It may be time to move from daydreaming about your next cruise to serious planning and checking the calendar and budget. Are you thinking about a romantic trip or maybe a family get together to make up for a missed vacation this year? Now’s the time to get serious.
How have cruise ships been impacted?
The cruise industry has been especially hard hit by the pandemic, with infection spreading quickly on some ships in the early days of the pandemic. All travel on cruise ships worldwide, including river cruises, is being deferred until October.
Potential cruisers should be reassured: Ships will not be allowed to sail without all health, sanitation, medical, and distancing measures agreed upon by the governing organizations (the WHO, the WTTC, and CLIA) firmly in place. Industry leaders have been working on protocols and analyzing what they could do better.
When should I start planning my next cruise?
One thing we already know for sure: Passengers who had booked sailings for this spring and summer have been rescheduling those bookings for a year from now. Because of this, bookings for 2021 are way up over this time last year. So if you want to take an Alaskan cruise next summer, hurry!
While it used to be cruisers needed months of advance notice to cancel or defer a cruise, cruise lines now have enhanced their travel assurance policies. Updated policies on cruise lines like Norwegian and Royal Caribbean are designed to let you “cruise with confidence” and ensure you have the flexibility to cancel your cruise almost right up to departure. And bonus: most of these policies extend all the way into 2022.
Our Recommendation
It’s a great time to book a risk-free cruise vacation. Flexible cancellation policies mean you have little financial risk in making plans, all the while taking advantage of industry-wide savings.