The new president of ultra-luxury cruise line Seabourn, Josh Leibowitz, has warned avid cruisers they may have a long wait before setting sail again.
Mr Leibowitz, Carnival Corporation’s former chief strategy officer who was appointed to the role at the end of June, said it was likely to be a case of “first in, last out” for cruising. The industry was one of the first to grind to a halt as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in March and would likely be the last to resume full operations, he said.
Either way, uncertainty rules as cruise lines work on safety protocols in collaboration with medical experts and the Cruise Lines International Association while awaiting the go-ahead from governments across the globe to restart operations.
“No one knows when we will be able to cruise but we are focused on a process and the process is to stay close to the science,” Mr Leibowitz said.
Seabourn, part of the Carnival Corporation stable that includes Cunard, Holland America Line, P&O and Princess, has five ships in two classes with passenger capacity of either 450 or 600. It recently launched a polar-class new build, Seabourn Venture, an expedition vessel that can carry about 260 passengers.
The industry’s limited and tentative restart has been shakey, with Norwegian line Hurtigruten forced to suspend operations after more than 70 crew and passengers linked to the Roald Amundsen ship tested positive to the virus.
In Alaska, UnCruise cancelled all its sailings only a few days into its season when a passenger tested positive then negative, an indication of how quickly COVID can wreak havoc on best-laid plans.
Some river operators in Europe have recommenced sailing but APT, Scenic and Viking will not relaunch boats until later in the year. The 6300-passenger MSC Grandiosa has returned to the ocean at reduced guest numbers but has postponed the relaunch of a smaller sister ship because of revised travel restrictions.
Mr Leibowitz said the sector was “chasing a moving a target”, in terms of developing health and safety guidelines in line with ever-changing coronavirus research and predicting when international ports would be accessible again.
Although Seabourn sailings were scheduled for November, the pause in operations had been extended multiple times and no commitment had been made for a definite restart date, he said.
“We’re guiding our team members to focus on summer of next year for momentum and the reason is because conceptually consumers need something on the books. They need to plan something,” he said, adding: “We’re hoping to be able to sail before [but] we’re not going to rush it.”
Pent-up demand from consumers meant interest in Seabourn’s world cruise, postponed for a year because of the pandemic, was “phenomenally off the charts”.
“I talk a lot to people in their 60s, 70s and 80s and they all tell me the same thing: ‘These are my peak travel years.’” Mr Leibowitz said. “And if they have 20 years of peak travel from 60 to 80, then one year represents 5 per cent of that and they don’t want to give up another year. So we’ve got to find a way to make it so people can live and that’s going to take some time but I’m optimistic.”
Meanwhile, many operators are offering generous incentives to customers to retain bookings and reschedule. In Seabourn’s case, guests who have paid in full receive a 125 per cent future cruise credit.
“I don’t know any other industry that’s gone to the lengths we have to keep [customers] informed. We’re all dealing with a high level of uncertainty,” Mr Leibowitz said.