The cruise industry’s annual deep dive into the latest news, innovations, builds, technology, trends and leadership is a hybrid virtual/live event with the live event taking place again in Miami Beach 27- 30SEP.
While trends like sustainable cruising, polar/expedition cruising, and new cruise lines made a splash, for the travel trade, there are two fundamental takeaways from this year’s Seatrade Cruise Global:
Cruise COVID Protocols are Working - and They’re Here to Stay
Cruise line health executives are all on board - and mostly on the same page - when it comes to the health protocols that will keep cruising as safe as possible as the new variants develop and the pandemic evolves.
Testing and vaccination will be key.
During the ‘International Health and Safety Update’, Dr. Calvin Johnson, Royal Caribbean’s chief medical officer, admitted that earlier testing protocols were a bit of a mixed bag of success, but now, “earlier detection and more testing” are fundamental to reducing the spread of the virus on board ships. He praised quick adaptation and development of new testing products that are “safe and effective.”
Other health officials described “cherry picking” a list of best practices that would be the basis of the return to cruising, with 100 per cent crew vaccination at its core.
Cruise executives agree the system is working - and it’s starting to bear fruit.
Demand - and Capacity - are Up
In the midst of the Seatrade conference, Cruise Industry News reported that capacity is increasing by over 8 per cent in OCT.
“Just over 350,000 berths will be back in revenue operation across the global cruise industry for the month of October, representing an 8.3 percent increase in cruise capacity,” its report states, along with a prediction that growth in capacity will continue in the final months of the year.
Cruise executives attending Seatrade were equally positive.
In his keynote address, CLIA Global Chairman Pierfrancesco Vago predicted that 80 per cent of the global cruise fleet would be operating by the end of DEC this year.
Executives stressed that health protocols are working, even when there is a case of the virus onboard.
Royal Caribbean Group chairman and CEO, Richard Fain, said every day they continue to cruise, they are demonstrating how health protocols are effective. He added that he’s expecting 100 per cent occupancy in core markets by the end of 2021.
“People have moved from the zero-risk mindset,”said Arnold Donald, president and CEO of Carnival Corp. Instead, they’re learning to live with the virus in society, and those who have cruised see and learn how much care is taken with health precautions, making them “comfortable” with the cruise environment - and crucially, publicizing that approval.
“The most powerful marketing tool there is is word of mouth. As we continue to sail safely and successfully and people have the time of their life, they're going to communicate that,” he told the conference.
Fain even notes that the return to cruise is not entirely driven by returning cruisers.
“We all assumed' the rebound would be fueled by experienced cruisers, however, Royal Caribbean is actually attracting first-timers thanks to the protocols.”
