When will the Mediterranean open up to cruises?
The Mediterranean is gradually opening up to tourism, hoping to salvage what’s left of the summer high season – but not to cruises anytime soon.
Italy is already open; Greece opened Monday and Spain opens next week.
These countries cite a variety of reasons they are not accepting cruise ships in the near future – the obvious one being there are no cruise ships to accept right now.
Indeed, the U.K.’s biggest cruise line, PO Cruises, has extended its pause in operations until the middle of October, wiping out the entire summer season.
And of the other major lines, most plan on returning Aug. 1, but the smart money is on that date pushed back further, as Viking (Aug. 31) has done and Holland America Line and Princess Cruises have both done (2020 season).
Cruise Critic caught up with tourism ministers and cruise lines to find out whether there will be a summer season in the Mediterranean this year.
Government guidelines will set the strategy
The other major obstacle facing cruise lines is that there are no universally accepted health protocols in place, despite a few lines such as Norwegian Cruise Line, Regent Seven Seas, Windstar and Princess putting out a rough framework.
Will there be a phased return to cruising?
This has been mooted as a possible solution to restarting cruising, keeping within (or around) countries; fewer stops and even so-called “cruises to nowhere.”
“I am sure some companies are considering ‘cruises to nowhere’ – TUI and others have mentioned it,” Lopez noted.
“I think an itinerary in the same country is also an interesting option. This is already working in the north with SeaDream cruises and Hurtigruten in Norway. Ponant is looking at France and Celestyal Cruises is eager to start its operations around the Greek Islands.
How are ports dealing with health protocols?
“Malaga was one of the first ports to adapt prevention measures in March, before the state of alarm,” Rubio said. “The cruise terminals implemented specific action protocols, such as information to passengers, sanitization of the facilities before, during and after the calls, use of individual protection equipment, and reservation of evacuation rooms and confinement of people with symptoms.
“We are also examining ways of reducing the waiting time and, consequently, the number of people in the terminals at any given time.”
Ports are hurting, some more than others. Take Malaga, for example, which receives almost a ship a day (300 in 2019) and welcomed 500,000 passengers last year. The Port Authority estimates that cruise and its associated activities account for 20 percent of income.
“The decrease in cruise traffic in our port has coincided with one of the high seasons – spring – so the impact on the economy of the capital and province is even bigger, although we hope to be able to increase the activity little by little in the second semester of the year,” Rubio said. “So the economic impact is to be notable in 2020.”
Will there be a Mediterranean season?
The short answer is, it’s still too early to say.
“Cruising will restart when ports in the region reopen and enough viable airlift is reinstated from our key source markets,” Peden said.
But with official health protocols still elusive, restarting dates are murky.
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