3 major cruise lines just made it clear their ships won't all be back for a long time
It's official: It's going to take many, many months for Norwegian Cruise Line to get all of its ships back into operation.
Ditto for Norwegian's two sister lines, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
The three cruise brands on Wednesday announced restart plans for more than half of their collective fleets with restart dates for ships that still are five to nine months away.
The restart plans covered eight of Norwegian's 17 ships, three of Oceania's six ships and four of Regent's five ships.
The earliest restart date announced for any of the vessels was Oct. 16. Some of the vessels won't be back in operation until February of 2022.
The announcements come as the lines prepare to tiptoe back into cruising over the next four months with sailings on just a handful of vessels and are consistent with longstanding plans at the brands to return to cruising in a gradual way.
Norwegian plans to restart operations on July 25 with a single ship (Norwegian Jade) sailing Greek island voyages out of Piraeus, Greece. It then plans to start Caribbean cruises out of the Dominican Republic and Alaska cruises out of Seattle in August with one ship in each destination (Norwegian Gem and Norwegian Bliss, respectively).
Norwegian also has announced that two more vessels, Norwegian Epic and Norwegian Getaway, will restart operations in September and October, respectively.
Oceania plans to restart operations in the Mediterranean on Aug. 29 with just one ship, the 1,250-passenger Marina.
Regent plans to restart operations in Europe on Sept. 11 with just one ship, the 750-passenger Seven Seas Splendor.
None of the lines has operated a single cruise departure since the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic in March of 2020.
Related: The ultimate guide to Norwegian Cruise Line
Frank Del Rio, the president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, has said repeatedly over the past year that the company would resume operations gradually over many months.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is the parent company of Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
"Our great cruise comeback continues to build momentum with today’s announcement of the return of 15 additional ships across our three brands," Del Rio said in a statement accompanying Wednesday's announcement.
In its announcement on Wednesday, Norwegian Cruise Line said it would bring back one ship in October, three in November, one in December, two in January and one in February. Specifically:
- Norwegian Breakaway will cruise from New York starting Oct. 24.
- Pride of America will cruise from Honolulu starting Nov. 6.
- Norwegian Encore will cruise from Miami starting Nov. 14.
- Norwegian Escape will cruise from Port Canaveral, Florida, starting Nov. 20.
- Norwegian Pearl will cruise from Miami starting Dec. 23.
- Norwegian Jewel will cruise from Panama City, Panama, starting Jan. 20, 2022.
- Norwegian Sun will sail from Hong Kong starting Jan. 28, 2022.
- Norwegian Spirit will cruise from Sydney, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand, starting Feb. 9, 2022.
In addition, Norwegian pushed back the restart date for Norwegian Joy from Aug. 7 to Oct. 19. The ship no longer will sail Caribbean voyages out of Montego Bay, Jamaica, that were announced just seven weeks ago. The line said it was moving crew from the vessel to Norwegian Bliss to allow that ship to restart sailings to Alaska in August.
The announcement leaves just three Norwegian ships for which the line has yet to announce a restart plan -- Norwegian Sky, Norwegian Star and Norwegian Dawn.
The three ships included in Oceania's restart announcement on Wednesday are:
- Riviera, which will resume its previously published voyage schedule beginning from Istanbul on Oct. 18.
- Insignia, which will resume sailings on Dec. 21 with a Panama Canal voyage in advance of a long sold-out, 180-day around-the-world cruise from Los Angeles.
- Sirena, which will resume sailings out of Miami on Jan. 22, 2022.
Oceania on Wednesday said restart dates for two additional ships, Regatta and Nautica, would be announced later.
Oceania added that specific itineraries for the ships for which it had announced restart dates "will continue to be evaluated for port availability and may be adjusted as required closer to the sailing dates."
The four ships included in Regent's announcement on Wednesday are:
- Seven Seas Explorer, which will begin cruises from Venice, Italy, on Oct. 16.
- Seven Seas Mariner, which will begin cruises from Miami on Dec. 18.
- Seven Seas Navigator, which will restart cruises from Miami on Jan. 6, 2022.
- Seven Seas Voyager, which will restart cruises from Barcelona on Feb. 15, 2022.
With Wednesday's announcement, Regent now has unveiled comeback plans for all five of its ships.
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There’s a lot to love about the Amex Gold. It’s a fan favorite thanks to its fantastic bonus-earning rates at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets. If you’re hitting the skies soon, you’ll also earn bonus Membership Rewards points on travel. Paired with up to $120 in Uber Cash annually (for U.S. Uber rides or Uber Eats orders, card must be added to Uber app and you can redeem with any Amex card), up to $120 in annual dining statement credits to be used with eligible partners, an up to $84 Dunkin’ credit each year at U.S. Dunkin Donuts and an up to $100 Resy credit annually, there’s no reason that foodies shouldn’t add the Amex Gold to their wallet. These benefits alone are worth more than $400, which offsets the $325 annual fee on the Amex Gold card. Enrollment is required for select benefits. (Partner offer)Pros
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- 3 points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with the airline or with amextravel.com
- Packed with credits foodies will enjoy
- Solid welcome bonus
Cons
- Not as useful for those living outside the U.S.
- Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits
- You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
- $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account and get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an American Express Card for your transaction. That’s up to $120 Uber Cash annually. Plus, after using your Uber Cash, use your Card to earn 4X Membership Rewards® points for Uber Eats purchases made with restaurants or U.S. supermarkets. Point caps and terms apply.
- $84 Dunkin' Credit: With the $84 Dunkin' Credit, you can earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you enroll and pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin' locations. Enrollment is required to receive this benefit.
- $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
- $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings, sweet or savory, with the $120 Dining Credit. Earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Enrollment required.
- Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- Annual Fee is $325.
- Terms Apply.