With 2020 finally behind us (thank goodness), we, like many of you, feel a dire need to plan for 2021 and beyond. After all, who among us can say they’ve not missed cruising? Though the first week of 2021 has not proved to be much better than last year was, we are still holding out a lot of hope to board cruise ships in 2021. Below, you’ll read more about some of the trips that we’ll be hosting in 2021 and 2022. Today, however, we want to talk to you all about our plans for the new year here at Avid Cruiser & River Cruise Advisor.
Site Updates To Make Your Research Easier
We’ve dedicated a lot of time to updating our websites. Recently, we gave the homepage of River Cruise Advisor a facelift. Some of the site updates that we have planned for this year are appearance related, but we are also working to update the content on our websites to make sure that you have the most up-to-date information as you prepare to resume cruising. This includes updating our pricing and comparison charts, among other things.
Our Hosted Sailings
Those of you who subscribe to our newsletters know that we are hosting a number of cruises in 2021 and 2022. We will host three barge trips and three river cruises.
Here’s a list of what Ralph will be hosting in 2021 and 2022.
If you’d like details about these cruises, check out this listing of Ralph’s hosted trips.
Britton will be hosting a cruise aboard American Harmony on the Columbia River. Up to $600 per cabin savings if you join our group. Dates are July 13-21, 2021 with rates beginning at $5,565 per person, double occupancy. See details here.
We will also be hosting a cruise aboard Windstar’s newly renovated Star Legend roundtrip from Miami at the end of 2021. Up to $150 per person savings if you join our group – and a $100 shipboard credit. Dates are December 9-19, 2021 with rates beginning at $3,059 per person. See details here.
Travel Plans
We are eager to start traveling again. As we reported a few months ago, COVID vaccines have given us hope that we are closer to our travel dreams becoming a reality. I have many friends who have already gotten the vaccine, and I am planning to get mine as soon as I can. After I am vaccinated, I will get onto a ship as quickly as I can.
We miss not only traveling, but also being able to share our travel experiences with you. Of course, we have plans to travel on the hosted sailings mentioned above, but we are also hoping to do more voyage reporting and ship reviews this year when the world begins to open back up.
Podcasts
We will continue to do weekly podcasts which you can find here, or on Travmarket Media’s site. I encourage you to check out the episodes done by the other podcasters on the network. The shows are full of valuable insights – especially for travel agents.
Webinars
Our webinars will continue, but will do so a bit more sporadically. We have a few webinars lined up for 2021 and are hoping to continue doing at least one webinar a month, so keep your eyes peeled for those. We have really enjoyed connecting with all of you on Zoom, and as many of you have, we have learned so much from our webinar guests.
If you have missed any of our webinars, you can find a catalog of them here.
Looking Forward
As of this writing, no one can say with certainty when it will be safe for the masses to travel on cruise ships again. This month, MSC resumes its Mediterranean cruises after a brief pause. Other cruise companies in Europe are planning to begin sailing again soon. After a largely successful season of operating during the pandemic, river cruise companies are planning to launch their sailings this spring in Europe. All of these cruises are limited to those who can get to the cruise departure ports. That excludes most North Americans.
Our best guess is that late summer/early fall of 2021 will be well within the safe margins for anyone to board a flight and step onto a cruise vessel, be it in Europe or the Caribbean or elsewhere. For us, as we are sure for all of you, the day when we can do that can’t come soon enough.
This article was originally published at River Cruise Advisor.
