WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE WORLD OF CRUISING?

To complete my focus on travel, I see a trend that will soon prevail for all cruises:  you will need to show proof of completing your COVID-19 vaccination requirement before you are allowed to board.  Likewise, cruise lines will attempt to get their staff similarly protected.

Royal Caribbean has already made this announcement.  Will their Wonder of the Seas make its debut this year?  This will be the largest cruise liner, with 18 decks, 5,000 guests and 2,200 crew members.  Their current biggest, is Symphony of the Seas, which is 4 feet shorter, but has a capacity of 6680 passengers.

What this will mean is that all those cruises now showing total bookings this year will quickly show openings to the point that many of them will begin to provide incentives for you to make a reservation.  Norwegian is scheduled to start their weekly Hawaiian Island cruise in June.  A few days before these Saturday sailings there will be so many vacancies that anyone living in Honolulu should be able to get a once-in-a-lifetime fare.  Would not surprise me if free alcohol, WiFi, gratuities and tours will be offered for $200/day.

This opportunity will disappear by late summer, though, for most will be vaccinated by then.  Certainly older people, who are the ones who cruise.  There will be a high desire to travel by this Fall.

By the way, I provided the various costs of a Fall around the world trip and the 2022 world journey, but did not add them up.  So to provide completeness, here are some details.

First of all, you can do this for a cheaper price.  For example here is a book that can go global for $50/day.  But is that a way to live?  For us:

• Beginning October 2021
• Star Alliance:  $12,500
• Celebrity cruise:  $4,000
• Crystal Christmas Cruise:  $3,000
• Hotels (50 nights? at $250/night):  $12,500/2 = $6750 each for two
• Food (we will stay at Marriotts, many of which have an executive club that provides immense breakfast buffets and sufficient appetizers with free drinks in the evening):  $1000
• Other ground transport:  $1000
• Tours, etc:  $1000
• October 2021 to January 2022 TOTAL COST = $29,250

• 
  Second around the world beginning January 19, 2022 on the Island Princess from Los Angeles: 
•  $27,000 for balcony room, or $40,000 for a mini-suite.  
• The balcony cabin is sufficient, or $27,000
• If that cruise can be bought with free drinks and Wi-Fi, then tours, etc. will cost something= $2000
• As the flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu will still be available from the Year One Star Alliance ticket, no cost for air transport.
• Amtrak from Los Angeles to Paso Robles and back:  $100
• Hotels:  $1000
• January to May 2022 TOTAL COST = $30,100
• TOTAL COST FOR TWO AROUND THE WORLD ADVENTURES:  $59,350.
• For 200 days, that is a cost of $297/day.  This not that much more than I pay 15 Craigside/day to live in a cocoon.    Of course, I will still need to pay them $33,442 during my 6+ months absence, so my cost will actually be $92,792.  A lot of money.  But I can't take any leftover funds to Heaven...if there is one.

This is not generally known, even by cruisers, but there are only two dominant cruise companies: 

• Carnival Corporation (39.4% of revenues)
• Cunard
• P&O
• Costa Cruises
• Holland America
• Princess
• AIDA
• Seabourn  
• Royal Caribbean (20.2%)
• Celebrity
• Azamara
• Oceania
• Silverseas
• Norwegian (12.6%) also operates Regent Seven Seas
• Genting (5%)
• Star Cruise
• Crystal Cruise
• Dream Cruises

About river cruises and approximate cost/day:

• Crystal  $800
• Tauck  $700
• Uniworld  $500
• AMA Waterways  $500
• Scenic  $400
• Viking $300

Which is the best?

• According to one source, Scenic Luxury Cruises of Australia is the best river cruise line.   They operate around the world...but not in Australia.  Their Emerald Waterways is their low-cost river option.  
• Travel+Leisure last year had Crystal at #1, Tauck (the one I took six years ago) at #4 and Viking at #6.  
• In 2019 USA Today rated Viking as #1. 
• Cruise Critic says choose Uniworld over Viking if you can afford it:  When comparing similar itineraries, it's important to take into account that Uniworld is all-inclusive, with unlimited drinks -- including premium brands -- additional onboard facilities and gratuities included in the fare. Viking includes wine, beer and soda with lunch and dinner.

Regarding seniors, according to Mapquest:

• Azamara has been voted to be the best cruise line for seniors.
• Celebrity:  Glass dining rooms, formal foyers, libraries, bars, lawn games, live entertainment, and casinos make Celebrity Cruises the quintessential senior cruise experience. There are also facilities for the deaf/hard-of-hearing and blind/visually impaired. If you provide enough notice in advance.  To the right is that Celebrity Solstice cruise from Yokohama to Singapore in 2021.

A fine way to start your week:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average went up 174 to 32,952, again breaking it's all time record.  The $1.9 trillion stimulus package was the reason.

-