Where did they park 300 cruise ships during the COVID-19 pandemic?

With cruising about to enter its seventh month since the global cruising pause began, I thought it was a good time to review where all the cruise ships are now. The majority of cruise ships today are in warm layup. Many cruise ships are currently anchored or moored off the coast, often in large groups, and often close to populated areas. These cruise ships are currently the ones creating the most interest, as people are flocking to these areas to catch a glimpse of this extraordinary sight. Cunard and P&O UK fleet can be seen in various locations in the UK. Southampton remains the primary port for these ships, with each member of the fleet visiting on a semi-regular basis to allow for crew changes and re-provisioning. When not at port, ships of Cunard and P&O have been spotted off the coast of Bournemouth, while QM2 has also had an extended anchorage off Teignmouth, north of Torquay. QM2 was recently joined in Babbacombe, Devon, by Arcadia, Ventura and Azura of the P&O UK fleet. Arcadia and Queen Victoria have also anchored off Southwold. Weymouth remains a popular location for laid up cruise ships, with several ships from Marella’s fleet spending extended time here, along with Queen Elizabeth, Queen Victoria and P&O’s Britannia. RCI’s Anthem of the Seas and Allure of the Seas have been regular sights in Southampton. Disney Magic has been a regular sight in Dover, while Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy are in Brest, France. Disney Wonder is far from her fleet mates, in Port Canaveral. Many of Costa Cruises and MSC Cruises' fleet of cruise ships remain off the coast of Italy, calling at La Spetzia, Genoa and Civitiveccia. AIDA’s European-based fleet is quite spread out, with Las Palmas home to AIDAstella and AIDAbella while to the north, AIDAcara and AIDAaura based off the coast of Estonia while AIDAdiva and AIDAPerla are off the coast of Denmark. The waters off Manila in the Philippines, were for many months home to a huge cluster of cruise ships, but now only Carnival Sprit remains off the coast of Manila – kept company by a huge cluster of cargo ships and oil tankers. The ships that were here before were mainly those vessels that were cruising in South East Asia and Australia. When the cruising pause first came into effect, it was only expected to last a few months, so it made sense to keep these ships in waters nearby their planned itineraries. However as the cruising pause dragged on, cruise lines opted to send their ships to other destinations; to either help facilitate crew changeovers or to allow for redeployment in alternative locations once the cruising pause ends. The waters near Singapore and Malaysia have become the new hub for laid up cruise ships in Asia. This includes ships from Princess, Costa, Aida Cruises, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Lines. Ports in Australia and New Zealand remain vacant of any cruise ships – as the respective cruising bans remain in place. P&O Australia's fleet remains away from their Australian homeports. Pacific Dawn and Pacific Aria have sailed for Cyprus where they remain at anchor along with ships from Seabourn and Princess, while Pacific Explorer is at anchor off Singapore. A large cluster of ships is currently off the Bahamas and includes much of the fleet of Carnival Cruise Line as well as numerous cruise ships from Royal Caribbean & Celebrity. More Royal Caribbean cruise ships can be seen off Barbados, while Seabourn Sojourn, Norwegian Pearl and Coral Princess are all currently in the vicinity of Curaçao. In recent weeks, some cruise ships have returned to service. MSC’s Grandiosa, Costa Deliziosa, HAPAG-Lloyd’s Europa 2 and Hanseatic Inspiration are among these. Additionally various river cruise vessels have resumed sailings in Europe, while two of the ships from have been chartered for use as accommodation ships, for the cast and crew of the new Mission Impossible movie. AIDA had planned to resume cruising in September with AIDAPerla, however the line’s first voyage will now take place in November aboard the smaller AIDAmar, which is currently off Skagen in Denmark. A number of ships have been withdrawn from service and sold for scrapping. This includes Carnival Fantasy, Carnival Inspiration and Pullmantur’s Sovereign and Monarch. Costa Victoria and Carnival Imagination are also awaiting scrapping, while the future of Pullmantur’s Horizon, Marella’s Celebration and Fred Olsen’s Boudicca and Black Watch is uncertain. My thanks to Andrew Sassoli-Walker (www.solentphotographer.com, Alison Morton & Vicki Cross for photo support. Additional image include: Disney Magic / Pjotr Mahhonin / CC-BY-SA-4.0 ref: https://bit.ly/35CzJkU Other Videos: Cruise Pause: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHdrDT1z6Ko Recycling Cruise Ships: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UyiCaEKWJI Layup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVmcEvcmsbY Music: YouTube Audio -- #cruiseline #cruisenews #cruiseship