Georgina NoackOne would think after the absolute shitstorm that the Ruby Princess caused for Australia (and the world), folks would be a little more hesitant to jump on a cruise ship. But apparently not.
Three days after announcing cruises will be returning in August, Carnival Cruises has seen a 600 per cent rise in ticket sales.
Cruise Planners, the company taking bookings, reported the jump. The sales are double what they were over the same period in 2019, before coronavirus reared its ugly head and showed cruise ships for the floating Petri dishes they truly are.
The numbers are a combination of ridiculously reduced rates – with some packages selling for as little as USD$118 ($182-ish AUD) – and people’s desperation to get out of their homes.
Eight ships are due to set sail from Texas and Florida six months form now – if all goes to plan. Carnival is depending on the Centre of Disease Control to lift the “no sail order”, expiring July 24.
Perhaps, though, we can take comfort that cruise companies have no plans to start boarding passengers in Australian waters. America, it seems, is the only country looking to disembark. In fact, more and more companies are cancelling their trips from Australia well into October. So that’s a relief.
But, even though I hope (and pray) cruise ships won’t be making a return to Australian waters any time soon, I don’t know what to expect, especially with these numbers
It’s clear that some people (*cough* boomers *cough*) just want to see the world burn.
All Aboard A Floating Petri Dish.
It’s astonishing that people in a country with over 1 million confirmed cases would be so willing to jump back onto a vessel (literally) that has shown it’s not conducive to staying healthy.
Need we remind aspiring cruisers of the Diamond Princess – owned by Princess Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival – that was a floating time-bomb quarantined in Japanese waters. The ship was one of the first signs of the virus becoming a pandemic and, at one point, had the most cases outside China. All on one boat.
And the infamous Ruby Princess, now subject of a criminal investigation.
Cruise ships account for 21 of Australia’s 50 coronavirus deaths. The ruby Princess is linked to 15 of those. The Diamond Princess, in comparison, only killed 12 of its 706 infected passengers (the Ruby Princess had 660).
And let’s not forget the Great Gastro Outbreak of 2018. When Immodium became a staple of cruise luggage because a ship couldn’t go out to sea without reporting hundreds of norovirus-infected passengers on-board. Lovely.
Yes, jumping on a cruise is a lovely idea.
Image Source: Pexels (PixaBay)
