New CDC cruise restrictions- the end of Baltic cruising this summer?

[Belfast Taxman]

Whilst I appreciate that the CDC restrictions apply directly only to the US and its citizens, they effectively rule out passengers from the USA and Canada to cruising until mid July at the earliest. They also mean that no cruise ship currently in US coastal waters cannot sail to Europe before that date as crew members cannot be transferred onto the ships. So that appears to mean a lot of cruise companies will have few if any ships in Europe before end of July.  

Few ships, fewer US passengers can only mean one thing I fear.

 

 

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, Belfast Taxman said:

Whilst I appreciate that the CDC restrictions apply directly only to the US and its citizens, they effectively rule out passengers from the USA and Canada to cruising until mid July at the earliest. They also mean that no cruise ship currently in US coastal waters cannot sail to Europe before that date as crew members cannot be transferred onto the ships. So that appears to mean a lot of cruise companies will have few if any ships in Europe before end of July.  

Few ships, fewer US passengers can only mean one thing I fear.

 

 

I'm not really sure the CDC restrictions apply to ships not in US waters. They have no jurisdiction over any ships outside the US.

 

However, there are also restrictions in many, many ports outside the US saying no cruise ships. We had a Norwegian fjords cruise, not a Baltic cruise, booked for this summer before we cancelled. Following these boards I saw some of our ports closed to cruise ships quite a while ago. We also worried about whether our flights between Newark and London would still be scheduled when we were leaving in late July or returning in early August.

[Belfast Taxman]

You are right (and so was I); the CDC restrictions only apply to the US, US residents and any ships in US coastal waters. The point I was making in relation to cruising in the Baltic was that a very large number of ships are now effectively unable to leave US coastal waters and under these restrictions no US resident passengers would be able to cruise in say Europe. So the impact whilst indirect is likely to be huge.

[GastroGnome]

The restriction does not prevent the ships leaving US waters.  Only that they cannot board crew or passengers.  As long as they can get across they can restock and recrew in europe if they wish.  Several lines are also europe based and their ships are already here.  Some ports are closed to minimize the risk of importing infections - that is bound to continue for a while.  But it is far too soon to say categorically that the baltic season - or any other european season - is definitely cancelled.

 

 

[Belfast Taxman]

3 hours ago, GastroGnome said:

The restriction does not prevent the ships leaving US waters.  Only that they cannot board crew or passengers.  As long as they can get across they can restock and recrew in europe if they wish.  Several lines are also europe based and their ships are already here.  Some ports are closed to minimize the risk of importing infections - that is bound to continue for a while.  But it is far too soon to say categorically that the baltic season - or any other european season - is definitely cancelled.

 

 

I do hope you are right, but ..... IF the CDC restrictions continue to apply, then the larger cruise ships that depend upon a significant number of US passengers to be able to cruise on a financially realistic basis will simply not cruise. The cost to the cruise lines of having to repatriate US passengers from the first port of re-entry back into the USA to their final destination by private transportation is so great that it means, effectively, no US cruisers. 

I would agree that those cruise lines that operate in the Baltic without a significant number of US passengers, particularly the smaller ships, could potentially continue, but then we hit other issues such as whether ports will be open, whether inter-European flights will be available, and indeed whether the cruising experience will remain attractive to customers and crews alike.

Until there is a reliable vaccine, and the main obstacles can be removed, I doubt whether the vast majority of cruise activity can continue, indeed I have just heard that the Italian government have announced that whilst some restrictions are being lifted next week, many will remain until a new vaccine is available. So no cruising in Italy until then.