People are still booking cruises for 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Cruise bookings for 2021 are up 40 percent compared with 2019 in the last 45 days, a significant increase despite COVID-19 outbreaks on 28 ships, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Currently, there are eight cruise liners at sea carrying at least 6,362 passengers although only one ship has reported cases of coronavirus.
An Australian cruise vessel stranded off Uruguay is reported to have about 128 people, or 60 percent of passengers, with confirmed cases of coronavirus.
Nevertheless,, “people are still booking cruises and are anxious to sail again when this is all over,” said Heidi M. Allison, president of CruiseCompete.com, an online cruise marketplace.
Booking volume was even higher for trips to Asia and Alaska, according to a UBS report issued March 31.
Cruise stocks rallied Wednesday, with Royal Caribbean Cruises leading the way.
“We’re not dealing with post 9/11 where people were afraid for their safety when traveling beyond U.S. borders,” said Stewart Chiron, who runs the website CruiseGuy. “Many people are ready to sail once a clear timeline for resumption of service and current ship schedules are revealed.”
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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