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Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information.
When will the Great Cruise Shutdown end? That’s the question cruise fans in North America have been asking for months as they await the day when they can get back on the high seas.
While we have seen a few cruise ships resume operations in Europe and other destinations around the world since last summer, most of these vessels remain off-limits to Americans.
Meanwhile, cruising remains almost completely shut down in North America. The only cruise vessels that have resumed sailing this year in U.S. waters are small river ships on the Mississippi River and one small coastal vessel that sails along the coast of South Carolina.
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Still, the good news for cruise fans is that three major lines — Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Crystal Cruises — finally have announced definitive plans to restart North America cruising in June or July. In each case, they have found ports outside of the U.S. such as Nassau in the Bahamas that they can use as a base for their ships.
The lines have had to find new home ports for North America sailings because the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently is blocking cruise operators from sailing from U.S. ports.
Even with the recent announcements, cruising in North America isn’t expected to come back in a significant way for many months. As of right now, most cruise lines have canceled all sailings in North America through at least the end of May, and some lines have canceled at least some departures in North America far further into the year.
The only exceptions are some small-ship lines such as American Queen Steamboat Company, American Cruise Lines, Alaskan Dream Cruises and UnCruise Adventures that operate vessels on U.S. rivers and in U.S. coastal areas.
American Queen Steamboat Company and American Cruise Lines operate the small vessels that have restarted sailings on U.S. waterways in recent weeks, and the other brands hope to be back in operation soon.
For the most part, cruise lines also have canceled most sailings in other parts of the world until early June, though as mentioned above, a few ships have restarted service in Europe and other regions. Cruising also is about to ramp up in the United Kingdom, with more than half a dozen lines planning U.K.-focused cruises for U.K. residents only starting between late May and July.
In a few cases, on specific ships, voyages have been canceled as far out as early 2022. One small line that specializes in cruises to Canada, Adventure Canada, has canceled all its Canada sailings until the spring of 2022. The cancellations came after Canada announced it wouldn’t allow cruise ships to dock in Canada at all this year.
The COVID-19 pandemic also has thrown a wrench into the launch plans for startup lines Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection and Virgin Voyages. Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection has now pushed back its inaugural voyage to July 24. Virgin Voyages has pushed back its big debut in Miami to July 1. Both lines originally were due to debut in 2020.
Here’s a look at when major river, ocean and expedition cruise brands that market to North Americans say they’ll resume operations:
Adventure Canada has canceled sailings on Ocean Endeavour until 2022.
AmaWaterways has canceled its 2021 sailings through the end of May. It says it will evaluate sailings beyond that 45 days in advance of their start dates.
American Cruise Lines resumed cruises along the intracoastal waterways of Georgia and South Carolina on March 13 with one vessel, the 100-passenger Independence, and it has since added sailings on the Mississippi River with one vessel. It plans to add more of its 13 vessels back into service on U.S. waterways in the coming weeks.
American Queen Steamboat Company resumed cruises on the Mississippi River on March 15 with a sailing of its 166-passenger American Duchess, and it added a second ship to service (American Countess) on the river last week. Departures of the line’s two other vessels, American Empress and American Queen, are on hold through April 11 and May 16, respectively.
Aurora Expeditions is hoping its 132-passenger Greg Mortimer will be able to resume sailings in time for the summer Arctic cruise season.
Avalon Waterways has suspended operations through May 31 for passengers from the United States.
Azamara has canceled all departures through the end of June.
Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line is not currently operating and is no longer taking reservations for future sailings.
Birka Cruises has shut down.
Blount Small Ship Adventures has shut down.
Carnival Cruise Line has canceled departures on all 24 of its ships through the end of May, and departures on a few of its vessels have been canceled for much longer. Sailings on three Carnival vessels that require maintenance in a dry dock — Carnival Paradise, Carnival Valor and Carnival Magic — have been canceled through November.
Carnival also has canceled all Carnival Miracle sailings from San Diego through April 2023, with the exception of seven Hawaii voyages that now will depart from Long Beach, California.
The Carnival Miracle cancellations will allow for the ship to redeploy to Long Beach, where it will assume the three- and four-day itineraries that had been scheduled to take place on Carnival Radiance through Nov. 1. Carnival Miracle also will launch a new program of four- and five-day cruises to Mexico out of Long Beach starting in November through April 2023.
Carnival Radiance, in turn, will remain out of service until November to undergo an overhaul.
Celebrity Cruises plans to restart cruising in June with sailings out of the Dutch side of the island of St. Martin (known as St. Maarten) and sailings out of Athens, Greece. The line also has announced voyages out of Southampton, England, that will be limited to residents of the U.K. only. The line has canceled all sailings through the end of May and some sailings on other vessels through October.
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Celestyal Cruises, a specialist in Greek Island cruises, plans to restart cruises in the region on May 29.
Costa Cruises resumed cruises out of Italy on Sept. 6 with one ship at first and then a couple more. But the line has since shut down the operations due to travel restrictions in Europe. The line now plans to resume operations in Europe with a single vessel, Costa Smeralda, on May 1. A second vessel, Costa Luminosa, is scheduled to restart operations in Europe on May 16. All sailings through the end of April on all ships have been canceled.
Cruise & Maritime Voyages has shut down.
Crystal Cruises plans to resume cruises on July 3 with a single ship (Crystal Serenity) sailing all-Bahamas trips out of Nassau, Bahamas. All sailings until then on the line’s large ocean vessels have been canceled. Crystal also has canceled all sailings of its yacht-like vessel Crystal Esprit through the start of August. Crystal’s river ships are now scheduled to resume service between June 4 and June 7. The line also has delayed the debut of its new expedition ship, Crystal Endeavor, until mid-September.
Cunard Line has canceled all departures of its three vessels — Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 — through Aug. 27, Oct. 11 and Nov. 12, respectively. In their place, the U.K.-based line plans to operate some all-U.K. voyages for residents only over the summer on one of the ships, Queen Elizabeth.
Disney Cruise Line has canceled all departures into June. Disney Fantasy and Disney Dream are now scheduled to resume sailings on June 2 and 4, respectively. Disney Wonder is now scheduled to return to service on June 7. All previously announced sailings on Disney Magic, which had been scheduled to spend the summer in Europe, have been canceled through Aug. 18. But Disney recently announced that Disney Magic would instead operate sailings around the U.K. over the summer for U.K. residents only.
Two longer sailings on the Disney Wonder and Disney Fantasy in June and July also have been canceled.
Emerald Waterways has canceled all sailings through the end of May.
FTI Cruises has shut down.
Hurtigruten in July resumed sailings to the Arctic with two ships after resuming limited cruises from Hamburg, Germany, to Norway with one ship in June. But the line has since stopped the sailings following a significant COVID-19 outbreak on one of the vessels.
Holland America has canceled sailings through the end of June. In addition, the line has canceled all 2021 sailings to Alaska that begin or end in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Jalesh Cruises has shut down.
MSC Cruises in January resumed sailings out of Italy for Europeans with only one ship, MSC Grandiosa. It was the second time MSC Cruises resumed sailings in Europe. The line previously resumed limited departures out of Italian ports for Europeans-only on Aug. 16 but suspended the trips in December due to growing travel restrictions in Europe. The line has canceled North American departures through at least the end of May but plans some cruises out of the U.K. starting on May 20.
Norwegian Cruise Line has canceled sailings on all ships through the end of June and a handful of ships through October or November.
Oceania Cruises has canceled sailings on all ships through the end of June.
Paul Gauguin Cruises resumed sailings in French Polynesia on July 11 but recently suspended the trips in the wake of travel restrictions for French overseas territories. The line now has canceled all sailings through May 15.
Ponant resumed sailings in France, Croatia and Iceland on new itineraries in July but later suspended the trips due to growing travel restrictions in Europe.
Pullmantur, citing the impact of the cruising shutdown, filed for reorganization under Spanish insolvency laws over the summer of 2020 and is no longer operating.
Princess Cruises has canceled sailings worldwide through the end of June. Princess also has canceled all 2021 sailings to Alaska and the Pacific Coast that begin or end in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises has canceled sailings on all ships through the end of June.
Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, a new startup line affiliated with luxury hotel company Ritz-Carlton, has delayed its inaugural voyage until July 24. The line originally was scheduled to debut in February 2020.
Royal Caribbean restarted limited sailings out of Singapore for Singapore residents only on Dec. 1 and plans to add new sailings out of Israel (also for local residents only) in May. In addition, it announced plans for cruises out of Nassau, Bahamas, and cruises out of Bermuda starting in June and cruises out of Cyprus starting in July. The line plans to deploy one ship on each of the new routes. Sailings on the rest of its 24 vessels have been canceled through at least the end of May.
Sail Windjammer has shut down.
Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours has canceled all sailings through the end of May.
Seabourn has canceled all departures through the end of June, as well as a significant number of voyages through the rest of 2021. In addition, the line has canceled all 2021 sailings to Alaska.
Sea Cloud Cruises has canceled sailings into May. The line’s 64-passenger Sea Cloud is now scheduled to resume departures on May 7. The 94-passenger Sea Cloud II is now scheduled to restart on June 2. The line’s new Sea Cloud Spirit is now scheduled to debut on June 2.
SeaDream Yacht Club has canceled all sailings through early May.
Silversea has canceled sailings on all ships through at least the end of May with sailings on a handful of ships canceled as far out as November. Most vessels now are scheduled to restart operations in June.
Star Clippers has canceled all sailings through at least early July. Royal Clipper is now scheduled to resume service on July 3, with Star Flyer following on July 10. Star Clipper sailings have been put on hold until Sept. 11.
Tauck has canceled sailings through the end of April.
UnCruise Adventures plans to restart cruises to Alaska for the summer season in May, a month later than normal.
Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection plans to resume departures in early May.
Variety Cruises resumed limited sailings on July 24.
Victory Cruise Lines has no cruises scheduled to depart until April 24.
Viking has canceled all previously announced sailings through the end of May. But in recent weeks, the line announced plans to operate a series of three new U.K.-only sailings for local residents out of Portsmouth, England, starting on May 22. The trips, which will take place on the 930-passenger Viking Venus, were announced in the wake of the U.K.’s decision to loosen travel restrictions to allow for U.K. cruising for U.K. residents.
Virgin Voyages has postponed the Miami debut of its first ship, Scarlet Lady, until July 1. The arrival of its second vessel, Valiant Lady, has been pushed back by six months to Nov. 14.
Windstar Cruises has canceled sailings on all ships through at least mid-June with some ships now not scheduled to return to service until much later in the year. The line’s Star Breeze and Wind Star now are scheduled to resume sailings on June 19, and Wind Spirit is due back in service on July 15. Wind Surf, Star Legend and Star Pride will return to cruising on Aug. 8, Sept. 4 and Nov. 3, respectively.
Planning a cruise? Start with these stories:
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- A quick guide to the most popular cruise lines
- 21 tips and tricks that will make your cruise go smoothly
- 15 ways cruisers waste money
- 12 best cruises for people who never want to grow up
- What to pack for your first cruise
Featured image of courtesy of SeaDream Yacht Club
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Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
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