Editorial: Covid-19 infections stall cruise industry’s tentative overseas restart

COMMENT:

The cruise industry overseas has been attempting to dip its toes back in the water after being idled during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many Kiwis will be hoping to get back on cruise ships, eyeing ‘sometime next year’ as the most likely point of departure.

Some will have sought refunds for bookings on voyages this year that failed to sail – and will be resigned to a long delay before they can fulfill their dream trip.

Others will have transferred their funds on to hopeful new cruise trip dates, not knowing if they will really come off.

And, unless conditions for tourist travel markedly improve, the prospect of having to pay for quarantine on their return home is another cost to factor in.

The industry’s recovery is essentially uncertain while the coronavirus still circulates and until a successful vaccine is developed and made widely available.

Several cruises became caught up in the developing outbreak earlier this year as the coronavirus spread around the globe and major cruise lines cancelled voyages to wait out the storm.

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