Skift Take
The world’s primary cruise destination, the Caribbean, has been reeling from the prolonged absence of cruise lines. But there’s no going back to multiple big ships anytime soon — a silver lining for destinations pushed now to maximize quality over quantity with smaller scale, high-value and green tourism.
While the pandemic dealt a huge blow to global tourism, perhaps no other sector in the industry has faced as much uncertainty and challenge as the cruise industry — keeping in limbo its primary and most profitable market, the Caribbean.
Seven months into the pandemic, the world’s three largest cruise lines — Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise Lines — have yet to sail. In a third extension of the No Sail Order, which applies to ships carrying over 250 passengers and cruising in American waters, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control cited “recent outbreaks on cruise ships overseas,” as well as in Alaska on smaller 60-passenger ships, as evidence that this type of travel “continues to transmit and amplify” the spread of Covid in spite of cruise ships’ extensive increased health protocols and reduced capacities.
Where does this leave the Caribbean region, and how are island destinations repositioning their industries for a more resilient future without such an economic dependence on mass cruise tourism?
Months of no cruise tourism have allowed the islands “to detox,” said May Ling Chun, director of tourism for St. Maarten, one of the Caribbean’s top grossing cruise destinations. “We’ve been going and going and going, and all of a sudden, your destination looks greener and it looks better. And how can we do things that did work, limiting things that weren’t so effective and make sure we open up with all those in place? What are the opportunities we have?”
The news for cruise lines in the region is bleak. Carnival announced it was cancelling all cruise activity for the rest of 2020, except for cruises out of Port Miami and Port Canaveral, which are suspended through November for now. Royal Caribbean also suspended its cruises through November 2020. Meanwhile, an Americas Cruise Task Force — co-chaired by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Motley and Royal Caribbean, and made up of 40 Caribbean destinations – is working towards establishing cruising bubbles within the wider Caribbean.
“The return will indeed be gradual and slow as cruise fleets are smaller since shedding ships in recent weeks,” Brian Major, managing editor for digital publications and the Caribbean at Travel Pulse, and a cruise tourism expert, told Skift. “Also operators have indicated only a fraction of the dozens of itineraries previously available will operate initially.”
The challenges facing the three major cruise
