December 31, 2019,
the day we first heard about a new virus that emerged in China. There wasn’t much to be worried about and the cruises around the world continued as normal but in the months to follow the industry came to a complete pause and has mainly remained so ever since.
How different the situation was just 2,5 months later. Today marks one year since the
voluntary pause in operations first started on March 12, 2020. It started with Viking Cruises and Princess Cruises with even more cruise lines following to suspend sailings the following day.
Despite years of training, response plans, outbreak plans, the cruise lines felt the effects that a pandemic could have on an industry that until then had experienced its golden years.