What does the CDC lifting their "No Sail Order" mean to your cruise vacation?

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In the midst of a busy news cycle these days, did you catch that the CDC lifted the “Do Not Sail” advisory that has been in place since March forbidding any cruise ship from operating in US waters?  So what does this mean?  Can ships start sailing again right away?   No, it is more complicated than just restarting cruises where we left off when shut down last March and we do understand the need for changes.

Most of the cruise lines have voluntarily suspended their operations into January 2021. The CDC order does add some challenges for cruise lines before they begin operating again.  Ships will all need to be recertified and several new requirements will include Covid-19 testing, quarantine facilities and much more.  The CDC also requires simulated voyages, and enhanced crew protections.

While this may sound insurmountable, cruise lines in Europe went through a similar safe return to service and it has worked. So it is not surprising that cruise lines sailing from the USA were already ahead of the CDC lifting their order.  By working with highly qualified health professionals, cruise lines have prepared extensive plans for mitigating risks for guests and crew onboard their ships.

So we are pleased to see this is positive step towards a new normal.  However, as the travel industry tries to move forward, we are also dealing with the uncertainty of a new Autumn surge in virus cases, the questionable availability of a vaccine and the current political landscape.

 We hope to see a limited return to cruising in early 2021. We do know this will be a phased in restart with limited ships, limited guests and limited itineraries.  Successful sailings will increase those limitations to the point that hopefully by spring we will start to see some more normal cruise vacations.

So will the CDC lifting their no sail order cause a rush in cruise bookings?  Well, there is definitely a pent up demand for travel.  Americans are still booking travel but are doing so further into the future than before. You might be surprised that many popular ships and itineraries are actually selling out for 2021.

River cruises, where the ships are smaller and number of guests makes it easier to social distance, are selling out in Europe but even more so on the American rivers.  We are seeing this sell out well into 2022 as well with some itineraries.   While the large ocean ships will ease into a return to service, I fully expect the smaller ships on the American rivers and coastal waterways will come back first.  Due to the number of guests onboard most of these cruise lines, they actually did not fall under the CDC no sail order.

 So whilst it is not a green light yet, we might say it is a flashing yellow to proceed with caution. We fully trust the cruise lines are taking this very seriously and will do everything they can to get it right.

One thing 2020 has shown us all is that making memories together is even more important than before.