Like pretty much everything in the world right now, cruising has come to a halt. Thousands of people have had their cruises cancelled and are left waiting for this craziness to be over so they can get back on board.
The cruise lines are aware of the disappointment, so have come to the party with providing virtual cruise tours and activities for guests to be able to watch and pretend they are still sailing the high seas! So if you’re yearning to get back to your favourite holiday, grab a cocktail, relax on a sunbed (or, your sofa will do!) and let’s go on a virtual cruise together…
Viking
Viking has rolled out Viking.tv over the past couple of weeks which is chock-full of content. Viking’s Chairman Torstein Hagen has his own ‘Tor’s Corner’ for updates on Covid-19 and personal messages, there’s a section ‘Crew Messages’ which are recorded by crew members with notes for past passengers, and the newest section ‘Guest Greetings’ where guests can upload messages to their favourite crew members.
If you’re missing your on board lectures, jump onto ‘Conversations with Karine and Friends’ for live streaming every day at 2pm ET, Mon-Fri, with Viking’s Senior VP Karine Hagen along with Viking Resident Historians, Guest Lecturers and other guests.
Royal Caribbean
RCL Cruise Director Abe Hughes has launched his own virtual cruise, ‘Virtual of the Seas’. He’s creating a Daily Compass with activities and quizzes and after the one-week experiment went down so well, he’s continued it!
Follow him for Facebook lives, Social Media Sail-aways (where guests are invited to post photos of their cocktails at home) and various other amusements. Updates are on Facebook here and are also being share by Royal Caribbean’s corporate accounts on Twitter, or find using #virtualoftheseas
Not sure which cruise line is which? Check out my post
Compare Cruise Lines – A Comprehensive Guide to Large Ships
Crystal Cruises
Crystal@Home has been launched to allow guests to keep connected to this boutique cruise line. You can follow Sunday Cooking with Chef Jon Ashton where he’ll show you some recipes, or you can listen to podcasts for Storyteller Monday from celebrities, authors and world affairs experts. Tuesday is Pantry Prep advising how to prepare for your meals for the upcoming week with Chef Jon, or follow Wellness Wednesday on Facebook for tips on exercise and well being including a Pilates routine. For the less energetic maybe Thirsty Thursday is more up your alley, a time for sharing cocktail recipes and tips for the ship’s best mixologists. ‘Friday Nights at the Galaxy’ bring the entertainers out to play for your amusement, posted live on their Facebook page at 6pm ET, and on Saturday guests are invited to share their photos and experiences from their favourite sail-aways, using #CrystalFamily.
Lindblad Expeditions
Lindblad is running a weekly ‘virtual expedition cruise’ from Monday to Friday. The activities change daily and includes a Morning Wake-up in the signature style of an expedition leader, a ‘pro-health and anti-anxiety wellness moment’, enrichment activities from the expedition staff, a slideshow from guests who are invited to share photos in line with their theme of the week, photo tips and a happy hour roundup of the day at 6pm ET.
A more recent addition is live performances every Thursday at 4pm EDT featuring top world musicians.
You can check them out on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @lindbladexp or find their corporate website here.
Uniworld Cruises
Uniworld is staying connected with its guests through digital booklets filled with favourite cocktail and food recipes. Acknowledging that most guests are stuck at home, the recipes are focused on comfort food such as seafood pasta and chicken soup and accompanied by a paprika Mary. These can also be found on their Facebook page.
The President and CEO of Uniworld, Ellen Bettridge has also started a Blog to give updates and share teasers of what guests can look forward to when the cruise world is back up and running again.
Silversea
This luxury cruise line is currently creating virtual cruise content which it is calling ‘To The Curious’ to be rolled out over the next few weeks in emails to their past passengers and on their social channels. Following what seems to be a popular theme, they are starting with an ‘around the world in 60 cocktails’, presented by one of their own bartenders from Silver Whisper. They have cleverly linked the first 3 cocktails to be a showcase from their new culinary program, S.A.L.T (Sea And Land Taste) which is being debuted on Silver Moon, being launched later this year. You can follow the YouTube tutorials on their channel here.
They’re also asking guests to share the current view from their window in their Facebook page, with the #YearningToSailAgain.
Can’t decide whether your next holiday should be at a Resort or a Cruise? Check out this post!
Carnival Cruise Line
It may be four years old now, but this 360-degree video has become relevant again whilst we can only dream of being on a cruise. This ‘Instant Caribbean Vacation’ begins on a beautiful tropical beach in the sun before you are catapulted to the pool deck and plunged into a water slide! From here you appear at the RedFrog bar in the Lido deck, where you can scroll for a full 360 degree view of this Fun Ship before being whizzed away to the back deck to watch a fabulous sunset. It’s only a couple of minutes long, but the interactivity is pretty cool and gives you a good idea of what you’re currently missing…
Sharing is Caring
If you’d like to share your favourite snaps from past cruises, please join my Facebok Page and do so, I’d love to see them and we can all swap stories and memories! Alternatively, you can tag me on Instagram #thefortysomethingtraveller
Round-Up
If you’re reading this, I’m going to assume you are a cruise fan like me…and probably missing your cruising days as much as I am. I hope I’ve given you a little escapism with some of the cruise line’s current efforts, if you know of any more, please do let me know in the comments below – thanks!
Please stay safe, look after yourselves, and #stayhome !
See you next time,
Wendy A x
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It’s so smart how the cruise world is pivoting in today’s situation. Very cool to see some of the behind the scenes and virtual vacations going on in travel right now!
Absolutely, such strange times and so many people who are missing out on cruises which they’ve been looking forward to for over a year…at least this gives them a little taste of what they’re missing, I mean, can enjoy in the future 😉
Thank you for your post. It is interesting program, the virtual cruise ship tours. My wife and I are planning to visit North Europe, including the Viking Cruisie this summer. Due to covind-19, we have to cancel our trip.
Now there is virtual cruise. I see that Viking has rolled out Vikingdottv. I bookmarked your webpage and will take time to do some virtual cruise tour.
Even though we cancelled this year’s trip, we plan to do the trip next year. It is nice we will have one year’s time to do some more homework and prepare a fruitful trip.
It is kind of you sharing this useful info with us.
I’m sorry your cruise was cancelled, it’s such a tough time for the industry. You’ve chosen a fabulous cruise however, I know you will absolutely love it! Have you cruise before? You may want to check out my First Time Cruise Checklist if not https://thefortysomethingtrave… Have a great time, and thank you for commenting!