Cruisers not deterred by coronavirus pandemic, still booking future voyages, experts say
While the coronavirus pandemic has put the cruise industry on hold, many cruisers aren’t feeling deterred, even after watching multiple ships sail into chaos because of the virus.
An April 8 Morgan Stanley industry note obtained by USA TODAY revealed customers are still booking cruises, primarily for 2021, though some cruisers are optimistic and are still booking from July onward.
“Most of these (customers) are simply rebooking cancelled 2020 cruises using cruise credits. Around half of passengers whose bookings have been cancelled seem to be electing to take a future cruise credit rather than a cash refund, according to agents,” the Morgan Stanley note reads.
In a March 31 report on cruise lines, Swiss investment banking company UBS noted cruise bookings for 2021 were up 9% year over year , Quartz and the Maritime Executive reported.
“Cruisers are eager to get back to their long-awaited vacation plans,” Michelle Fee, CEO of Cruise Planners, told USA TODAY.
Fee said Cruise Planners bookings for 2021 are up about 15% year over year.
Though Fee said “the numbers are changing daily and being closely monitored,” she noted Europe is a top destination, with a large focus on European river cruising, followed by the Caribbean and Alaska.
She noted her clients are ready to get back on board, and her team is posting on Twitter and Instagram sharing info about travel options in the fall and early 2021. It helps, she told USA TODAY, to avoid “cabin fever.”
“Our travel advisers are working around the clock to rebook their clients’ honeymoons, family cruises and even destination weddings using future cruise credits offered by the cruise lines,” Fee said.
Carnival Corp.’s CEO, Arnold Donald, told CNBC on Tuesday that booking is ramping up for 2021. He said the devastation to the industry caused by the coronavirus is temporary: Travel will return.
“When it does, we’ll return with it. Social gathering at some point will return, and when it does, people will want to cruise,” Donald said on CNBC’s Closing Bell. “We’ve had substantial bookings. Bookings for 2021 are strong.”
Carnival Corp. is the parent company to several major cruise lines, including Holland America Line and Princess Cruises. Both lines have faced multiple coronavirus sagas on ships such as the Diamond Princess, the Ruby Princess, the Grand Princess, the MS Westerdam and MS Zaandam and MS Rotterdam.
USA TODAY reached out to Carnival Corp. for comment.
Lower prices could be driving up bookings
Another reason people might be booking cruises? Bargains.
According to the April 8 Morgan Stanley note, cruise prices for 2020 have fallen, with some dropping as much as 40%.
Many cruise lines are offering deals on future cruises, including major lines such as Royal Caribbean which is offering up to $200 off a cruise, 60% off a second guest and for all children to sail free. Other lines such as Carnival Cruise Line, are advertising sales with cruises for $59 per person per day and a two-thirds price cut on deposit per person on their website as well.
“There’s a built in balance between risk and price and so people look and say ‘I’m willing to take a risk if the price is a bargain,'” Christopher Muller, professor at the Boston University School of Hospitality Administration told USA TODAY.
It’s a situation that pairs an optimistic seller with an optimistic buyer: Both are looking to optimize on return. While some people may feel nervous about booking a cruise right now, others feel they are “overcoming risk” by accepting the lower price.
The Morgan Stanley report notes that booking is occurring for 2021, even though most of those cruises are not yet discounted.
What cruisers are saying
Tanner Callais, founder of Cruzely.com, cruises about four times a year, for work more often than vacation now, but enjoys it nonetheless. And in spite of the pandemic, he’s ready to get back on the water.
While cruise ships have been at the center of the coronavirus storm, Callais doesn’t see ships as more dangerous than other social gatherings.
“Despite the headlines, it’s not as if the cruise lines are spraying passengers down with the virus,” he said. “The outbreaks are simply the result of being in close proximity to others. To me, there is no more risk of getting sick on a cruise as there is to being at a concert or a crowded airport.”
Callais doesn’t have any future voyages booked yet, but he plans to be on one of the first vessels out when this is all over – just with plenty of hand sanitizer. If he can sail again, that will mean the outbreak is largely over, and that is something to look forward to.
Donovan Fredricksen, administrator of a Facebook group for frequent cruisers called Cruise Crazed and a cruise blogger, told USA TODAY that for the most part, cruisers seem to be missing their favorite travel option.
He echoed Callais’ thought that the return of cruising will mean the return of normalcy.
“For some of us that’s a way of life, I mean we cruise a lot,” he said. Cruisers seem to be eager for life to get back to normal, as “we all are.”
“I do hear a lot of frustration of vacation plans being canceled as the return to cruising dates continue to slip farther into the future,” Fredricksen said.
But more people might be willing to hit the high seas if more precautions are taken by lines to prevent the coronavirus, and other illnesses, from spreading.
Suzanne Suwanda, a former passenger of Princess Cruises’ Grand Princess, which was infected by the coronavirus, said she will keep cruising on her list of travel after the pandemic passes, but she says cruise lines need to make some changes.
“I think the cruise lines need to step up to this challenge and establish systems to keep their crews safe and healthy so that passengers can be confident when they decide to travel, just as we do when we book air travel or eat in a restaurant,” Suwanda said.
While Callais is optimistic about getting back on a ship, he too is looking for clarity on how cruise lines will handle another major pandemic.
“I’d also like to know there is a plan to deal with any potential illness instead of seeing ships stranded for days looking for a port to accept them,” he said.
While Callais is eager to return to taking cruises, he understands cruises – along with sporting events and concerts – will likely be one of the last vestiges of normalcy to resume.
“The last thing I want to see is for the industry to return before the outbreak is over. Another big outbreak on a cruise ship would be devastating.”
Cruise lines suspending operations
Cruise lines around the globe have suspended operations for varying periods of time. And cruise lines’ suspension dates are likely to change after the extension of the CDC’s “no-sail order” was announced April 9.
Some lines, including Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises and Holland America Line, have already issued extensions.
The CDC order states that cruise ships can’t board passengers and return to their sailing schedules until one of three events takes place:
- Expiration of the Department of Health and Human Services’ declaration that COVID-19 constitutes a public health emergency.
- The CDC director’s own decision to modify or rescind its no-sail decision.
- Passage of 100 days from the time the new order is published in the Federal Register.
Until then, the about 100 cruise ships in the Atlantic, Pacific or Gulf of Mexico must remain idle, either in port or wallowing at anchor, the CDC said. Those ships currently have nearly 80,000 crew aboard.
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Contributing: Chris Woodyard
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