NEWS UPDATE: NSW Treasurer says YES to Cruise | Carnival Pauses Again | Wonder of the Seas to USA

Join my private Facebook group for cruise deals, tips and advice - the more members we have, the better we’ll get! www.facebook.com/groups/CTGdeals Head to my website for great cruise and travel deals: www.thecruiseandtravelguy.com.au Follow me on Facebook and Instagram: www.facebook.comn/thecruiseandtravelguy www.instragram.com/thecruiseandtravelguy Royal Caribbean this week made the announcement that the world’s largest cruise ship, Wonder of the Seas will not be home ported in China as has been planned for several years. The ship is still under construction, having recently undergone sea trials. Instead of China, the behemoth will be home ported in Ft Lauderdale from March 2022 and then Barcelona and Rome from May 2022. Bookings are open, so if you’re interested in travelling on the world’s largest ship, get onto it. She will house around 6800 passengers spread across 8 neighbourhoods. At 230,000 tonnes, Wonder of the Seas’ size can be intimidating, but her neighbourhoods allow passengers to more easily find their way around the ship and includes spaces like Central Park, the Boardwalk, the Royal Promenade and more. I think it will be many years before we see an Oasis Class ship in our region, I almost can’t comprehend what it would even look like parked at Circular Quay! The NSW state treasurer this week has publicly announced his support for the cruise industry. Dominic Perrottet has called for the resumption of cruise ship services in line with the reopening of Australia’s international borders. As detailed in a Cruise Passenger publication article, the treasurer contended that, “It doesn’t make sense when we open our international borders for people to fly overseas to go cruising without being able to do so here. I’ll work closely with the Federal Government to ensure that as part of our plan to reopen borders, cruising can steam ahead alongside all aspects of the tourism industry.” The article states that Mr Perrottet has had several conversations with the Federal Government on the restart of cruise locally, particularly in NSW. The state is currently on track to reach a rate of 80% double dose vaccination in less than 6 weeks which according to recent government statements, would trigger the relaxation of international border rules for vaccinated residents and tourists. This development is yet another affirmation that the government, and in particular the NSW state government, are finally heeding calls from the cruise industry for a planned restart. Of course, we live in the era of COVID, so I can’t give you news of one step forward without giving you news of one step backwards, right? Well, to that end, Carnival Australia announced that they have further extended their Australian pause in operations. The suspension has been extended through to January 16th 2022 for both the Sydney based Carnival Splendor and the Brisbane based Carnival Spirit. As before, affected guests have the choice of a full refund or a future cruise credit with the addition of an onboard credit bonus. At the time of recording this, no other cruise lines have yet extended their Australian suspension which leaves Royal Caribbean’s first scheduled departure for December 13th and P&O Australia’s for December 18th. In checking my booking platforms, it does look like Princess’ December cruises are currently closed, but no announcement has been officially made and it might not mean anything. In developments out of the US, Senator Lisa Murkowski will introduce a bill into congress that will allow for cruise ships to permanently bypass Canadian ports. Because of the Passenger Vessels Service Act, all foreign flagged passenger ships must stop at a distant foreign port when operating out of the US essentially prohibiting domestic style cruises. As we know, Canada banned cruise ships from its waters during the pandemic and has only recently announced that ships can return. The Senator argues that the PVSA effectively leaves Alaskan businesses and individuals at the mercy of the Canadian government and should therefore be given a permanent exemption from this rather dated law. The Alaskan season is only under way at the moment due to a temporary relaxation of the laws, which allows closed loop American domestic voyages to take place from Seattle.