While Australian cruising wallows in the dark series: another 13 ships and 40,000 berths resume cruising

In our ongoing series of how cruising is getting going around their world while Australia wallows in the dark, our friends at Cruise Industry News say that the industry is adding another 13 ships, with 40,000 berths are resuming cruising.Their report says that these are the cruise line that announced restart plans in the the week of April 11:

TUI
First sailing: May 13, 2021
Ships: One – Mein Schiff 5 (in addition to other two already in service)
Total Berths: 2,500
Region: Europe – Greece

With two ships already in service in the Canaries, TUI Cruises will make a return to the Eastern Mediterranean next month.

From May 13, the Mein Schiff 5 will offer two different one-week itineraries to Greece, sailing from Crete.

AIDA
First sailing: May 23, 2021
Ships: One – TBD (in addition to the AIDAperla, already in service)
Total Berths: Estimated: 2,200
Region: Europe – Greece

AIDA Cruises will offer a summer program in Greece, starting on May 23. The German cruise line will sail a seven-day itinerary from Corfu, with a yet-to-be-determined vessel.

AIDA is also sailing in the Canaries, with the 3,250-guest AIDAperla, which relaunched service in March.

MSC
First sailing: May 1, 2021
Ships: Nine – MSC Seaside, MSC Seashore, MSC Orchestra, MSC Splendida, MSC Magnifica, MSC Seaview, MSC Musica, MSC Preziosa and MSC Virtuosa (in addition to the MSC Grandiosa, already in service).
Total Berths: 32,178
Regions: Europe – Eastern Mediterranean, Western Mediterranean and Northern Europe

On April 15, MSC announced a new restart plan with new and updated itineraries in Europe for nine different ships, including the newbuilds MSC Virtuosa and MSC Seashore.

The company also extended the deployment of the MSC Grandiosa, currently the only vessel in service for the brand.

Marella
First sailing: June 25, 2021
Ships: Two – Marella Explorer and Marella Explorer 2
Total Berths: 3,628
Region: Europe – United Kingdom

This week, Marella Cruises joined the long list of cruise lines restarting service with domestic UK cruising. The company will have two ships in service, sailing from two different British ports.

By the numbers a total of +13 ships and +40,506 berths

An edited report from Cruise Industry News by John Alwyn-Jones, Cruise Editor.