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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis calls on CDC to rescind No-Sail Order

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 28 March 2021 28 March 2021

Governor Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody and Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Secretary Kevin J. Thibault, P.E. held a roundtable discussion with cruise industry executives and employees to highlight the importance of this critical industry to Florida’s economy on Friday, March 26 in the Port Canaveral.

At the roundtable, Governor DeSantis called on the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to rescind its No-Sail Order which the CDC has indicated will remain in place until November 1, 2021. The federal government has provided guidance to all other passenger transportation modes and other industries; however, it has failed to issue guidance for the cruise industry to assist in its recovery.

In addition to the lack of guidance, the federal government has neglected to provide relief funding to seaports while airports and transit agencies have received assistance through previous relief packages. Earlier this month, Governor DeSantis recommended Florida’s seaports receive $258.2 million out of the state’s share of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, to account for the losses accrued due to the no-sail order.

“If there is one thing we’ve learned over the past year, it’s that lockdowns don’t work, and Floridians deserve the right to earn a living,” said Governor DeSantis. “The cruise industry is essential to our state’s economy and keeping it shut down until November would be devastating to the men and women who rely on the cruise lines to provide for themselves and their families. I urge the CDC to immediately rescind this baseless no-sail order to allow Floridians in this industry to get back to work.”

“It’s anchors aweigh for almost every travel industry in the U.S., yet the Biden administration is keeping our cruise liners docked – while many other major countries begin to operate cruises safely under health guidelines. The rationale for keeping U.S. cruises shuttered through the foreseeable future is based on outdated data and guidelines put in place before we had a Covid-19 vaccine,” said Attorney General Ashley Moody. “The federal government is acting outside its authority in singling out and docking the cruise industry while other tourism-based businesses continue to operate in accordance with health guidelines. This heavy-handed federal overreach is harming our nation’s economy and is especially damaging to Florida’s economy and our vital tourism industry. That is why, we are calling on the Biden administration to lift the outdated lockdown order on Florida’s cruise industry and allow workers who rely on this important industry to get back to work.”

“Under Governor DeSantis’ leadership, the state continues to make key investments in our transportation system, but, because of the CDC’s no-sail order, the cruise industry is still struggling,” said FDOT Secretary Kevin J. Thibault, P.E. “The Governor and the state continue to do all that we can to help these members of our communities regain their livelihoods and we hope our federal counterparts follow suit.”

On March 14, the nation marked its one-year anniversary of the CDC’s no-sail order. A September 2020 report from the Federal Maritime Commission estimated that during the first 6 months of the pandemic, losses in Florida due to the cruise industry shutdown totalled $3.2 billion in economic activity, including 49,500 jobs paying $2.3 billion in wages. In addition, Florida saw wide-ranging indirect impacts throughout the state – from airports and ground transportation to hotels, restaurants, and tourist destinations.

The Covid-19 pandemic’s effects on the cruise industry are part of a larger struggle facing the entire travel industry, which ended 2020 with $1.1 trillion in losses, a 42 percent drop from 2019.

Another cruise company to move its U.S. headquarters to South Florida

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 26 March 2021 26 March 2021

Scenic Group’s two major cruise brands, Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours and Emerald Cruises (newly rebranded from Emerald Waterways and Emerald Yacht Cruises) have been growing at a record pace over the past few years and as the return to travel is on the horizon, they are seeing very strong bookings for the second half of 2021 and beyond. To better serve their guests and travel advisor partners, the company is moving their USA headquarters from Boston, Massachusetts to Hollywood, Florida, effective May 1, 2021.

The new office, at Presidential Circle in Hollywood, a Class A office building, will host most of the USA operations teams – sales, marketing, accounting, reservation staff and senior management. The company will also continue to utilize their successful virtual office structure, with regional sales directors and several other operations team members based in other parts of the country.

“After an exhaustive search for the best new location for our USA headquarters, we are excited to announce we will be moving to the prestigious Presidential Circle office building in Hollywood, Florida,” states Anna Wolfsteiner, CSMO Scenic Global. “We have been experiencing strong year-over-year growth for a number of years now and felt it was important that we locate in an area where we can grow our support staff as well as our business. And there is no better place to find the high level of cruise expertise our clients expect than in the cruise capital of America.”

Another area undergoing expansion is the Scenic Group’s USA sales team, headed up by Ann Chamberlin, VP Sales. Recent additions include Donna Kurtz for the newly established Charter and Incentive Sales division and Nancy Iovino as the Regional Sales Director for the West. “We are on full throttle right now as we gear up to be a powerhouse team supporting and developing new business with our valued trade partners,” reports Ann. “We will also be adding to our Regional Sales Director team as we look to bring in a new RSD for the East Coast, based out of the Northeast.”

Scenic Group has grown over its 35-year history to include river and ocean cruises and handcrafted land journeys that take guests to many of the world’s most fascinating destinations covering all 7-continents.

Cunard publishes UK summer programme

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 26 March 2021 26 March 2021

Cunard, which is part of Carnival Corporation & plc group, has published a programme of summer cruises from Southampton on Queen Elizabeth

“Voyages will be between July aand October 2021, and comprise of British Isles scenic cruising and special Sun Voyages, sailing to wherever the sun shines brightest.

Ten British Isles Voyages and three Sun Voyages, lasting between three and twelve nights, are available,” the company said in a statement.

British Isles Voyages include scenic sailings along Britain’s coastline including The Jurassic Coast, England’s only natural UNESCO world heritage site, Cornwall including Land’s End and Scotland including the Isle of Arran, Mull of Kintyre and Sound of Mull.

Four voyages will make various port calls, including Liverpool, Greenock, Invergordon, Belfast, Newcastle as well as a maiden call for Cunard’s fleet to the Welsh port of Holyhead.

Given the advanced progress of the UK vaccination programme - more than 30 million doses have been given - and strongly expressed preference on the part of its guests for this limited series of UK coastal cruises, these sailings on Queen Elizabeth will be for UK resident Covid-19 vaccinated guests only. All other voyages on sale currently do not require guests to be vaccinated, Cunard said.

Cunard is the third Carnival group company to publish its summer 2021 cruise programme for the British market - it follows P&O Cruises and Princess Cruises.

Also, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and MSC Cruises have unveiled corresponding programmes and Marella Cruises, which is part of the TUI group, has indicated that it would also offer similar cruises this summer. Most of these do not include calls at any ports.

Photo: Queen's Room on Queen Elizabeth

Two Royal Caribbean Group units to cruise Eastern Mediterranean in summer

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 25 March 2021 25 March 2021

Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises, both parts of the Royal Caribbean Group, will operate a series of cruises in the Eastern Mediterranean this summer.

Celebrity Apex will commence a series of seven night cruises from Athens on 16 June that include calls at Mykonos, Rhodes and Santorini, Greece; Limassol, Cyprus; and Haifa and Jerusalem, Israel. The sailings will open for booking on March 30 and the cruises will operate through to September.

“Celebrity Apex will sail with all crew and guests above the age of 18 vaccinated against Covid-19, and those under the age of 18 with negative PCR test results. The announcement comes just days after Celebrity Cruises announced its Caribbean comeback with 7-night summer cruises departing from St. Maarten also beginning in June,” Celebrity Cruises said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean International will offer seven night cruises departing from Limassol, Cyprus. "Starting July 10, Jewel of the Seas will call Cyprus home for the first time and sail to the picturesque shores and ancient ruins in Cyprus, Greece and the Greek Isles through October. Travelers can visit a combination of culture-rich cities and idyllic islands, including Limassol, Athens, Greece and the Greek islands of Rhodes, Crete, Mykonos and Santorini,” Royal Caribbean International said.

Earlier this week Royal Caribbean announced a series of sailings from Bermuda onboard Vision of the Seas.

Phptos: above, Celebrity Apex, below, Jewel of the Seas

Royal Caribbean increases note offering

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 25 March 2021 25 March 2021

Royal Caribbean Group, the world’s second largest cruise shipping group, said it had increased a private offering of senior unsecured notes due in 2028 to $1.5 billion from $1.25 billion due to strong demand.

It also said it had priced the notes at 5.50%.

“The Company intends to use the proceeds from the sale of the Notes to repay principal payments on debt maturing or required to be paid in 2021 and 2022, and the remaining for general corporate purposes (including to pay fees and expenses in connection with such repayments),” it said in a statement.

Photo: Silver Moon of Royal Caribbean Group member Silversea Cruises