Cruise industry plans to restart operations with vaccinated crew and guests in this summer as relaxation of travel restrictions and rollout of vaccines fuel hope after a year of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. MSC Cruises S.A. (MSC Cruises) was the top company among the influencer conversations on Twitter on Cruise Influencer Platform, followed by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (Royal Caribbean Cruises), and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (Norwegian Cruise Line) respectively during Q2 2021, reveals GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
Influencer conversations related to ‘vaccination’ on GlobalData’s Cruise Influencer Platform showed a staggering growth of 250% during Q2 2021, when compared to previous quarter, as top cruise companies plan to start resailing with the roll out of vaccination for both crew and guests.
Smitarani Tripathy, Influencer Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The influencers’ sentiments were largely positive on cruise lines’ plan to resume services with vaccinated guests and crew, following the health and safety protocols for a risk-free travel.”
In May, MSC Cruises witnessed conversation spike among influencers following the announcement of comprehensive COVID-19 vaccination plan for its all crew members, ahead of the ship’s voyage in Mediterranean Sea and Northern Europe. The company will also begin its service from the US in August, where all crew members will be vaccinated while it is not mandatory for guests to be vaccinated.
In June, the world’s largest cruise line, Royal Caribbean announced that six of its ships will start cruising from Florida and Texas in the couple of months, with fully vaccinated crew and guests. However, it postponed the sailing of Odyssey of the Seas from 03 July 03 to 30 July, after eight of its crew members tested COVID-19 positive. Royal Caribbean is the first cruise line to get approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to start resailing in the US water.
Norwegian Cruise Line also plans to resume its sailing in July, with vaccination as top mandate in order to reduce the risk of COVID-19. Similarly, Carnival Cruise Line made COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for cruise lines starting from July.
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