago. In perhaps an indication that guests are upgrading having not traveled for a while, suites onboard these voyages pretty well sold-out at the end of the first day of sales, with only one top suite remaining,” said Cunard President Simon Palethorpe. “We are delighted by this response from guests and particular thanks to all of our agent partners for their continued work supporting guest bookings. We’re really looking forward to welcoming guests back on board this summer.”  

Below:   The three Queens departing from Lisbon in spring 2015 as part of Cunard’s 175^th celebrations.

Sat Apr 3^rd Storylines has announced that it will build its new residence cruise ship concept, the MV Narrative (below), at the Brodosplit shipyard  in Croatia.  The ship features fully furnished residences ranging from 237 sq. ft. to 2411 sq. ft., priced from $300,000 to more than $8 million for a premium two-level penthouse suite. Owners and invited guests will have the opportunity to live a sustainable life of luxury and freedom while at sea. Owners have the option to make their unit available through the Storylines rental program.

Positioned as the greenest ship in the market, according to a press release, Storylines’ MV Narrative utilizes LNG fuel along with innovative reusable energy technologies and energy storage and recovery systems. The ship also includes a waterfront marina, microbrewery, art studio, hydroponic gardens, and more.

MSC Cruises has opened bookings for its new UK cruise holidays this summer with sailings from $550 pp including premium drinks, luxurious cabins, and heaps more.  In fact all of the sailings will be offered on brand new flagship MSC Virtuosa, which boasts some swanky staterooms, a large top deck pool, and even a sci-fi themed bar complete with a robotic bartender. 

Above:  The mammoth MSC Virtuosa & the Ship’s Gallery

   Out of that old shoebox:  Very top:   Sat afternoon departures – Home Lines’ Atlantic (left) and Oceanic (1982);   Below:   The brand new Queen Mary arriving in New York’s Lower Bay, June 1936

Thank you to all our readers, correspondents, those “agents” in faraway places! 

LIVES OF THE LINERS: CRUISING, CRUISE SHIPS & THE COVID PANDEMIC – March 2021

From Bill Miller

March 2021

Mon Mar 19^th  West Coast:  In a big development for West Coast cruising, Royal Caribbean last Wednesday announced plans to base a ship in Los Angeles — something it hasn’t done in a decade.  The world’s largest cruise line said its 3,386-passenger Navigator of the Seas would sail year-round to Mexico from the city starting in June 2022, offering a range of three- to seven-night voyages.

Costa Cruises announced that it will start cruising again in May, citing restrictions in place in Europe and other European countries to contain COVID-19. In line with the new plan, the Costa Smeralda’s departure from Italy is planned for May 1, with three- and four-day mini-cruises or alternatively a seven-day cruise, calling at Savona, La Spezia, Civitavecchia, Naples, Messina and Cagliari. From June 12, the Costa Smeralda will return to sailing one-week cruises in the Western Mediterranean, with visits to Italy (Savona, Civitavecchia and Palermo), France (Marseille) and Spain (Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca).

The departure date of Costa Luminosa, the second Costa ship scheduled to resume service, is now postponed to May 16 from Trieste, and the following day from Bari, confirming its program of one-week cruises in Greece and Croatia.

Tue Mar 23^rd:  AIDA Cruises is back and cruising as the AIDAperla has departed on the first cruise for the German brand in 2021 in the Canaries.  Carnival Corporation’s German brand will offer week-long cruises in the Canaries on the AIDAperla, departing from Gran Canaria. The voyage then features a sea day, call in La Palma, an overnight call in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and stops in Fuerteventura and Lanzarote before heading back to Gran Canaria.

Wed Mar 24^th  The American Society of Travel Advisors called on the Biden administration to allow cruising, citing rising COVID-19 vaccination rates and the fact that other activities are resuming. 

Italy:   Fincantieri is back with a big bang!   The Italian shiopbuilder has a very healthy order book for 2021 and beyond – and sees a quick return to profit amidst the pandemic.   Fincantieri is the biggest and busiest producer of cruise ships in the world.

Cunard:  Get your flapper dresses ready — or your Jay Gatsby-esque pinstripe suits. Cruising, 1920s-style, is about to make a comeback. In an announcement this week that will no doubt excite ocean liner history buffs, the storied Cunard Line said it would operate two around-the-world voyages in 2023 that will mirror its first world-circling trips of the 1920s.

Designed as a celebration of the UK-based brand’s first two circumnavigations of the globe in 1923 — which also were the first circumnavigation of the globe by any line — the voyages will feature many of the same port calls that were on Cunard’s first two around-the-world sailings.  Cunard’s original around-the-world sailings took place on Cunard’s Laconia (above) and Samaria — two grand ocean liners of the 1920s. Both of the vessels had just debuted in 1922.

For 2023, Cunard’s 2,081-passenger Queen Victoria will visit many of the ports that Laconia visited on its first-ever around-the-world cruise, including Hong Kong; New York; Singapore; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Colombo, Sri Lanka; San Francisco; Hilo and Honolulu in Hawaii; Manila; and Naples, Italy. Other destinations on the schedule include Aruba, Jordan, Tonga and a full transit of the Panama Canal.

Add Bermuda to the list of places where Royal Caribbean is restarting cruises. The world’s largest cruise line on Tuesday said it would begin seven-night sailings to the Bahamas out of Bermuda’s Royal Naval Dockyard as soon as June 26.

The unusual routing, which the line will offer through August, will be Royal Caribbean’s first foray into out-of-Bermuda cruises in its 52-year history. The trips will take place on one of Royal Caribbean’s smallest vessels, the 2,514-passenger Vision of the Seas. Like new voyages out of the Bahamas starting on June 12 that Royal Caribbean announced a few days ago, the Bermuda sailings will not originate in or involve any stops at U.S. ports. This means they will not require the approval of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). They only require the approval of officials in Bermuda and the Bahamas, which the line now has.  The CDC has blocked cruise ships that carry more than 250 people from sailing in U.S. waters since March of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The agency has not yet announced when cruise lines will be able to restart operations in U.S. waters.

Thu Mar 25^th    The cruise industry is ready to sail. And it’s calling out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for what it views as unfair treatment more than a year after being shut down by the health authority in U.S. waters during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cruise Lines International Association, the industry’s leading trade organization, is urging the CDC to lift its “framework for conditional sailing order” to allow cruising to resume in phases by the start of July.

“The outdated CSO, which was issued almost five months ago, does not reflect the industry’s proven advancements and success operating in other parts of the world, nor the advent of vaccines, and unfairly treats cruises differently,” said Kelly Craighead, president and CEO of the association, which represents 95% of ocean-going cruise capacity, said in a statement.

Celebrity Cruises announced its return to cruising in Europe today as the Celebrity Apex will make its debut in Greece this summer beginning June 19, sailing roundtrip week-long cruises from Athens.

The new ship will call in Rhodes and Santorini, Greece; Limassol, Cyprus; and Haifa and Jerusalem, Israel. The sailings will open for booking on March 30. The Celebrity Apex will sail with all crew and guests above the age of 18 vaccinated against COVID-19, and those under the age of 18 with negative PCR test results. The announcement comes just days after Celebrity Cruises announced its Caribbean comeback with seven-night summer cruises departing from St. Maarten also beginning in June.

Silversea:  Did these people tell their bosses they’re taking a long vacation? Silversea says it’s sold every spot on a five-month cruise around the world, set to sail around the Southern Hemisphere in 2023.

The Monaco-based line, which is owned by Royal Caribbean, announced the news Tuesday, teasing the quick bookings for the South Side Story – All the World’s a Stage trip as the most successful in the brand’s history. The Silver Shadow (above) ship will depart Sydney, Australia, on January 10, 2023, making stops in 66 destinations in 34 countries on five continents, with a final destination of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, set for May 28.

Cunard is reporting strong bookings for its long winter cruises in 2022.  

Fri Mar 26^th Royal Caribbean International has announced a new program of seven-night cruises onboard the Jewel of the Seas from Limassol, Cyprus and around the coastlines of Greece and Cyprus starting from July 10.

Container Cargo:  According to the latest figures  (as of last Friday), there was 401 container ships totaling 3.63 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) on order. The order book is 15.3% of the on-the-water fleet’s capacity measured in TEUs, up from a multi-decade low of just 9.4% in mid-2020.

Queen Mary:  Dr Nelson Arnstein reports:  “Long Beach’s Queen Mary has seen many operators struggle to make the historic ocean liner profitable over the decades.

There was Joe Prevatil, who signed a lease to run the ship in 1993 and later filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy when the city demanded several million dollars in unpaid rent.  There was Save the Queen LLC, which bought the lease out of bankruptcy and then defaulted on its loan in 2009. There was even the Walt Disney Co., which once operated the ship but bailed on its lease after a 1992 marine survey identified $27 million of needed repairs.

Long Beach has owned the Queen Mary since it arrived from England in 1967 as a hotel and tourist attraction. It leases the ship to operators who are responsible for its care and daily maintenance.  And now the ship could see yet another new caretaker when the Queen Mary’s lease goes up for auction next month after its current operator, Eagle Hospitality Trust, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January. In a March 9th announcement, Singapore-based Eagle Hospitality Trust said it will sell its interest in 15 of the 18 hotels in its portfolio, including the Queen Mary, Sheraton Pasadena and Holiday Inn Anaheim for a starting price of $470 million in an auction set tentatively for May 20.”

Suez Canal:  Marine traffic through the Suez Canal remained blocked on Friday for the fourth consecutive day, with dozens of ships stuck at both the north and south entrances to the shortest route between Asia and Africa. Efforts to dislodge one of the world’s largest cargo vessels, Evergreen Line’s 220,000-ton, 1,312-ft long Ever Given, stuck sideways across the narrow canal since Tuesday, were picking up.  

Virgin Voyages: Restart dates are now posted as July 1, 2021 for Scarlet Lady; and for its second ship, Valiant Lady, November 14, 2021.

Continuing the trend of vaccine mandates, Virgin Voyages announced that it would require all passengers and crew to have a COVID-19 vaccine before sailing when cruises resume in the U.S. The move makes Virgin Voyages the first mainstream cruise line to implement a vaccine requirement for passengers and crew in the U.S., although cruise inoculation mandates have begun in other countries.

Sat Mar 27^th Cunard is offering UK guests the opportunity to spend this summer at sea, with a series of UK voyages on board Queen Elizabeth. Voyages will be round-trip from Southampton, between July and October 2021, and comprise of British Isles scenic cruising and special Sun Voyages, sailing to wherever the sun shines brightest.

10 British Isles Voyages and three Sun Voyages, lasting between three and twelve nights, are available. Guests will be able to experience the most luxurious summer at sea enjoying exquisite fine dining, the onboard spa and spectacular entertainment while having the opportunity to see the UK’s coastline from a unique vantage point. British Isles Voyages include scenic sailings along Britain’s coastline including The Jurassic Coast, England’s only natural UNESCO world heritage site, Cornwall including Land’s End and Scotland including the Isle of Arran, Mull of Kintyre and Sound of Mull. Four voyages will make various port calls, including Liverpool, Greenock, Invergordon, Belfast, Newcastle as well as a maiden call for Cunard’s fleet to the Welsh port of Holyhead.

Carnival Cruise Lines’ president said in a video message to travel agents that the brand has no plans to move its ships from their U.S. homeports.

“I have always said that Carnival Cruise Line is America’s cruise line,” she said.

“We sail from 14 U.S. homeports, 50 percent of our itineraries are less than seven-day sailings, and a significant number of our guests drive to their Carnival cruise vacation. We also sail more families with children than any other cruise line. And as you know so far the vaccines are not approved for anyone under the age of 16.  Duffy said as more Americans are vaccinated, her focus is on securing a decision (from the CDC) to allow for a resumption of cruising from U.S. homeports, consistent with other forms of travel returning for the summer. She noted that she is optimistic travel will resume in time for the summer.

American Queen Riverboats resumed sailing mid-month and this week, after a year since its completion at Gulf Island Shipyard last March, American Countess of American Queen Steamboat Co. is up and running.  And that means a lot to river towns like Natchez.

Steady flow of visitors:  The economic impact is ‘significant,’ Mayor Dan Gibson said. ‘Cruises provide a steady flow of visitors to our area on an annual basis.’ This helps support businesses like the historic homes, restaurants, shops, tours, carriage rides and the growing offering of African American history tourism.  Natchez loves the American Queen and we had the American Duchess last week as the first paddlewheeler back, and I’m thankful we now have American Countess,’ Gibson said. ‘Three of the finest boats in America, cruising the Lower Mississippi and coming to Natchez every week.’   With the three — after American Queen starts later this year, and American Countess gets up to full capacity, 245 passengers — that will be 832 AQSC passengers weekly, plus crew.

‘This means large numbers for Natchez,’ the mayor said.

Southern hospitality:   Gibson was aboard American Countess this week for his first cruise of any kind, and he extolled the boat’s library where he remotely conducted mayoral affairs, the Sun Deck walking track, the dining room with its ‘exquisite crystal chandeliers,’ the ‘breathtaking Grand Lobby, impressive yet also very comfortable,’ the staff and entertainers and the Southern hospitality. He even took a turn at the piano.

Disney Cruise Line has become the latest cruise operator to confirm UK home sailings in summer 2021. According to a press release, United Kingdom residents will be able to sail on the new Disney Magic at Sea “staycation” sailings from UK ports this summer for a limited time.  Featuring enchanted entertainment and with multiple layers of health and safety measures, the Disney Magic (below)  plans to sail mostly two- and three-night voyages, as well as limited four-night sailings round-trip from London Tilbury, Newcastle, Liverpool and Southampton.

Up in the Skies!  Airlines are expanding their schedules and more passengers resume traveling.  Chicago-based United Airlines announced a significant increase in domestic and international flights but it’s still a fraction of pre-pandemic service. The airline announced it will fly 58% of its domestic schedule and 46% of its international schedule this May compared to May 2019.

Above:  Painting of air/liner contrast 1957 by Stephen Card

End of the Line!  Nick Braddock reports:   The Columbus, formerly with CMV, arrived at Alang yesterday – but as the renamed Colus.  Another one gone and soon to be rubble!  

Return to Cruising!  It’s been a confusing week in the ongoing saga between the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and cruise lines hoping to resume operations in North America. The CDC has said it wasn’t the sole actor holding things back. She suggested that the Department of Transportation and other agencies were also part of the decision making. That was news to the cruise lines, who have been waiting for direction from the agency, under its Conditional Framework for Sailing order for the past six months.

With no movement coming, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) called on the CDC to drop the order and allow a phased resumption of cruising from U.S. ports by the beginning of July.

The lack of any action by the CDC has effectively banned all sailings in the largest cruise market in the world. Cruising is the only sector of the U.S. economy that remains prohibited, even as most others have opened or continued to operate throughout the pandemic.

The outdated CSO, which was issued almost five months ago, does not reflect the industry’s proven advancements and success operating in other parts of the world, nor the advent of vaccines, and unfairly treats cruises differently.

In response, the agency simply reiterated its former position that the order remains in effect until Nov. 1, 2021. Returning to passenger cruising is a phased approach to mitigate the risk of spreading Covid-19. Details for the next phase of the CSO are currently under interagency review.  What it didn’t mention: under the order, the agency can drop it at any time.

New Face:  Scheduled to debut in the Mediterranean, the MSC Seashore (below) will arrive in Miami on Nov 17th.  Described as giving guests an enhanced version of the MSC Seaside, the MSC Seashore will feature some new venues, more massive outdoor spaces and the largest MSC Yacht Club. Starting in November, the MSC Seashore will be offering 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean and Bahamas cruise itineraries. These will include stops at Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.

Thank you to all our readers, correspondents, those “agents” in faraway places!