Inside the MSC Magnifica's Journey Home with Captain Roberto Leotta

From March 14 to April 20, the MSC Magnifica did not disembark any guests and sailed straight back to Marseille amid the COVID-19 crisis with Captain Roberto Leotta at the helm for the unprecedented journey.

The ship was in the middle of its world cruise, which was set to span 118 days.

“We were aware of the COVID-19 situation from the moment it became public,” said Leotta. “During the early days of the world cruise, we monitored the situation closely as it was constantly evolving. We adapted to the situation as it unfolded and followed the appropriate heightened health and safety measures.”

As the situation unfolded, Leotta said that government restrictions were remaking port calls more difficult, with the decision coming in Hobart on March 14 to no longer allow guests to disembark for safety reasons.

“By the time we reached Sydney we had technically cancelled the planned world cruise,” he said. ”It was obviously a difficult decision and we, of course, evaluated all of the options carefully.”

Heading back to Marseille, the 2010-built ship provisioned in Fremantle and Colombo.

“I think it is safe to say that this is an unprecedented situation and I am not sure that anyone has experienced anything like this before,” Leotta added, noting that the cruise home was basically treated as a cruise sailing with food, beverage and entertainment.

Leotta will stay aboard the ship for now. He went to sea in 1984, first serving on tanker ships before moving to cruise ships as a deck cadet in 1988, making the grade of captain in 2006.

Ten cruise ships still at sea

Queen Mary in New York

Most of the world’s cruise ships are idle because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but 10 vessels carrying about 8,000 passengers were still at sea on Wednesday.

Some of the ships were on world cruises that started at the beginning of January. Some have ill passengers aboard. The challenge is to get passengers home when many ports are closed.

“This has been a complex process with teams of people working day and night to coordinate a safe and orderly return to port for passengers and crew and cruise lines working under the direction of governments and health authorities at every step,” said Anne Madison, a spokesperson for cruise trade group CLIA. 

Holland America Line’s Zaandam has gotten the most media attention because of its arduous journey and because four passengers have died on the ship. 

The Zaandam departed on March 7 from Argentina and is now cruising toward Florida, awaiting permission to disembark. The ship is accompanied by the Rotterdam, which met up with the Zaandam off the coast of Panama to deliver supplies.

The Zaandam’s voyage had been scheduled to end on March 21 in Chile, but it was turned away by South American ports. Holland America said 97 guests and 136 crew have presented with influenza-like symptoms since March 22. A few have tested positive for Covid-19. 

Guests have not left the ship since March 14 and have been confined to their staterooms since March 22.
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Princess Cruises’ Coral Princess and Pacific Princess are still sailing. Coral Princess has 1,023 guests onboard and Pacific Princess has 115, Princess Cruises said.

As of Tuesday, the medical centre onboard Coral Princess was reporting a higher-than-normal number of people with influenza-like symptoms. Many have tested positive for regular influenza but to be cautious, all guests are quarantined in their staterooms. All meals are being delivered by room service. Crew members are remaining in their staterooms when they are not working.

The Coral Princess went to Bridgetown, Barbados, for a service call on Tuesday but guests and crew were not permitted to go ashore. The ship is scheduled to arrive in Fort Lauderdale on April 4. 

The Pacific Princess made a service call to Melbourne, Australia, to refuel and pick up provisions. No guests or crew were allowed to disembark. The 115 guests onboard did not meet IATA’s fitness standards for air travel or were not able to fly because of medical conditions not related to coronavirus, Princess said. The ship is now sailing back to Los Angeles, which is approximately a 21-day journey. 

The MSC Magnifica made a call at Fremantle, Australia, earlier this week and has now resumed its journey back to Europe. Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, the ship had called at Hobart, Sydney and Melbourne.

MSC Magnifica

Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 is on its way to Southampton, England. Most guests disembarked the ship in Fremantle, Australia, on March 14 and 15. The ship made a technical stop in Durban, South Africa, on March 31. The Queen Mary 2 will soon be sailing again and has 264 guests aboard, a Cunard spokeswoman said. 

P&O Cruises has one ship still at sea -- the Arcadia with 1,404 guests onboard. The Arcadia is returning to England and is expected to arrive on schedule on April 12. 

“Social distancing measures are being rigorously enforced on board,” said Michele Andjel, vice president of public relations for P&O Cruises and Carnival U.K.

Other ships trying to make port, according to CruiseMapper.com, are the Costa Deliziosa, the Astor (owned by Germany-based Premicon) Cruise & Maritime Voyages’ Columbus and the expedition ship Greg Mortimer.

Luminosa Sets Sail from Venice on World Cruise

The Costa Luminosa has left Venice on a 106-day world cruise, calling in 41 ports before returning to Venice on April 22, according to Costa. 

The company said around 2,000 guests are expected on the world cruise, with the majority (500 or so) hailing from France. There are more than 300 guests aboard from both Italy and Germany as well. The balance of source markets are Switzerland, Spain and Austria, Costa said.

The oldest passenger is 92 years old, while the youngest is a one-year-old from France.

Among the key destinations are the Antilles, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico and California; as well as Hawaii, Polynesia, Fiji islands, Australia and Indonesia, in addition to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, the Arab Emirates, Oman and Greece.   

Extended calls are booked into Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sydney, Singapore, Phuket, Cochin, Mumbai, Dubai and Muscat. 

MSC offers its first world cruise

MSC Magnifica

MSC Cruises said that for the first time it will offer a world cruise.

The cruise company said the 119-day voyage will depart on the MSC Magnifica from Genoa, Italy, on Jan. 5, 2019, returning May 3.

In between, the ship will visit 49 destinations in 32 countries. Guests will be able to book 15 complimentary shore excursions, MSC said.

Other highlights include four full days in Polynesia, three full days in both Hawaii and San Francisco, and two full days in Los Angeles.

MSC Voyager Club members can book on Nov. 14, with sales to the general public starting Dec. 14. Prices start at $16,999, MSC said. 

 

MSC first ever Around the world cruise from £10,164 inside; £15009 Balcony.

Cunard cancels January Queen Victoria cruises

Cunard has been forced to cancel two cruises by Queen Victoria in the New Year as a result of maintenance work being brought forward by almost a year.

A 12-night cruise to the Canary Islands from Southampton on January 3-15 and a five-night trip to Amsterdam and Cherbourg January 15-20 are affected.

The work is being brought forward as a bearing on one of the ship’s propulsion units will need replacing ahead of the ship’s previously scheduled dry dock in December 2015.

“This has no impact on the safety of the ship but it is timely for the bearing to be replaced prior to the ship's round world cruise beginning January 20, 2015,” the line said.

A future cruise credit of £100 per person is being offered to all affected passengers which can be used in conjunction with any alternative Cunard booking made for cruises departing within the next two years.

Full refunds of any money paid will also be available should affected passengers not want to to re-book an alternative cruise with Cunard.

Passengers and travel agents have been informed.

Cunard director Angus Struthers said: “While we are sorry to be cancelling the two cruises, we are looking forward to welcoming all those affected back aboard a Cunard ship in the near future, perhaps on Queen Victoria or Queen Elizabeth, both of which will be sailing in 2015 fresh from their make-overs.”

Refurbishment of Queen Victoria at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg will create nine single cabins, re-modelled from part of the ship’s casino.

Large flat-screen TVs are being installed in all cabins and sun awnings will be erected on the open area near the stern Lido pool and on both sides of the Grills Upper Terrace area near the top of the ship to offer more shade on deck.

Scrubber technology is being installed aboard Queen Victoria to match that now aboard Queen Elizabeth in line with the company’s commitment to minimising its environmental impact. This involves the installation of a filtration system for the exhaust gas from the ship’s engines.

The changes are being made following the success of sister ship Queen Elizabeth’s recent refit at the same yard.

Struthers said: “Queen Victoria’s multi-million pound refit will ensure this much-loved ship remains in tip-top condition for her world cruise in 2015 and beyond.”  

World cruise means prestige for lines, profitability for agents

By Tom Stieghorst

January is world cruise season, and this year a dozen ships are sailing on three- to four-month voyages around the world. It’s a time-honored tradition, especially for luxury lines.

So leave it to one of the industry’s iconoclasts to question whether the tradition makes sense.

“In my view, the world cruise is the itinerary of last resort,” said Frank Del Rio, chairman of Prestige Cruise Holdings. 

He said the long stretches of blue water and high costs make a world cruise less profitable than it might appear.

“We do very well in the winter without a world cruise,” he said.

Del Rio is swimming against the tide. At least nine cruise lines will offer world cruises this year, including six that will circumnavigate the globe. Three will last 115 days.

Proponents say a long, slow winter cruise to exotic ports is just the thing many cruise fans aspire to. Having the option of a world cruise cements loyalty with top customers, just as not having a world cruise opens the door for other cruise lines to steal a valued client, perhaps for good.

For travel agents, a world cruise sale is a nice bonus.

“It’s not that common an item, but it’s very profitable,” said Cruise Brothers agent Bob Newman, who has sold four world cruises in 15 years. “People love them.”

World cruises date at least to 1923, when Cunard Line’s Lanconia completed a 130-day trip that visited 22 ports. The institution remains strongest in the U.K., where two Cunard ships and three P&O Cruises ships leave Southampton, England, on world cruises this year. 

The longest world cruises, at 115 days, are those operated by Holland America Line, Seabourn Cruises and Silversea Cruises. (Click here or on the image, right, for a view of a map of 2013 world cruise offerings.)

Last year, Crystal Cruises simultaneously offered for sale world cruises in 2013, 2014 and 2015, including a full 108-day circumnavigation in 2015 that will mark the line’s 25th anniversary.

Mimi Weisband, a spokeswoman for Crystal, said about 400 passengers have booked the full 2013 world cruise aboard the Crystal Serenity, while the balance are taking one or more segments of the cruise.

“There are hundreds of guests for whom Crystal Serenity is their winter home,” Weisband said.

Those guests tell other guests about the voyage and act as brand ambassadors, she said.

A full world cruise has a rhythm all its own, Weisband said. Lines offer progressive enrichment programs that encourage passengers to take all segments of the cruise.

Weisband said today’s world cruise customer often doesn’t fit the stereotype. Some are entrepreneurs who can operate their businesses remotely. Others have children and tutors in tow.

“Years ago the image was some elderly person sitting on a deck with the blanket in their lap,” she said, but today’s world cruise passenger “is active and engaged.”

An active and engaged passenger is just the kind of cruiser targeted by Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, the two brands operated by Del Rio’s Prestige Cruise Holdings. And neither line is offering a traditional world cruise this year.

Del Rio said world cruises are hard to fill and that segments are more popular than the cruise as a whole.

“The most successful world cruise Regent had was only 40% full for the world cruise,” he said.

In 2011, Regent offered a world cruise from San Francisco to Southampton that ran from January to June. But this year, two of Regent’s ships are doing long cruises in South America and Asia, while the third is doing 10-day Caribbean trips from Miami.

Del Rio said that is a more efficient deployment than a world cruise, despite its eye-popping price. “Yes, it is a longer cruise, so they’re writing a bigger check, but the per diem yields are not as high,” he said.
For travel agents, a world cruise can be a big payday.

“We love them,” said Mary Kleen, general manager at Pisa Brothers Travel, New York. “There’s no better sale in cruise travel.”

Pauline Power, director of cruises at Altour in New York, said the commission on a Queen’s Grill cabin on the Queen Mary 2 can amount to $30,000 to $35,000. “Those sort of bookings don’t come along every day,” she said.

The trade-off is that agents must be knowledgeable about a large number of ports and supply the kind of detailed, personalized service clients expect when they’re spending $250,000 on one super-long sailing.

“If you don’t know what you’re talking about with the client, they’re just going to go elsewhere,” said Newman of Cruise Brothers.

And even Del Rio agreed that once a cruise line has eight or nine ships, it can afford to deploy one of them on a world itinerary. At Seabourn, world cruising started in 2009 when it doubled its fleet from three to six ships, said John Delany, senior vice president of marketing and sales.

“We do one a year,” Delany said. This year, the Seabourn Quest will make a 115-day, westward sailing from Fort Lauderdale to Venice.

Delany said it is not only the size of the fleet but the size of the ships that can determine the profitability of a world cruise. Seabourn only has to fill 225 cabins on the Quest, he noted.

“Because our ships are small, we may not have the challenge of filling them to the same extent as some competitors,” Delany said.