The cruise industry has seen an unprecedented number of vessels resuming revenue operations around the world over the summer, except in Australia.
Cruise Industry News says that as the restart continues, 205 ships are expected to be in guest operations by the end of September with this meaning that, for the second month in a row, nearly half of the entire global cruise fleet is in operation.
According to the 2022 Global Cruise Ship Index by Cruise Industry News, the combined fleets of the nearly 90 active cruise lines currently account for approximately 410 cruise ships.
After significant growth over the previous months, 190 cruise ships were sailing with paying guests by August 31, with 15 additional ships entering service through the end of September, with the active cruise fleet is growing nearly 8% this month.
More ships resuming service means that more cruise lines are relaunching revenue operations. In September, brands like Regent, Plantours and Star Clippers are welcoming guests back, making it 63 brands back in service as reported by the Cruise Ships in Service Report by Cruise Industry News.
The restart numbers started growing in May, which saw 55 ships operating revenue sailings, with in the preceding eight months – only an average of 20 ships were in service.
A turning point, however, was reached in July, with the U.S. ports reopening for business and 141 vessels were back in service by the end of that month – an 82% increase over June numbers.
From May to September, the average guest capacity per ship also grew significantly, going from 994 to 1,454.
Fortunately, a few small adventure type ships registered in Australia and with Australian crew, are operating in Australia, but apparently no progress has been made to date by the Government regarding to the restart of cruising with larger vessels in Australia.
A report by John Alwyn-Jones, Cruise Editor, Global Travel Media and Global Cruise News.
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