Monday, April 20, is D-Day for the cruise line industry.
Dock Day.
The last three cruise ships still at sea with passengers are scheduled to dock today, bringing to an end a journey for every single cruise line that has been under scrutiny - and criticism - since the coronavirus began its rapid spread into a global pandemic.
Those three ships include the MSC Magnifica, a vessel that has been at sea since January 5 after leaving genoa Italy, according to the British Broadcasting Corp. What started as a world-wide, multi-months trip was canceled in mid-March.
A couple of hundred passengers disembarked in Australia but most of the 1,700 guests remained on board as the boat practically traversed the world the next six weeks looking for a port that would allow it to disembark its passengers, including Fremantle, Australia and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, among others who denied docking.
The Magnifica was set to dock in Marseille, France. When the boat left Italy just after the new year, COVID-19 was virtually unheard of outside of China. By February, travel advisors were reporting a sharp decrease in bookings over the concern of vacationing by cruise.
By March, when cruise ships were under fire for still sailing with thousands of passengers in close proximity, and being turned away by numerous countries, the virus became a reality.
Passengers on the Magnifica, who had been able to get on and off the boat at will for the first two months of the cruise to tour various cities around the world, last touched dry land in early March. By the time the ship reached Tasmania on March 14, the captain of the Magnifica decided to suspend excursions and banned anyone from leaving the ship for fear they would contract the virus and bring it back on board. The trip was canceled shortly after.
In the meantime, the Costa Deliziosa is set to disembark 168 Spanish passengers in Barcelona today before sailing to Genoa to finally dock and allow the other 1,600 passengers off. The ship is believed to be free of COVID-19.
The Pacific Princess will dock in Los Angeles today. The boat, which also left on Jan. 5 for a 111-day worldwide cruise from Fort Lauderdale, has 115 passengers left on board after making stops in Australia on March 21 to disembark most passengers, and in Honolulu last week to allow four Hawaii residents off.
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