There has been an enormous surge in cruise bookings, and my advice is if you want to cruise in the future, book now: 2022/2023 departures are filling fast, with record numbers of bookings surpassing previous largest reservation days. Holidaymakers are booking longer itineraries and back-to-back cruises with extensions on either side of the cruise. Smaller ships are still very popular and will continue to be so in this post-pandemic world.
As confidence is growing and reservations are booming, what differences can we expect on the ships? Everything it seems has been completely re-evaluated in terms of operations. Health and safety is very much paramount. The key focus, without losing the cruise experience of being at sea, has been to put comprehensive health protocols in place, working with experts and epidemiologists around the world to create the best possible response to COVID-19. There has always been sanitisation on board, but now, with social distancing and contact-tracing measures that we experience on land, it is now very much enhanced on the ships.
Cruising will be different to the past, but most of the changes we are already seeing in our daily lives, and so the cruise companies are further extending those health initiatives. Some things haven’t changed with cruising, such as the idea of unpacking once; the choice and range of dining experiences; the growth in wellness classes and healthy options on board; and discovering new ports, with unique itineraries to experience.
Now is the moment to plan and discover a future holiday. Call it ‘revenge travel’ if you want, but one thing is clear: having researched our Cruise Special and talked to many different experts in the industry, the time to book is now.
Michael McHugh
MiNDFOOD Editor-in-Chief
Send me your thoughts via email [email protected]
