Cruising is Coming Back!!

Cruising is making a come back in the UK! Over the last couple of weeks, many cruise lines have announced resumptions to cruising… so many so that its been a bit tough to keep up! With the UK set to allow limited cruising options to resume as early as May, and some other European and Asian countries already allowing cruising to take place in 2021, there’s been announcement after announcement made with new, exciting itineraries. So lets check them out! In the UK, British brands Cunard and P&O Cruises have both announced plans to resume sailings this year, offering a series of short voyages from British ports. Cunard will send Queen Elizabeth on three to twelve night cruises from Southampton; with departures taking place between July and October. P&O will offer cruises aboard Britannia, while their newest flagship Iona will undertake its maiden voyage to Scotland’s Iona Island – the ship’s namesake. Fellow Carnival Corporation brand Princess Cruises are set to cast off with Regal Princess and Sky Princess both ready to offer UK voyages from late July. Viking cruises will send their newest ship, Viking Venus, to sail in the UK market as early as May, while MSC will also be resuming voyages in early with Virtuosa setting sail from Southampton on 20 May. Fred Olsen will launch their new Borealis and Bolette cruise ships during the Summer, with voyages commencing on July 5 and August 16 respectively, and Saga Cruises’ Spirit of Discovery will resume cruising in June. Spirit of Adventure will set sail on her first revenue service from Tilbury in July. Royal Caribbean will return to UK cruising from 7 July with their Quantum Class cruise ship Anthem of the Seas. Sister brand Celebrity Cruises will resume UK voyages aboard Celebrity Silhouette in July, while the brand is also set to return to European ports with the brand new Celebrity Apex due to start cruising in Greece from June. In an exciting move for lovers of Disney, the Disney Magic will sail a series of UK based voyages this summer. Disney Magic has ridden out the cruise pause in Dover, where she was set to cruise on UK itineraries when the cruise pause commenced. Additionally Hurtigruten are offering limited cruises aboard their 2003-built MS Maud, which has just completed a refurbishment in preparation for the resumption of cruising. All of the initial round-UK voyages are open to UK residents only, with international travel still facing restrictions. Additionally, there are a variety of vaccine or COVID testing requirements depending on the cruise line you’re keen to travel with – so check the cruise line websites for details. Further afield, other cruise lines are also offering voyages from selected ports. RCI have been undertaking a steady return to cruising, with Quantum of the Seas already sailing from Singapore, Odyssey of the Seas set to cruise from Israel from May and Vision of the Seas set to resume cruising in the Caribbean in June. Genting’s Crystal Cruises are offering cruises in the Bahamas aboard Crystal Serenity from July 2021, while sister-brand Dream Cruises have also been cruising for some time, having commenced voyages from Taiwan aboard Explorer Dream way back in July 2020. Additionally, the brand is also offering cruises from Singapore aboard the World Dream. In Australia, local brand Coral Expeditions are cruising with their ship Coral Adventurer off the coast of Western Australia, and have recently accepted delivery of their newest ship Coral Geographer, which set sail from Cairns on 31 March. In Europe, AIDA set sail in March with AIDAperla while Costa Smeralda and Costa Luminosa will both head back to sea in May. All voyages in 2021 come with caveats – some are adults only, many require COVID vaccines and all have testing requirements. Some voyages are limited to certain nationalities – so before you book, make sure you do your research. I’ve linked to some good articles about the various restarts in the description below. What cruises are you most excited to see returning? -- ▶ SUBSCRIBE for regular cruise ship updates & maritime history: https://bit.ly/38BR2DK​ ▶ READ: My Maritime History books: https://bit.ly/3nISs3w​ (not sponsored) ▶ COLOUR IN: Our Cunard or P&O Colouring Book: https://bit.ly/3nISs3w​ (not sponsored) ▶LISTEN: To The Big Cruise Podcast: https://thebigcruisepodcast.com/episodes/ (not sponsored) ▶ CHECK OUT my Cunard history website: https://www.chriscunard.com/​ ▶ PHOTO SUPPORT: 1) Huge thanks to Andrew Sassoli-Walker https://www.solentphotographer.com/​ including the thumbnail. 2) Disney Magic - CC BY SA 4.0 Pjotr Mahhonin https://bit.ly/3cBQlMG -- Music: YouTube Audio. -- #cruisenews #cruiserestart #cruiseship #wewillbeback -- Some articles: Cunard: https://bit.ly/3rGbSbk Dream Cruises: https://bit.ly/3fweaaH Hurtigruten: https://bit.ly/39wqWlD P&O: https://bit.ly/2PJxnuw Big Cruise Podcast: https://thebigcruisepodcast.com