Optimism for the broad return of cruising remains high, as was evidenced at last week’s Seatrade Cruise Virtual conference. Cruise travel has already resumed in Europe — as have limited small-ship sailings from the U.S. — but mainstream American sailings are still on pause until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) permits them.
Following are key takeaways from the event.
COVID-19 Vaccines
There is no greater concern for cruising right now than the prevention of COVID-19, and the segment has established several health and safety protocols to mitigate the risk of contraction. Even before COVID-19 vaccines were available, MSC Cruises proved that its multilayered approach to health and safety was successful in Europe, and the recent distribution of vaccines in the U.S. are an added opportunity to reduce spread of the disease.
“I look at vaccines — and the prevalence of vaccinations, and vaccinated guests and vaccinated crews, as we see that start to become more and more real over time — as being one other measure that we can put into the toolkit to mitigate the risks,” said Bud Darr, executive vice president of maritime policy and government affairs for the MSC Group.
Although most cruise lines have adopted some form of vaccine requirement for U.S. sailings, Carnival Corporation has not widely mandated them, besides on select Seabourn Cruise Line sailings.
The reason? They are “not largely accessible to most people around the world, and children under the age of 16 cannot, at the moment, get access to the vaccine,” said Grant Tarling, chief medical officer, group health services for Carnival Corporation, which has already resumed operations with AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises.
Nonetheless, “we, like every other public health professional in the world, encourage and want everybody to be vaccinated,” he added.
Darr believes the CDC’s approach is “rather dated,” and that requiring test cruises before proceeding no longer makes sense when real voyages are already happening safely. However, he is “optimistic that they might be open to either replacing that completely, or at least significantly modifying where they’re at.”
Coronavirus Testing and Tracing
As there may initially be a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated populations onboard and onshore, testing for the coronavirus will continue to be a part of cruising for about a year or so, predicts Simon Mockler, head of section, advisory Americas for DNV (a registrar and classification society for the maritime industry).
Contact tracing among guests and crew is also being rolled out, and Royal Caribbean International is currently requiring guests to don a wearable tracker that digitally monitors where they were and for how long, according to Patrik Dahlgren, senior vice president of global marine operations for parent company Royal Caribbean Group. CCTV systems can further integrate and verify what close contacts were doing — and even whether they were wearing a mask at the time. However, customers should not be concerned about privacy, as such personal information is only gathered as needed (and temporarily).
“It’s only in case of an emergency, being used when you have a case,” Dahlgren said. “Since it’s only onboard a ship, the data will be destroyed after the cruise.”
The Pandemic’s Effect on Cruise Ship Dining
In the short term, even though it is difficult for chefs to taste the food they are preparing, “everyone is cooking with masks on,” said Jacques Van Staden, vice president of food and beverage for MSC Cruises. He indicated that it was “relatively easy” to adjust main dining rooms for physical distancing, but “the buffet was a little more challenging.”
The once self-serve, free-for-all buffet is currently fully served by crew, requiring extra staff members, additional sneeze guards, directional passenger flows and more grab-and-go items. Also trending is more individualized service with compartmentalized plating via bento boxes.
In the future, Van Staden believes dining venues will remain “more of a contactless environment,” and that QR code menus will probably continue in the future, too.
The Onboard Entertainment Experience
Meanwhile, onboard entertainment will look quite different for the time being.
“You’ve never seen more drum screens in your life,” said Mike Moloney, president of Mike Moloney Entertainment LLC, regarding the isolation of performers.
But “we can’t wait to get back to losing these screens, losing these masks, losing all of this and going back to embracing an audience,” he added.
At the moment, face coverings may need to be incorporated into a stage character’s costume, as well as their wardrobe changes, and virtual queuing may be required to maintain distancing in an entertainment environment.
Return to Normal Cruising and Silver Linings
Some benefits of the onboard experience due to currently reduced guest capacities are a more voluminous passenger-to-space ratio and better crew-to-passenger ratio for enhanced service. Hospitality is in the unusual position of enforcing mask requirements for now, but Bernhard Stacher, vice president of global hotel operations for MSC Cruises, hopes lines “don’t have to maintain it (for) too long.”
As most things return to pre-pandemic normalcy, others will improve post-pandemic as a result of new innovations. Jay Schneider, chief product innovation officer for Royal Caribbean Group points out that, in the past, guests have said they don’t feel like they are on vacation until day two of a cruise. However, by streamlining and “reimagining” the likes of muster drills conveniently — and virtually — away from crowds, some wrinkles are being ironed out for the better.
Similarly, Jan Swartz, group president for Holland America Group, is excited that the Princess Cruises brand will return to service with its ships equipped with the brand’s latest OceanMedallion technology, up from just five vessels before the pandemic.
This Year’s Cruise Booking Outlook
In the meantime, reservations are through the roof, according to Josh Leibowitz, president of Seabourn Cruise Line. In fact, he is seeing multiple bookings made by customers for the holiday 2021 season.
“I anticipate a significant shortage in available space in the leisure business in the coming year, year and a half,” he said.
The Details
SeatradeCruise Virtual
www.seatradecruiseevents.com
