Hi there,

We've had another round of cruise lines pausing their operations further out.

• Holland America through April 30, 2021
• Princess through May 21, 2021
• Carnival through March 31, 2021

I appreciate that Princess shows up as the most responsible brand, cancelling cruises farther out rather than leaking new "pause" dates a week at a time, which throws travel advisors like me and travelers into all sorts of issues.

Notable - Princess pegged their May 21st date, I hear, to the belief that Canada will perhaps open their ports by that date. For Princess, who is the heavy player in Alaska (for big ships) this signals that talks behind the scenes are happening and that Princess hopes to salvage its Alaska season this year.

Currently, all Canadian ports are closed to the end of 2021. Canada is weighing health issues against economic issues, since cruise income is huge for some Canadian ports.

Let's talk borders

At the moment Canadian borders are closed to US travelers (unless one is flying). For trips (cruises and land tours) to resume that means that borders must reopen and, if you are on a ship, ports must reopen.

Many European borders remain closed to US travelers. A few that had reopened have since closed again due to the new strain of covid19 that was discovered in England. This strain has now been identified in several countries, including the US.

Mexico's borders are open but some states are now closed. Mexico is seeing a surge in covid cases after a surge of more than 500,000 US tourists in the past few months.

Caribbean borders change every day or so. This makes planning a trip difficult, for sure. If you want to go let's figure out ONE destination and a great resort. In my opinion this is not the time to think about island hopping.

What about Alaska?

Unless Alaska decides to close its state border to US citizens (or requires a 14 day quarantine) it's possible to visit Alaska this season.

• Don't count on passing through Canada
• Consider flying up and catching a small ship that visits US ports in Alaska
• Consider a land trip
• While it's possible to sail from American waters (Seattle) up to Alaska and back down, I think it's a giant waste of money. You won't be able to stop at Canadian ports (as of this moment). And you are paying to spend days chugging along the coastline instead of actually being in Alaska.
• My recommendation is that we look at flights up and either a combo land and small ship cruise or land only.

Covid vaccinations

There is currently a huge pent up demand for travel. As more Americans become able to take the covid19 vaccine this demand will increase (even though you'll still be masking up and washing your hands 80 times a day). Count on this increased demand to do two things:

• Airline flight options will increase (and prices will go up)
• Open travel destinations will also see a price increase as demand increases but destinations are still limited.

Would you be interested?

I'm considering opening a group for travel to Iceland in August, 2021. This would be a smaller ship cruise on one of my favorite brands, Azamara. Here's why I like this voyage:

• You fly in and out of Dublin, which is a fairly inexpensive flight from the US (at least in normal times), and is a roundtrip ticket. (Cheaper than open jaw).
• You visit 6 ports in Iceland, so it's a good look at the country.
• You could take time before or after in Dublin, which is a fun city to visit.
• You're only having to track travel restrictions for two countries, Ireland and Iceland. That's much easier to plan for. I doubt you would be surprised by last minute itinerary changes.
• Iceland isn't all that populated, so you are not visiting teeming cities, you are visiting wide open spaces (and an incredibly beautiful landscape, I've been there.)

All in all, I think this trip would be a safe bet since it's limited in scope (a two country footprint) and it's not until August.

Rough price for 2 people would be $11k for a 12 night cruise from Dublin, veranda stateroom, all the bells and whistles. Your flights from home to Dublin and return would be additional. If 12 or more couples book I would be able to get additional benefits for each traveler.

If you have interest let me know and I'll send you full details. You'd have to make a deposit now to lock in this price, but not pay for the full cruise until later. My recommendation is that you count on getting the covid vaccine before that time. And be aware that there will still be, I'm sure, requirements for masking in public areas. But this is a great itinerary in open air and a trip you will not forget.

Until next time,

Sue Painter