Going forward, all the cruise lines and industry in general are making their best effort to keep their guests interested in coming back. As Access Cruise said, this is a resilient industry!
In the early days of this pandemic, Access Cruise Inc. wrote a blog titled “The Way Forward.” Since then, the entire industry has suspended operations and the cruise industry has learned so much during the suspension of service and now there’s a new version to the way forward. Access Cruise has stated that the cruise industry’s hallmarks are “resilience, hard work and a passionate dedication” and during this ‘down’ time, the industry has been diligently working on ways to collaborate with the CDC and other government health authorities to ensure a safe return to service. In addition to meeting the requirements of the CDC, the cruise lines are conscientiously working to regain consumer confidence.
Many cruise lines have targeted dates in the summer to return to service, but there are many destinations that will remain closed until later this year, well after summer has ended. This of course will pose additional challenges for cruise lines, who must navigate the constant flow of new information, which translates to new guidelines they must follow. As of June 3rd, there were new CDC cruise guidelines that included a color-coding system for rating the health of a cruise ship. These measures are being used to determine whether crew being repatriated will be able to travel via commercial carriers. Ships will be coded as Green, Yellow, or Red and will dictate protocols such as social distancing, face covers, and self-service dining for crew and officers.
As science progresses and updated information keeps coming in, the requirements and recommendations will continue to fluctuate, and if any industry is able to go with the flow, it’s the cruise industry. The Health & Safety teams at cruise lines and destinations certainly have their hands full, but so do the Sales & Marketing teams as they work diligently to come up with promotions and campaigns to bring guests back. CLIA has been busy delivering the industry’s message on social media with posts such as “The Cruise Industry generates more than $150 billion per year in Global economic activity” and cruise lines are coming up with other ways to bring their guests back. Costa Cruises has created “The Holiday We Miss” campaign for guests to share their holiday pics, and Silversea has 86 new cruises for 2021-22 sailings. Norwegian Cruise Line calls hygiene the “new luxury” and even shared some of their new Health Protocols earlier this week to regain consumer confidence. And in some markets like Norway, SeaDream had to double capacity by adding a second ship due to the high demand for later this month. Moving forward, we are seeing a rainbow of ways the cruise lines are dealing with these unprecedented times.
As all the cruise lines and the industry in general look to the future, they’re focused on health, safety and keeping their guests interested in coming back. It is a resilient industry and the #wewillbeback continues to make the rounds on social media. It’s a vow they plan to make good on, and considering their track record, they’re sure to succeed.
