Hurtigruten stops cruises after Corona eruption. Aida postpones the start of the season. A Tui ship lands safely in Hamburg. About the state of the industry.

At the weekend, the corona virus was detected under the crew of a Hurtigruten passenger ship in Norway among 36 crew members. Now the VUSR travel agency association advocates a general test requirement. The cost should be borne by the guests themselves.

Hurtigruten

After the coronavirus outbreak on their cruise ship “Roald Amundsen”, the Norwegian shipping company Hurtigruten is no longer offering trips with its three expedition ships “Roald Amundsen”, “Fridtjof Nansen” and “Spitsbergen”. Previously, 36 crew members and now several passengers on the ship had tested positive.

Hurtigruten works closely with the authorities to handle the situation as best as possible, said CEO Daniel Skjeldam. According to initial evaluations, there were deficiencies in the internal approach that are now being analyzed.

The Hurtigruten ships on the so-called mail line between Bergen and Kirkenes, on the other hand, continue to operate.

Aida

Aida has postponed the scheduled restart of cruises. Planned short trips with the AIDAperla from Hamburg were made until August 15th. canceled, the AIDAmar from Warnemünde can until 16.8. not start.

According to the company, the company has developed comprehensive concepts for the new start together with authorities and health experts and implemented all of the increased hygiene standards and corona measures on board its ships.

A final formal approval by the flag state of Italy is still pending.

Tui cruises

After a three-day short trip with strict requirements, the cruise ship “Mein Schiff 2” has arrived in Hamburg. The Tui ship, which due to corona had only taken 1,500 instead of 2,900 passengers, had been on the North Sea without a shore leave since Friday.

On a short trip the weekend before, the ship was the first large cruise ship to depart from a German port after a forced break of several months.

There was a strict hygiene concept on board:

  • Crew members should keep a minimum distance of 1.50 meters from each other and from the guests or wear protective masks.
  • The buffet restaurants should be open – but the dishes were served to the guests.
  • Before the passengers boarded, they had to fill out a health questionnaire and have their body temperature measured.

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