Cruising can transport you from majestic crystal clear waters to skylines of sprawling cities. But even if you are eagerly awaiting your next cruise — sadly, you may just have to wait a little longer.
It hasn’t been smooth sailing for the cruise industry during the global pandemic and as Australia continues to face setbacks (erm, thanks, Melbourne), the return of international and domestic cruise dates are still in uncharted waters.
At the beginning of the outbreak, ships such as the Princess Cruises’ Diamond Princess were forced into quarantine when passengers tested positive for COVID-19.
Three months into the pandemic, more than 40,000 crew workers remained stranded at sea waiting to discover when they would be able to return to their own countries.
Other ships lie empty unable to dock as a result of the restrictions, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Australia, New Zealand and Spain have all extended their cruise ship bans until later this year, while the US have placed a sailing “pause” until September 15 at the earliest.
The Trans-Tasman Bubble
It was with a glimmer of hope that the Trans-Tasman Bubble (that’s the exclusive travel “corridor” between New Zealand and Australia ) was to reopen between Australia and New Zealand as early as July 1, but as New Zealand reported additional new cases of 19 (from two travellers from the UK bringing the virus back into the country), our hopes of cruising the horizon have been set back until at least September.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says that there are no specific dates set in stone, “We haven’t put an arbitrary timeline on it because that simply comes down to a judgement that does rely on daily data,” she told the press recently. “This will be two-way decision making with anyone with whom we’re opening our borders up with.”
Australia’s largest domestic and international airline Qantas, heightened the travel severity, when CEO Alan Joyce stated that all international flying will be suspended unless a coronavirus vaccine is released, with the exception of New Zealand and a handful of other ‘travel bubble’ destinations.
“We might get trans-Tasman (travel) before then, we may get other nations opening up with bubbles,” but he doesn’t expect Qantas’ international network to restart “in any real size (until) July next year.”
It’s a Cruise-tastrophe
While this unprecedented global health crisis inhibits our international journeys for now, there’s still optimism flowing about for domestic small-ship cruise operators in Australia, but with Australia’s 2nd-largest city back into coronavirus lock-down, businesses are once again struggling to reboot.
Although, there’s still hope lingering. Domestic cruise companies such as Murray Cruises, operating the Murray Princess down the Murray River, and Coral Expeditions, operating “small-ship expeditions to exotic and remote locations surrounding Australia”, plan to resume business this month.
P&O Australia, one of Australia’s largest cruise companies, is still on a voluntary operational pause until October.
The Plan of Action
Just when domestic small-ship cruise operators thought we’d be able to cruise the shores surrounding Australia again, the Australian Tourism Restart Task force, who met for the eighth time on July 3rd, noted their concerns for restarting domestic tourism.
There has been, understandably, a lot of uncertainty about future travel plans. The Australia’s Tourism Restart Task force have stated that international travel should go ahead as previously planned.
The Trans-Tasman bubble travel should be the first to kick off the travel band-wagon, followed by other countries that are “safe” to travel to in October. International travel to approved destinations will begin by December 15, although there is a possibility that international travel to specific destinations will not resume as far as July 2021.
However, with Melbourne in current lock down (again), Australian borders still to reopen, international travel banned, and the second wave of the pandemic and the unknown future of a vaccine — there is still a difficult task ahead for the Australia’s Tourism Restart Task force, and for the future of travel in general.
Where Do We Go from Here?
While this unprecedented global health crisis inhibits our journeys for now, we are looking ahead with great optimism.
Hang tight - we’ll be smooth sailing in no time!
