Other value propositions may also be at play. For cruisers who had to cancel one or several voyages in 2020, these once-in-a-lifetime itineraries are emerging as a good way to cash in on credits they have. Through the last 12 months, cruise lines have encouraged travelers not to seek refunds by offering 10% to 25% added value in the form of “bonus credits,” which on some lines need to be redeemed by April 2022.
Cruise lines are also ramping up the VIP freebies they offer long-term guests, such as free dry cleaning, Wi-Fi, and visa services. To help lock in ship occupancies for an extended period and guarantee income on their bright-red balance sheets, they are adding lavish pre-departure parties, business class airfare, and thousands of dollars in onboard spending credits.
An Argument for Safety
Among folks raring to get back to sea are Linda Weissman and her husband Marty, a retired orthopedic surgeon. The pair has escaped the cold temperatures in Michigan and “wintered” on Cunard world cruises 14 times—always staying in a top Queen’s Grill suite and spending millions of dollars in the process. They plan to do further four-month world outing on Queen Mary 2 in 2022.
“I miss the people, the service, being waited on and taken care of like royalty 24/7,” Linda says. “It’s like, ‘Do you want escargot tonight?’”
After the pandemic, passengers will have to grapple with some serious concerns, including the frequency of outbreaks on ships that had promised buttoned-up Covid protocols last summer and fall. Despite those headlines, Viking’s Marnell says world cruisers will benefit from a safe, “constant environment” in which travelers can feel comfortable hanging out for a long period of time. Like other lines, his company’s ships have been outfitted with labs for frequent PCR testing and new air purification systems, among other measures.
The safety of shore visits, however, remains a looming question mark—particularly in countries where vaccinations have not yet begun to roll out in any substantial way. While cruise companies are generally working on plans to ensure safety at these ports of call, the fast-changing nature of travel recommendations and long lead times before itineraries can resume mean that those details have not yet been broadly released.
Far From Guaranteed
For cruise companies to carry off these plans, many things will need to break their way. The Viking cruise in December 2021 is set to sail to 56 ports in 27 countries, including spots in Central America, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand, Asia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean—with fares from $53,000 to $166,000 per person.
The company, like others offering world cruises, will have to navigate the complexity of constantly changing entry requirements and quarantine rules in a world that may not reach herd immunity for years.
The unknowns surrounding government regulations will make it difficult for cruise lines to plan itineraries, says Virtuoso’s Upchurch. “Having to change course once a voyage is underway is not practical. It’s costly, and it does nothing for restoring consumer confidence,” he says.
Cruise lines are hoping that by the time these distant itineraries set sail, Covid won’t be an issue; should border closures persist for longer than expected, these itineraries may need to be postponed, just like the rest of the cruise calendar.
What nobody wants is a repeat of last winter. As Covid-19 spread, world cruises had to be scrapped midway through, with passengers sent home on hastily arranged flights or stranded on ships. One result, though, is that travelers have come to understand that “nothing is guaranteed,” Upchurch says.
That goes for the Weissmans of Michigan. They had to pack their 10 bags (eight for Linda) and fly home from Perth when their world cruise on the QM2 was cut short last March. They’re hoping for the best in 2022.
“Every day on Facebook it pops up where we were on this day [last year],” Linda says. “Today, it popped up we were in Bali, drinking Bloody Marys. I mean, come on.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.