5 Things This Pandemic Taught Us About Cruising. I discuss the 5 biggest things this pandemic has taught us about cruising. The good, bad and sometimes surprising, and revealing, things we learnt about the cruise industry and cruising as a result of the pandemic.
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Gary Bembridge’s Tips For Travellers aims to help you make more of your precious travel time and money on land and when cruising the oceans or rivers of the world. To help you, in every video I draw on my first-hand tips and advice from travelling every month for over 20 years and 77 cruises at time of making this video.
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36 Comments
Environmental issues? Airbus is actively developing aircraft with smaller capacities and that burn hydrogen. Net-zero carbon emissions technologies are the way forward, but where's similar development happening in the cruise industry? Flags of convenience is an issue easily resolved, but more than that, the industry badly needs a PR makeover in the US. The image cultivated by cruising companies is hardly conducive to attracting, for instance, adventure/eco-travelers, but that's perhaps the fastest-growing segment in the travel industry. Including options for medical and repatriation insurance in cruise fares would be a no-brainer, as well. The industry needs a management makeover more than anything else right now; pushing for an accelerated return to cruising is idiotic without credible vaccination programs in place.
Maybe if some of the cruises didn’t FLY their flags of convenience in order not to follow US laws or pay US taxes, they’d get more support from the US!
Support cruising invest in cruise lines stock
Thanks, Gary, for being calm and rational. I cannot deal with the Don's Family Vacations YouTube channel anymore.
Like petulant children, cruisers who refuse to recognize the inherent risks associated with cruising will likely never get it; it infects everyone associated with the industry.
Planes and Ferries are operating. I'm pissed because I want to do a tiny bucket list. Panama canal and atlantic ocean. Not spoiled or have 100+cruises under my belt. No.
I'm healthy. Follow rules. I want my limo ride around the hospital. Kamikaze life. Let's go.
It's not just cruising. Leisure travel to any international destination is likely not really coming back until 2022 now.
I think you have distilled the key points Gary. Another learning from my perspective is how impotent CLIA is in influencing key stakeholders such as health authorities and governments more broadly.
I am waiting for QM2
Good points.
TYVM! Seems reasonable. Cruising definitely has a PR problem. Hopefully not in my lifetime, but I think the less-travel, global-warming secular trends will be very tough on Cruising, regardless of viruses.
I hope everything gets back to normal soon. I won't be going back to cruising until everything gets back to normal.
Unfortunately, I can't see myself ever going on a cruise again. I recognized recently that every single time I've gone on a cruise, I've always come home sick. I remember one cruise where I had to take off work for days after my return – even after the cruise line was closing food stations and putting up hand sanitizer everywhere. A week of illness isn't worth the enjoyment of a cruise, especially when the symptoms begin on the last or second to last day.
Even after this virus is gone, there will still be other viruses around, and there may simply be no way for the cruise industry to address the general problem of disease spreading too easily on their ships.
In the scheme of things, eventually the cruise companies and cruisers will benefit from this shake out.
Now and then a company and an industry needs to do a reality check and re think new goals and policies and procedures.
More often than not, things improve once the disaster is long over.
Super and very informative video, as always. Thank you for this. You are dead right that this crisis has shown how few real allies the cruise lines have in terms of people in government with the ability to do something. It’s a real wake up call. As usual, the media have focused on the bad outcomes and have been virtually silent since cruising resumed without incident in Europe. But you might be surprised to learn that some alleged cruise enthusiasts on sites like Cruise Critic are still arguing that people shouldn’t take future cruise credits for canceled cruises because “they’re going to go bankrupt anyway.“ And this is from people who should be supporting the industry, not running it down.
Have to respect Gary for this, since Youtube will likely de-monetize him for this having said too many trigger words about the virus, but puts out a well thought out video just the same!
Cruising is completely done for a while , enough to go bankrupt for sure.
I am not a cruiser, but I don't feel strongly against those who love it, but to suggest cruising was just unlucky in the process is a joke, and the comparison with airlines is not appropriate, particularly given many people fly to start the cruise anyway (as noted airlines are business and transport/freight critical and have better air filtration etc. As a Sydney sider who watched their city thrown into panic over the the Ruby princess that still represents around 30% of all deaths in NSW in total. Other ships that left at similar times all ended up with people infected, and Perth had to be locked down, People came off the ruby princess and flew all over the country and the world spreading the virus. The issues with cruise ships are obvious to those in health, large number of people in close proximity, lots of shared spaces and critically a large ratio of at risk people old and often overweight with co-morbidities. The gastric issues over the years show this is nothing new, just a nastier bug.
Deeply appreciate the perspective on cruising, and hope we can get back to it soon. Thank you.
I really really miss cruising
Hi Gary. Another terrific report. As I mentioned we have a 10 day Caribbean cruise booked for April of '21. We think that is now a question mark. We then have a 14 day transatlantic booked for October of '21 on The Apex and then a transpacific from Austrailia booked on Celebrity in April of '22. Do you believe our April of '21 is a good possibility? We do not have a problem with masks. We do however are concerned with restricted excursions. We like going out on our own. We are most concerned with the cruise in the Caribbean. What are your thoughts????
The way the NSW and Australian Governments delt with the passengers and Crew of the Ruby Princess was Absolutely Disgraceful and Not only Us but governments of other countries around the world.
Thousands of innocent people on Cruise Ships were Abandoned even by their Own Countries.
These people that suffered Such Contempt they Should have Used Part of their passports to wipe their Ass on when they ran out of Toilet Paper, that is the page that says to all foreign government to offer All help and Assistance if needed, to the Bearer of this Passport.
Next he be stating that Tesco going be ok. He just stating the obvious. CMV were never going to come out of this like Carnival group
Yes, it was a game of musical chairs when pandemic broke out. Last ships to port didn't get a seat. Certainly cruising isn't a media darling because marketing revenue goes to colorful brochures and mailings. They know how to best reach their audience.⛴⚓
CCL (Carnival stock is just over 15.00 dollars down from $50.00 when this whole thing started. But now, hold for at least a year. That's what I'm doing.
Media coverage: "if it bleeds it leads", no big surprise there. It appears people are FNALLY realizing that a Covid 19 infection is NOT an automatic death sentence! (think "Emperor's New Clothes" google it) As to investing in cruise lines: $500 minimum per passenger X 3000 passengers=$1,500,000 ($1.5 mil EVERY 7DAYS gross sales no counting booze. 4 cruises a month = $6,000,000 a month PER SHIP! You darn right I invested! Antigen tests are $5 a piece and results in 15 minutes prior to boarding is coming (and yes it's not 100% but what is??) Bottom line we learned from the Pandemic is there is a lot of naïve people in this world.
Could future cruise ships carry cargo like hurtigruten do on Norwegian coast voyages .Maybe there is scope here for cruise ships to carry supplies to remote places around the world this would maybe generate a bit of addition revenue for the cruise lines.To Alaska ports maybe. As the ships have seemed to have got bigger.
Excellent and informative. Thank you.
What have we learned?
That demoncrats want masks on from the date of your birth till your funeral.
Insanity, but a lot of people like that.
I LOVE working from home and not really doing any work and just watching youtube, while my boss complains about my low production!!!! SUCK IT PIG VOMIT (thats what i call my boss
Can you compare all inclusive resorts in the Caribbean islands to cruise ships in 2021?
Just as a point. the Diamond princess was not the ONLY Coronavirus event linked to cruise ships. The Ruby princess in Australia, despite a monumental cock up in the local government level was singlehandedly responsible for introducing the Coronavirus around Australia in areas it wouldnt have otherwise appeared. The passengers were all infected on the ship and spread it all across the country. So many people got sick and died due to the Ruby Princess coronavirus outbreak
That being said I am looking forward to cruising again when I am able.
Outstanding Video
The RUBY PRINCESS which berthed in Sydney was involved in a major health issue when the New South Wales (State government) allowed passengers to disembark. This spread COVID-19 throughout Sydney and beyond, including other major cities like Melbourne. It was a major disaster which caused massive health issues and was very poorly handled, mainly by the State Government.
Not as big a demand as expected? Where do many cruisers come from? The USA and Great Britain. But we are not allowed to travel to Europe and sail.
Since the recent rise in cases in the USA and Europe in October and November this is a good thing.
Hurtigruten literally means the swift-route. It is only partly a cruise line, as it services the fjords that can otherwise not easily be accessed in any other way (flying in or crooked roads over a lot of mountains simply isn’t as viable as Hurtigruten). The cruise part, is because Norway is such a beautiful country, and the cruise side keeps them having a fuller ship.