Cruises bruised by coronavirus pandemic

With the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis taking the world by storm, triggering travel bans for select countries and imposed restrictions on public gathering, the entertainment industry, like many other sectors, is reeling from the impact, as already, many events have either been cancelled or postponed indefinitely.

The latest casualty within the entertainment sector is the Love and Harmony Cruise (an annual, reggae music cruise sailing to various Caribbean islands from South Florida), which was set for April 6 - 11.

Efforts to reach the organisers of the Love and Harmony Cruise, which will feature the likes of Beres Hammond, Buju Banton, Wayne Wonder, Beenie Man, Cocoa T, Nadine Sutherland, Edwin Yearwood and Majah Hype, proved futile.

However, in a post on Friday afternoon to its social media pages, the organisers posted the following update:

“Greetings Harmonizers:

Celebrity Cruises has agreed to allow Love and Harmony Cruise to reschedule our 2020 cruise for a future date in which time it will be safe for all of our cruisers to join and sail.

We appreciate Celebrity Cruises’ cooperation in honoring our request for postponement. At this point we do not have a specific date of sail, but we will begin working on the new date shortly.

Our amazing artistes have been contacted and have agreed to reschedule their performances for a future date, schedules permitting.

We are committed to providing our passengers with the best cruise experience so your continued patience and support is appreciated while we work through the details.

Harmonizers, please continue to be safe; we will be reaching out shortly with more information.

Sincerely,

Love and Harmony”

With no new dates set, the organisers also stand to be bruised monetarily. Working with the basic price tag for quad occupancy, set at US$1,096.50 per person (port charges, taxes, gratuities, administration and booking fees: $259.00 per person additional), the 90,940-ton, 2,170-passenger vessel, would be set to lose a minimum income of US$2,193,000.00, should the cruise be called off due to the coronavirus threat.

Passengers would have already made final payments on the deadline of Monday, January 6, 2020.

JAMROCK WORRIES

Another popular Cruise, Welcome To Jamrock, is already sold out, despite being scheduled for later this year.

Checks made on the website for the seventh annual Welcome To Jamrock Cruise, which is set to sail on December 5, 2020 out of Fort Lauderdale (United States) to Montego Bay and Ocho Rios (Jamaica), on a five-night cruise on board the Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas, revealed that one of two planned Welcome To Jamrock Cruises had been cancelled, and arrangements made for patrons to be refunded.

Although the cancellation had taken place earlier, it is not clear if the threat of the coronavirus (the outbreak occurring in China from as early as December 2019), had impacted the decision.

However, a section of a statement posted on the website read:

“Due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, Jamrock Productions and Rose Tours are sorry to announce the cancellation of Cruise One (November 30 - December 5, 2020) of the Welcome To Jamrock Reggae Cruise. Passengers who were booked on the November 30th sailing will be refunded…Welcome To Jamrock Reggae Cruise sailing December 5 - 10, 2020 will continue as planned.”

Working with the cheapest option of US$999.00 per person, the 15-deck Independence of the Seas ship can accommodate 4,370 passengers. Organisers will stand to lose income of at least US$3,996,000.00.

Efforts to get an update from the organisers were unsuccessful.

HIT HARD

Globally, the cruise shipping industry has been hit hard by the spread of the coronavirus.

Last week, MSN.com reported that Carnival’s Princess Cruises had suspended global operations for two months, because of the coronavirus threat.

In the article, it was reported that “Princess Cruises, the operator of two coronavirus-stricken ships, said it would suspend global operations of its 18 cruise ships for two months, sending shares of its parent company Carnival Corp down 22 per cent in premarket trading.”

It was also reported that the Grand Princess was denied entry to San Francisco Bay last Wednesday en route back from Hawaii, as authorities learned some passengers and crew had developed flulike symptoms, and that patrons from an earlier cruise to Mexico aboard the same ship had tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Diamond Princess cruise ship, which at one point had the highest number of infections outside China, was quarantined off the coast of Japan for the disease in February. Of those on board, about 700 people became infected, and six have died.