Forget 2021, cruise bookings for 2022 seeing good demand

With the COVID-19 pandemic sticking around for another few months, perhaps up to August, the cruise industry is not  hoping for a revival in 2021, instead they are seeing massive bookings for 2022 according to a People magazine report on  Jan 13.

The website says cruising could make a solid comeback in 2022 based on new booking data shared by Carnival Cruises this week.

The cruise line has seen a hike in bookings for the first half of 2022, and this is already outpacing the number of bookings made for the first half of 2019!

Citing Travel Weekly, People says the cumulative advance bookings for the first half of 2022 are within range and ahead of 2019’s bookings for the same period.

“We are seeing good demand in all the various cruise markets, whether it be Caribbean itineraries, Europe itineraries, there is good demand for Australia, world cruises, etc.,” CFO David Bernstein said on the call. “It’s broad-based and across all the brands.”

Looking into next year, the cumulative advance bookings for the first half of 2022 are within range and ahead of 2019’s bookings for the same period.

This is because the cruise industry experienced a boom for years but with the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing and travel shutdowns for the segment nosedived. It is one of the worst-hit segments in the travel and tourism industry.

2020 brought the cruise industry to a complete halt and most of the estimated 400 cruise liners worldwide have been lying at anchor while older models have been sold off or scrapped to save on costs.

To survive in 2020, some companies organised ‘Cruises to nowhere’.

Some outings took place with a maximum of 60% of normal passenger numbers and strict hygiene measures and during the first cruises to northern Europe, on the Mediterranean and off Singapore, passengers were not allowed to leave the ships.

Since July there have been more than 50 cruises to nowhere, ferrying more than 50,000 passengers on board.