Cruise ships may continue to delay a return to sailings, but one line is confident there is still an appetite for travel on the horizon after its flagship "Around the World in 180 Days" itinerary sold out in less than a day.
While the date of departure is still two years away, the Oceania Line takes it as an encouraging sign that a return to cruising is still in demand.
"The response to our epic 2023 around the world voyage clearly illustrates the enthusiasm that experienced travellers have for immersive and memorable travel experiences," said CEO Bob Binder in a release on Tuesday.
The company reported its 2023 Around the World in 180 Days itinerary was fully booked within hours of opening on 27 January. More impressive still is the fact that new cruisers are willing to get on board, with more than a third of all bookings made by new customers.
The ship Insignia is set to visit destinations as exotic as Antarctica, Madagascar and the Bering Sea between Russia and Alaska. Visiting 96 destinations 33 countries the monster itinerary takes half a year to complete.
/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/OAOYFFQXXO273HM74VNJCLSFCE.jpg)
With prices ranging from between $58,000 and $69,000 per guest, the suites were all sold by the close of business.
Oceania also reports strong sales of European and North American Itineraries for 2022 with the plan to put its full 2022-23 routes on sale by March.
This could be the first time ships return to the area.
Last Thursday Canada announced a one-year ban of pleasure craft from its waters, lasting until February 2022. This means that popular Alaskan itineraries are off limits too, due to the importance of accessing Canadian ports for the planning of American itineraries for non-US flagged ships.
In response to new strains of Covid-19, Canadian Minister for transport Omar Alghabra said banning international cruise ships from Canadian Arctic waters was "the right and responsible thing to do".
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, the parent company of Oceania, told Bloomberg they were "currently exploring several initiatives that may allow such cruises to continue, especially for the important Alaska season" and that they would "continue to work with the Canadian government to amend their current suspension."
While the MS Insignia's six-month marathon itinerary reads like a best-of travel bucket list, there are some notable omissions. The route takes the Insignia around the north Pacific and will be missing both New Zealand and Australia.
Australia recently extended its rolling 'cruise ban' until the end of next month, and New Zealand has been granting few closely policed exemptions for domestic-only cruises.
The costly decision to turn around the Ponant cruise ship Le Laperouse last week has shown that New Zealand's borders were not up for negotiation. Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said the decision to stop the ship a should serve as a "message" to other companies, and "that processes around the border are in place to keep us safe."
Oceania is still under a temporary pause in operations until May this year.
While these are all signs that the travel situation is still far from normal, the Around the World sailings are a light at the end of the no-sail tunnel. There is still a demand for sailing whenever passengers are allowed back to sea.
