Here Comes the Sun In 2021!

Categories

Perhaps like me you find yourself asking what happened to 2020?

It started out so wonderful only to deteriorate to the point where walking down the sidewalk on a sunny day without mask, gloves and Clorox Wipes is equivalent to hiring a hit man to kill everyone in your home.

Statistically, that doesn't seem to bear out, but declaring that seems tantamount to treason these days.  Well, maybe not worthy of a death sentence, but at least unbridled contempt from people you formerly believed loved you unconditionally.

In any case, 2020 has become a blur as goalposts moved and then magically morphed into hoops and then flaming rings for cruise lines hoping to get back to business. 

Like that old Moody Blues song, you may be asking, "Why do we never get an answer, when we're knocking at the door with a thousand million questions?"

With Spring essentially wiped out, the next question is summer, and more specifically whether draconian travel restrictions will hold regardless of what else unfolds.

The Royal Caribbean family of brands still optimistically has June 11 --- changed to August 1 this morning --- as the curtain for starting the show, but government regulations don't seem to be cooperating with that scenario.  Like other cruise ships carrying 500 guests or more, they have been banned from Canada at least through June 30, so the Alaska season has been delayed until July 1.

Viking has June 30 as the changing of the guard, but that will require some government reversals. For example, Dr. Fauci's CDC has banned ships in USA domestic waters until further notice, and France has a mandatory 14-day quarantine for non-European tourists in effect through July 24.  That could be amended to give US citizens a pass along with the 26 Schengen Area countries as has been standard with regard to travel unfettered by visa restrictions in western Europe, but I rather doubt that at this point.

Quarantines seems to strike more fear into most travelers than COVID-19 itself.  As such, Greece proclaiming they will be open for business all summer --- along with its sunny beaches and rich history --- makes it a particularly attractive destination this summer.

You may have heard that both Princess and Holland America shut down for most of the rest of the year, while their parent Carnival will reopen August 1, but with only eight ships initially.   As of this morning, Norwegian Cruise Lines just announced their family of brands is also shut down through July 31.

Now, it seems government wants a vaccine or cure before anything can start again, and that's regardless of all the money the federal government has thrown into ventilators, additional hospital capacity that went largely unused, temporary unemployment benefits, and lost tax revenues as a result of the economic shutdown.  In fact, it seems the federal government largess has encouraged state and local governments to become more draconian in expectation of getting bailed out.

After all, who wants to be accused of killing people to save the economy?

Recently, I heard a some funny comments by John Kennedy about just exactly how much $3 trillion is.  Might it be good to see what happens with the first $3 trillion before committing another $3 trillion?

As the delay in the return to cruising has rolled forward through months of malaise, cruise lines have offered future cruise credits and in some cases cash refunds.  They have rolled forward offers to "Cruise With Confidence" with ability to cancel up to 48 hours before travel begins in many cases.

Recently, the Royal Caribbean family sweetened their offers to include "Lift & Shift.  That allows guests on cancelled sailings to move their reservation to the same itinerary for a 2021 departure date within 4 weeks of the original date of travel in 2020.  Considering 2021 prices seem to be consistently higher than 2020, that's a pretty sweet deal.

I'm still optimistic about the second half of 2020 for cruising, and I think the ships and ports will be less crowded, which is a definite plus.

In any case, we can all plan amazing vacations in 2021 or 2022, which gives us something to look forward to.  And if you're among the fortunate folks whose jobs carried on, then you probably have savings from this year's foregone travel to book a once-in-a-lifetime trip next year!

Wes

P.S. Below is a video to help us laugh a bit about our current situation.  I hope you think it is as funny as I do as a long-time fan of Monk!