Coronavirus: Cruise and Travel Industry Show the Love with Heartfelt Messages

Times have certainly been tough for the cruise industry of late, as with many other sectors facing hardships in light of the coronavirus outbreak, but it has certainly not let this dampen its spirits.

Members of the industry have been taking to social media to show their heartfelt love and support to everyone.

First up was Princess Cruises. The cruise line has been hit heavily by the virus, with two of its ships having been put under quarantine in the last months, resulting in its decision to suspend global operations of its 18 ships for voyages departing from 12 March to 10 May.

Shining a ray of hope during these dark times, the cruise line beamed the message “We Will Be Back” from the balcony cabins of Sky Princess, the newest ship in Princess’ 18-strong fleet.

Along with illuminating the message across the ship, the cruise line also displayed a banner in the sparkling new lobby of Sky Princess, conveying the same message.

The cruise line shared the heartwarming image on its social media platforms, where cruisers showed their love and support for the brand, with one person tweeting: “Everyone stay safe and healthy! We’re booked on @PrincessCruises next May for Alaska and we can’t wait to sail with you!!”

While acknowledging that “the past couple of weeks have been unprecedented in the travel industry” on Facebook, specialist cruise travel agency Paramount Cruises also reminded its customers that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

“As the world seems to be slowly shutting down, we wanted to let you know that we’ll always be here, ready to answer any queries, amend your upcoming holidays if needed, and get our clients re-booked on other holidays later on in the year and through to 2021,” it wrote.

“If there’s something we’ve learnt over the years, it’s that there’s nothing like looking forward to an exciting holiday to boost your morale.”

Marella Cruises similarly put a much-needed smile on all of our faces by having its ship Marella Discovery 2 literally trace a smile in the ocean waves while it was carrying out routine manoeuvres, before anchoring in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Travel agents are among some of the worst to be hit financially by the coronavirus pandemic, but this did not stop Miles Morgan from showing his philanthropic side.

Taking to YouTube, the eponymous founder of Miles Morgan Travel pledged that he would offer his team’s full support to the over 70s who are self-isolating by offering to deliver their shopping and to stay in contact with them over the phone to check in that they’re doing well.

He said: “Over the past 14 years, Miles Morgan Travel has built its huge success on the support from our local community and our customers and so in conversation with my staff last night, we’ve decided we would like to offer something back to our community and our customers.

“And so our offer today is if you’re one of those people and you don’t have local friends, local family close to you that can call in with your shopping and also make a call just to check that you’re ok, then please get in touch with us.

“So the offer from our staff is we will get your shopping for you, we will phone you every day just to check you’re alright and everything’s good with you.”

This week, both Saga and Carnival Corporation have also shown their generosity by offering their cruise ships for coronavirus relief to the UK and US governments, respectively. Saga has also teamed up with Cruise.co to try and repatriate almost 80 passengers stranded in Lima due to the outbreak.

Finally, Jane McDonald, who announced last month that she would be hanging up her cruise hat to pursue other projects, also couldn’t resist messaging her devoted cruise fans on Twitter to let them know her heart was with them.

The Queen of Cruise took to her Twitter account and website to send her 154,000 followers a message, telling people to “take care of themselves”.

“Dear Everyone,” wrote the star. “In these worrying times, I hope that you are all staying as well as possible and taking care of yourselves and your loved ones.”

Visit gov.uk for the latest coronavirus travel advice and updates.

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Friendly British cruise line Fred Olsen offered some comfort to its repatriated passengers, gifting them a best of British care package.

A couple gets over the loss of their cruising holiday in a rather heartwarming way, by replicating the cruise experience in their own home.