NEWS UPDATE: P&O works on May 31 restart, new health protocols, plus Westerdam redeployed to Aus!

Watch the Health Protocol video here: https://youtu.be/49D240qIklY Join my private Facebook group for cruise deals, tips and advice - the more members we have, the better we’ll get! www.facebook.com/groups/CTGdeals Follow me on Facebook and Instagram: www.facebook.com/thecruiseandtravelguy www.instragram.com/thecruiseandtravelguy Head to my website for great cruise and travel deals: www.thecruiseandtravelguy.com.au With the cruise restart only weeks away, P&O continues to prepare for their first passenger cruise on May 31st. On its Facebook page, the line shared that its entertainment cast have been busy in rehearsals this week, getting ready for showtime onboard Pacific Explorer. P&O Cruises President Marguerite Fitzgerald also confirmed that the cruise line is in the process of welcoming crew members to the ship, saying: “Welcoming our first Ni Vanuatu crew back onboard our ships is an exciting moment and a demonstration of the respect we have for our Vanuatu team mates who will play a major role in helping us to get back into operation.” Pacific Explorer is currently docked at Sydney’s White Bay cruise terminal, but she will soon be on the move. According to the NSW Port Authority schedule, she will head to move to the Overseas Passenger Terminal on May 7th, before moving to anchorage at Athol Bay on May 10th. I’m not clear on the reason for her movements, but I do know the ship will be carrying out various safety drills and training exercises so I imagine it’s all part of the preparation for her return to service. This week, both P&O and Princess announced their long-awaited health and safety protocols and requirements for their upcoming cruise seasons. I’ve made a video specifically about the announcement which you can watch by clicking the card or the link in the description below. Princess has released arguably a more comprehensive set of information than sister line P&O, but the overall approach is much the same. There may be changes to the protocols and requirements as time goes on, and the best place to get up to date information is directly on the respective cruise line’s website. Princess also confirmed this week that their first few voyages sailing from Brisbane will have a limited passenger capacity, though they didn’t confirm what that limit is. Eventually, the capacity will be increased, save for a few cabins that will be kept vacant for isolation purposes as required. I’ve been keeping an eye on P&O’s May 31st departure and noticed this week that the voyage is now entirely waitlisted. That means new bookings won’t be accepted, but if you have missed out, you can book onto the waitlist. Whether or not P&O have reduced their capacity on the earliest of their cruises is unknown, though I imagine they would have at least some cabins set aside for isolation purposes. We have known for some time that Virgin Voyages was going to base one of its adult only, cutting edge ships in Australia. Recently the line announced a series of repositioning cruises which would see their third ship, Resilient Lady, make her way down under from Athens in late 2023. This week, Virgin Voyages announced that their lady ship will be home ported in Melbourne, where she will undertake a series of cruises focused on both Tasmania, New Zealand and ranging in length from 2 to 14 nights. Curiously, Resilient Lady will arrive in Sydney on December 5th, with no cruises scheduled between that date and December 11th when she’s set to embark on her first scheduled cruise from Melbourne. I imagine the line will put on a couple of industry events with a shakedown cruise or two during that time. Holland America Line announced this week that they would be redeploying their ship, Westerdam, from her scheduled Asian cruise season to Australia. It almost felt like some kind of backwards world, reading about a cruise line redeploying a ship to Australia instead from Australia. The 80k gross tonne Westerdam has been in service since 2004 and will appeal to those of you that enjoy a more traditional style of cruising, foregoing the cutting edge attractions of the newest ships from other lines and instead focusing on both service and destination. Westerdam will be the final Holland America ship returning to service when she departs Seattle for Alaska on June 12th, and instead of repositioning to Asia at the conclusion of that season, she will come over to Australia and New Zealand for a series of local itineraries. The new range of voyages will be announced and available to book in the coming days so keep an eye out for those. Thanks for watching, and see you soon!