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Cruise lines prepare ships for return of service

Cruising Update Week set Nov. 16-20
November 4, 2020

Cruise ships may have been docked over the past few months, but the cruise lines have been busy focusing on how to bring them back into service while keeping both staff and passengers healthy.

Two of the largest cruise lines combined forces and invested billions of dollars and months of work in a collaborated effort to bring cruising back in a strictly controlled and safe fashion. The result of their task force efforts and the recommended protocols is a renewed confidence in cruising now that the U.S. travel advisory for Americans has been lowered.

Annette Stellhorn, owner of Accent on Travel with offices in Rehoboth Beach, Wilmington and Towson, Md., notes that confidence is high in the cruise industry for a strong comeback, with all safety and health protocols in place, by early January if not late December. Stellhorn said, “We won’t see every ship out there in the beginning since the focus will be on a protected environment for everyone who gets on or near a ship. But confidence is high that the return will come quickly. Cruise line owners, even faced with the economic challenge of the complete cessation of cruising since the pandemic hit months ago, did not cancel any previously planned new builds, which speaks positively to the growth prospects of the industry.”

Stellhorn currently serves as media representative for the American Society of Travel Advisors, Delaware Valley Chapter. She also sits on the board of directors for Signature Travel Network, a co-operative of the travel industry’s leading retail travel agencies established more than 60 years ago, which generated over $7 billion in annual travel sales in 2019.  She also is an advisor to the Travel Corporation, which owns 40 worldwide travel and hospitality brands including Uniworld River Cruises, and is frequently interviewed by the Cleveland Research Company and other national media.

As the largest retailer of cruises in Delaware, Accent on Travel’s certified cruise consultants continued to work through the shutdown, quickly assisting hundreds of clients who had immediate travel plans. They continued their work by moving millions of dollars in cruise vacations from 2020 to 2021 or 2022 departures, consulting with their clients as changes were made. By July, the uptick of new reservations for U.S. hotel stays, villa and home rentals, and consumer-driven cruise offers for next year had begun from current clients. But new clients calls came in as well from those never using a travel advisor before but deeply frustrated with hours of on-hold time trying to cancel and get a refund from reservations made directly with some of the travel suppliers.

Stellhorn said, “As any other service industry, we charge professional fees. But for the cost of a nice lunch for two, you can have a trained professional managing your cruise vacation. That investment choice proved invaluable this year.”

She said, “Our entire business environment changed very quickly from in-person consultations designing and selling into phone or virtual meeting consultations canceling and redesigning their vacation plans. Thankfully, we are back to designing and selling, but we still offer by-phone or virtual consultations as well as in-person consultations at our office following all recommended local safety protocols. But the conversation has changed to include information on required COVID-19 testing for the destination and a personalized review of travel insurance coverage options for a possible COVID-19 situation at home or while traveling.

“Cruising may end up being the safest location outside of your home due to the industry’s own efforts,” Stellhorn said. “The 68-page/74-point recommendations provided to the CDC in September by the cruise line task force, called the Healthy Sail Panel Recommendations, exceed any protocols or requirements I have heard in place for any currently open public or private U.S. facility. In my opinion, cruise lines will come up ahead, eliminating the risk of influenza and other viruses onboard as well.”

Stellhorn explained that protocols are broken down by ship size and include such items as use of new air filtration systems, virus-killing coating on stair rails and table tops, mandatory pre-embarkation quarantine for crew members and daily onboard testing, shore-side controlled environment excursions, passenger occupancy under 60 percent for larger ships, and much more. The report is available by email at no cost to anyone interested in what the cruise lines are suggesting to the CDC; email Accent on Travel at consulting@accentontravel.com to request a copy.

Stellhorn said, “It appears that Caribbean cruise itineraries will lead the way to reopening in January since the cruise lines can use private islands and have the connections to control the shore excursion environment. Then we have a few months to work with our neighbors in Canada before the summer season of cruising in Alaska starts, which is expected to sell out very quickly. Since many cruise lines servicing Americans are owned by Europeans, the new protocols should be able to cross the Atlantic fairly easily to allow the Europe summer cruise season to begin on schedule and the rest of the world to follow. Smaller ships, those with fewer than 1,200 passengers, are getting the lion’s share of new reservations with cruisers looking for more space with fewer people. The larger ships’ response is to focus on selling their more ‘exclusive’ onboard spaces such as NCL’s Haven or Celebrity Cruise’s Retreat and keep the least-expensive staterooms empty. This fulfills the under 60 percent protocol for mega-ships and allows for more public space per passenger.”

In an effort to keep the traveling public informed about the future of cruising, Accent on Travel has created Cruising Update Week, which features a different cruise line-hosted virtual event every afternoon giving the inside scoop on their line’s efforts, the impact on the onboard and shore-side experience, their planned itineraries when they resume again, and exclusive offerings for virtual event participants. Featured cruise lines include Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Princess Cruises featuring Alaska, and several more. 

Cruising Update Week is Monday to Friday, Nov. 16 to 20. Virtual events are free and open to the public. Each event is limited to 100 households, and registration is required. To be added to the invitee list, email consulting@accentontravel.com.

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