It’s a bit of an odd time in the cruise industry right now, to say the least. While some cruise lines are cancelling all of their sailings for the rest of the year, others are preparing to start operations again as soon as possible. It all depends on a variety of factors, chief among them being geographical position. More and more European companies are getting the green light to ease back into sailing as the coronavirus situations in their areas ease up, so it makes sense that companies like Costa, AIDA and TUI are preparing to restart and get back into business.
Costa
Not too long ago we covered Costa’s new health protocols that will be letting them start sailing again in the safest way possible. We now have some details about when and where their new sailings will be taking place. Because of changed rules from the Italian government, Costa will now be able to resume some operations starting on September 6th, 2020. They have said that their return to service will be progressive, meaning it will be very small at first before they can safely grow to the point where their entire fleet is sailing. It will begin with Costa Deliziosa sailing a Mediterranean cruise every week starting on September 6th, with subsequent sailings on September 13th, 20th, and 27th. Shortly after, the Costa Diadema will sail a week-long Mediterranean itinerary on September 19th. More ships will hopefully be implemented in October.
AIDA
AIDA, one of the premier German cruise lines, also plans to restart their operations soon. They will begin sailing out of the port in Kiel on September 6th, with a few Norwegian itineraries following this. These Norwegian cruises will depart from Hamburg on September 12th, 19th and 26th. Much like Costa, travel restrictions are forcing them to wait until October for any sailings aside from the aforementioned ones.
TUI
While Costa and AIDA will be having their first cruises since the pandemic forced them to shut down business, TUI has actually already begun this process. They started sailing a few weeks ago, and it went so well that they are already introducing more ships and itineraries. The next ship that will sail is the Mein Schiff 6, which will be their third since restarting. It will start cruising on September 13th. Travelers will be interested to know that trips on the Mein Schiff 6 will feature port calls, while the Mein Schiff 1 and 2 will continue sailing without any calls.
We will be interested to see how smooth the reopening process is for AIDA and Costa. Hopefully they can follow in TUI’s footsteps and find some success!
