There are images that one does not forget so fast: hundreds or thousands of holidaymakers, who were not allowed to leave your "dream ship" were. Holidaymakers, who were left on your cruise ship are locked up and not on Land and the drive home were allowed to go. And that's only because onboard someone with COVID-infected 19.

not to mention the emotional burden, because the passenger is ill in the neighboring cabin. Or he just has a chronic cough and is not infected? Who is to know? And like the other out of the way, if you come at dinner or on the promenade so close?

For shipowners and tour operators to break anyway, new times. It is now no longer only about providing vacationers with a bunk and a hot Buffet. It is quite new concepts we need to avoid the circumstances described above.

confident

That it was going to continue with the holiday in the floating castles bed ends, because there seems to be no doubt. TUI Cruises about looks "continue to be positive in the future." Company spokeswoman Friederike Grönemeyer insured to DW: "in Spite of the cancelled trips we have seen over the year as a whole is still a good load."

Many of the guests had opted for a change or kept "in already made medium-and long-term bookings": It would be posted at TUI more new trips "for the year 2021. We have opened a few weeks ago, the trips for the Winter of 2021/2022, and these trips are already booked."

Through the General relaxation could drop from the end of the month many ships, so the travel agent cruise consultants. Here you can see the cruise ships on their way back to deep and safe waters. Managing Director Frank Riecke, on the written request of the DW: "Yes, there are very clear signs of a recovery in respect of the booking behaviour."

V, or U? The Alphabet of the crisis

on the question of how the economy is coming out of the crisis, was thought up by Economists of this image: the crisis, rapidly and violently, there is a very deep valley, at the end of a steep climb is a graph of a V. Must the economy, however, a long dark valley you walk through, would look like the curve like a wide U.

In the case of TUI is confident: "Our booking situation is still optimistic - we believe, therefore, tend to the first variant."Something more granular the view, the cruise consultant can offer is a bit of both: "We expect the end of the second half of the year, a very rapid recovery. To the bottom of the valley, however, is complete and the industry will be back to "Pre-COVID-19-level", it will take some time."

A third variation, we hear from Bremerhaven, the headquarters of the Lloyd shipyard, which also builds cruise ships. Here is much more restrained. Company spokesman Marco Grudziadz on DW-question: "Everything suggests we will hear from the cruise lines and read on a wide and long-lasting bottoming out."

"on"

The ship-builders are only affected indirectly. Before shipowners to award contracts or to cancel, do not watch the market for a long time, to make a possibly wrong decision. Florian Feimann, from ship Builder Meyer in the Emsland region: "The construction of new cruise ships is ultimately affected only indirectly."

In Papenburg on the river Ems, it looks like this: In the past year, Meyer has delivered to shipyard three cruise ships. This year, this success should be repeated - but just three half-finished ships in the shipyard, which is yet to be delivered. Since may, there is in the Emsland region of short-time work, the pressure is enormous - observers speak of more than a billion euros.

The Meyer shipyard in Germany is a big Player, producing annually about 70 percent of the country's built-in ship tonnage. If the yard is now advertising dismissals and pending orders want to stretch, while they negotiated with the state government about state aid, is only understandable that Werft spokesman Peter Hackmann, the German press Agency (dpa) is to: "on."

eat as the community's experience

In contrast to the ship's farmers, tour operators and ship owners need to act immediately. You need to increase hygiene standards and the risk of Infection is minimized. This is not easy, of course, if the holiday model of the cruise is to do something, the other do, because there are other, making the cross also a kind of community experience trips.

Since quite a bit has happened, replied Friederike Grönemeyer TUI "space on Board of My ship fleet are very generous." However, TUI Cruises will go further: "We will not start with full capacity. In addition, we develop adjustments for the Check-In and the guests on Board, among other things, for the hotel, as well as the other program on Board."

eat as risk of infection

Overall, the managing Director of the cruise consultant, will be amazed at the "customer, how professionally and fundamentally the vast majority of the shipping companies with this topic and the compelling concepts is to implement."

however, It is always expect difficulties, which are not easy to solve. As an example, Frank Riecke called the food that's not supposed to be on Board only a gastronomic experience, but also as a social event is perceived. Eating together provides many opportunities for Contracting the disease.

Riecke formulated it this way: "There are of course also customers, for the large tables where you eat together with other guests, are an important part of your cruise. These are but ten percent of the guests." However, ten percent of the we have learned from the virologists, rich loose a plague on the trail.

author: Dirk Kaufmann

*The article "cruise: Captain's Dinner without a Virus?" is published by Deutsche Welle. Contact with the executives here.

Deutsche Welle

Date Of Update: 12 June 2020, 10:27