Sail away (again)

As per Mark Twain, it seems that the demise of cruising has been greatly exaggerated over the past few years. There is no doubt that the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was traumatic for an industry that quickly became the poster child for the worst possible scenarios of the new and fast spreading disease. The worldwide halt to travel that followed was felt acutely: while international flights were reduced dramatically, no one was taking repatriation cruises back to their country of origin. The industry was collectively put into dry dock, and as months turned to years, at least here in Australia, dedicated cruisers wondered when (and if ) they would ever set foot on a ship and set sail on the open waters again.

While doomsayers gathered, clicking their tongues about the sector’s role in overtourism and global warming, the industry seemed to determine in coincidental unity that it was time to reassess what was important and affect change that would revitalise its offering when travel was finally back on the global agenda. The industry also managed to get a jump on other operators, introducing journeys for vaccinated travellers only out of countries and continents that were quicker to relax travel restrictions than others (yes, I mean us), places like the United States and Europe.

Now, with the world getting used to the New Normal version 3 (that’s alpha, delta and omicron), cruising is back, and with a new clarity of purpose that is so 2022. Innovation and sustainability, immersion and authenticity are the new , spurred on by the reckoning of the pandemic (and before it,