The corona pandemic has thwarted many Germans' vacation plans.
Nevertheless, many dream of a cruise.
Where is that possible despite the lockdown in spring?
The shipping companies have developed strict hygiene concepts and are hoping for easing.
For the
time being, it does not look like
Caribbean trips or
cruises
from US ports.
The cruise association has decided to compulsory Covid-19 testing for passengers and crew.
Corona hit the cruise companies * hard last year.
The once booming industry suffered billions in losses.
Most of the 400 ships worldwide are in the ports, older models have even been scrapped.
Around 200,000 people across Europe lost their jobs in the industry in 2020, many are on short-time work.
But the shipping companies are cautiously optimistic for spring 2021:
From mid-February, ship trips to Northern Europe or the Mediterranean will be in the program on the AIDA, Costa or TUI.
The demand is there: Despite travel warnings, the desire for a change of scenery is unbroken among many Germans - bookings with cruise operators are rising steeply, especially for the second half of the year.
Can the providers' plans be implemented?
Above all, that will also depend on how many countries open their ports to cruise ships in 2021.
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Corona pandemic 2021: Where can you currently go on a cruise vacation - and where not?
As of February 2021,
boat trips in the Mediterranean or the North Sea
are possible from spring.
This also includes Norway and Svalbard.
The ports of the Canary Islands can also be approached.
Portugal, on the other hand, has still closed its ports to cruise ships
, as have Greece and mainland Spain.
Exception: off the Portuguese island of Madeira
are allowed to moor cruise ships.
Caribbean trips and Atlantic crossings
that start in the USA will probably not take place for the time being.
This applies to ports of departure such as Miami, Fort Lauderdale and New York - hardly surprising, given that Europeans are currently banned from entering the USA.
Cruises to Canada or the Seychelles are also currently not offered.
The shipping companies are hoping for the second half of the year.
Traveling safely also means traveling with restrictions
.
In order to avoid outbreaks of Covid-19,
strict hygiene concepts apply on the cruise ships.
Every passenger must be tested before the trip.
The shipping company bears the costs for the established providers.
A
mask is required
on board
- both for passengers and for the entire crew.
What increases security:
unlike on a hotel holiday, passengers do not go in and out.
The group of people remains manageable - which makes tracking easier in an emergency.
In addition,
the capacity utilization of the ships is a maximum of 60 percent
and stricter safety conditions apply to passengers when going ashore.
Often these are not even possible - the laws of the target countries decide here.
Read here
: The Germans' desire to travel is unbroken - there is only one thing that vacationers shy away from.
Cruise vacation 2021 in corona lockdown - what is the legal situation?
The number of corona cases should be contained.
The Federal Government is
therefore
currently advising against all unnecessary travel
- travel warnings from the Federal Foreign Office apply to many countries.
Nevertheless:
Vacation travel and therefore cruises are not expressly prohibited.
The travel restrictions of the destination countries are decisive: every holidaymaker is obliged to obtain detailed information about them in advance.
Waiting times at the border are often not uncommon and the vacationer is responsible for rejections.
When returning from a risk area in Germany, you are obliged to go into quarantine immediately
- this also applies to cruises.
That means: You are not allowed to leave the house or apartment for ten days and not receive any visitors.
The quarantine can be shortened with a negative test, but only from the fifth day.
(ih) * Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
Sources: Welt.de, Kreuzfahrtberater.de, adac.de, aida.de
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