Blog

When Will Cruises Resume?

2021-04-12

Update: On April 2, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its cruising guidelines to include the following: All cruise lines must form safety agreements with the ports where they hope to operate, cruise operators must routinely test their crew members for COVID-19 and trial voyages may begin 30 days after a cruise […]

Several cruise lines require vaccines, but not everybody is on board

2021-03-29

This summer, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Crystal Cruises will launch the first large-ship ocean cruises in North America in more than a year. But with a caveat: Adults and crew must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19. In Crystal’s case, the vaccination requirement extends to all passengers, minors not excepted. Prior to those departures, small ships in U.S. waters will […]

A pandemic lesson for a post-pandemic world

2021-03-22

Last April, Signature Travel Network CEO Alex Sharpe sent around a note that included reflections, by an anonymous author, on what was then the early stages of the pandemic. At that time, before politics, paranoia and paralysis came together to reshape the pandemic narrative, we frequently heard — and could deeply feel — the sentiment […]

The psychology of vaccinations and travel

2021-03-08

I couldn’t describe with any authority what is happening inside my body now that I’ve gotten my first Pfizer jab. But the effect on my brain was immediate, clear and welcome. If the other Americans who have been vaccinated by this point feel the same way, the travel industry’s hopeful forecast for an explosive recovery […]

What Will Happen to My Elite Status and Points Because of the Coronavirus?

2021-03-08

Limited travel due to the coronavirus prompts airline and hotel rewards programs to make policy changes. The fallout from the coronavirus continues to leave its mark on the travel industry. While frequent travelers were initially stressed about canceled flights, now they must also worry about maintaining their status and accruals in hotel and airline rewards […]

When Will Cruises Resume?

2021-02-23

Find out when you can cruise again and when each cruise line will be sailing in 2021 and beyond. After almost a year stuck on dry land, cruise lovers may be itching to hit the high seas again on their favorite cruise lines. But with rules and regulations about cruising in flux, it can be hard to […]

The biggest post-pandemic challenge in travel

2021-02-09

How is travel changing? That question is really two questions, with two completely different answers, one for the traveling public and one for the travel industry. In the near term, consumers are facing uncertainty: a shape-shifting landscape of border closures and testing mandates; the potential linkage of vaccine requirements to places and products; the specter […]

Looking Forward to Cruising Again!

2021-01-26

Hello Again Everyone, Welcome to this Captain’s Blog written for you and The World’s Greatest Vacations by Captain Peter Philpott, retired Captain of Queen Mary 2 of Cunard Lines. When I retired from Queen Mary 2 and my sea-going career in late 2018, I could not possibly have imagined how, only a little over one […]

The emancipation of leisure travel

2021-01-26

What strange times we’re living in. Politics: fraught. Public health: fraught. Economy: fraught. Travel industry: Preparing for liftoff. Despite rising unemployment, two-realities politics and 400,000 U.S. victims of the pandemic, travel agency consortia are advising members to use newly available PPP money to staff up for the long-awaited emancipation of leisure travel. Some consumers who […]

Carnival Corp. says advanced bookings for 2022 outpacing 2019

2021-01-12

Carnival Corp. said on a fourth-quarter earnings call that advanced bookings for the first half of 2022 are better than they were for the same period of 2019. The company said that future bookings for its nine brands continue to be strong, particularly for the second half of this year and into 2022. As of […]