Count on more than a few detours in routes when cruise ships finally sail again. While some cruise destinations are announcing plans to reopen to ship visitors in the summer, others have already put away the welcome mat for the entire 2020 cruise season and beyond.

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted all destinations worldwide to introduce restrictions on travel, research by the World Tourism Organization has found. This represents the most severe restriction on international travel in history and no country has so far lifted all restrictions introduced in response to the crisis.

The least optimistic are the Indian Ocean islands of the Seychelles, whose tourism department has announced a two-year ban on all cruise ship calls at Port Victoria. This year alone, nearly a dozen cruise lines including Oceania Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn and Costa Cruises were scheduled to send vessels to the destination.

Read it in the Cruisington Times