What are these cruise ships doing during the cruise shutdown?

Have you wondered why there are so many empty cruise ships visiting unusual ports? Cruise Ship Disney Magic has been calling Dover home for several months now. The cruise ship arrived in Dover in May as part of Disney Cruises crew repatriation efforts. Disney Magic has since undertaken several short trips from Dover in order to take on new seawater for desalination and allow the propellers and propulsion machinery time to operate. Disney Magic was scheduled to undertake cruises in the UK during 2020 and is currently also expected to cruise in the UK market in 2021. Portsmouth is no stranger to large ships, being a major port of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years, and is also home to the UK’s super carriers. However in early July Portsmouth welcomed its largest cruise ship when the Royal Caribbean vessel Majesty of the Seas arrived in the port. The 73,900 gross ton ship caused a stir as it passed by the docked carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales and spent over 10 hours in Portsmouth before relocating to Southampton. Norwegian Star is also currently based in Southampton. Having been alongside since 28 June, the ship visited the port earlier in June having completed crew repatriation services to Rotterdam. A Dawn Class cruise ship, Norwegian Star is expected to offer cruises from Southampton in 2021 and 2022. Another rare visitor to the UK is the Empress of the Seas, at anchor off the coast of Bournemouth. The baby of the RCI fleet, this 1990s built 48,500 ton ship participated in RCI’s crew repatriation efforts but has been at anchor since 10 July having made calls in Dover and Southampton. Three Carnival Cruise Line ships have also been calling the UK home in recent months. Carnival Breeze turned heads when the Dream-class cruise ship arrived in Southampton in May. Her sister ship Carnival Magic has been participating in repatriation voyages to Dubrovnik, and has called at Southampton and Dover while the Conquest-class Carnival Valor is at anchor off Weymouth, having also called at Portland and Southampton. In Italy, the 110,000-ton new build Scarlet Lady arrived in Genoa on 6 July, having completed a transatlantic crossing. Originally planned to enter service in the Caribbean, the ship is yet to take on any fare paying passengers. After a period of warm layup in the Bahamas, the ship sailed back to Italy and is alongside Fincantieri. Several cruise ships are in warm layup the coast of Dubai, these include the 65,500 gross ton MSC Lirica, as well as the 171,500 ton MSC Bellissima. These MSC ships are joined by Aidavita. Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth has been far from her home port of Southampton since December 2019. Queen Elizabeth sailed north where she had been laid up in the Philippines. However on 26 June the ship set sail for Southampton, via Singapore and the Suez Canal. The Philippines had been home to one of the largest clusters of cruise ships in the world which included the three ships of the P&O Australia fleet. Unable to return to Australian waters until the cruise ban is lifted, Pacific Explorer has made her way as far north as Hong Kong, while Pacific Dawn and Pacific Aria are en route to Singapore. P&O Australia is expecting to take delivery of Golden Princess and rename her Pacific Adventure. That ship is currently at anchor off Port Klang with a cluster of ships that include the Ruby Princess and Diamond Princess, as well as Sapphire Princess, Island Princess and HAL’s Westerdam. While many cruise ships are located far from their usual cruising locations, some are closer to home. Off the coast of Barbados, numerous Royal Caribbean ships can be found. These include Enchantment of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas and the huge Harmony of the Seas – one of the largest cruise ships in the world. Additionally, The Bahamas is home to huge cluster of ships, including many of the Carnival Cruise Lines fleet, numerous vessels from Royal Caribbean, several ships from MSC and Disney Dream – while Disney Wonder and Disney Fantasy are at anchor off Cape Canaveral. IMAGES: My thanks to: - Andrew Sassoli-Walker (in video and thumbnail) - Patricia Dempsey, - Emma LeTeace and - Alison Morton for their image support. Ref1: Disney Magic CCBYSA3.0 David T. Flaherty https://bit.ly/2WCEiGH Ref2: Disney Magic CCBYSA4.0 PjotrMahh https://bit.ly/2OrjX2q Ref3: Disney Magic CCBYSA3.0 Ealdgyth https://bit.ly/2CgEuUK Ref4: MSC Lirica CCBYSA3.0 Pjotr Mahhonin https://bit.ly/3ephdgA Ref5: MSC Bellissima CC1.0 Public Domain Jakez Bo https://bit.ly/3h2mVH2 Ref6: Aidavita CCBYSA3.0 Hajotthu https://bit.ly/38WDZeF Ref 7: Harmony of the Seas CCBYSA2.0 Kees Torn https://bit.ly/38WB5qa Ref 8: Disney Wonder CCBYSA2.5 Shorelander https://bit.ly/38W2rg2 All un-credited images are Chris Frame / Rachelle Cross. MUSIC: You Tube Audio Library. #cruisenews #cruiseline #cruiseship