Coronavirus: The Heartwarming Way a Couple is Coping with Not Being Able to Cruise

Following the coronavirus outbreak, the cruise industry is facing one of the biggest challenges it has ever known.

Most major cruise lines have suspended operations and temporarily halted all sailings, with thousands of passengers forced to cancel sailings.

However, one couple is getting over the loss of their cruising holiday in a rather heartwarming way, by replicating the cruise experience in their own home.

Posting to its Facebook feed, the account ‘It’s Gone Viral’ shared a clip of a couple sitting in their home, captioning it: “When your cruise gets cancelled but you aren’t letting it ruin your holiday!”

The clip shows a silver-haired couple watching a screen with footage from the ocean playing, replicating a scene they might see from the deck of a cruise ship.

Sitting in fluffy bathrobes with their feet up, the couple clink their glasses of wine together, paying homage to life on the sun deck with beach towels on their laps.

Humorously, the couple is surrounded by loo roll and hand sanitisers, with the gentleman donning his sunglasses and lady wearing a wide-brimmed sun hat.

Others shared messages of support for people who had booked onto cruises and were not able to sail, with one Facebook user commenting: “Really great. My heart goes out to all of you lovely people who had booked cruises, lets hope you can still go at a later date. We gave been on three, every one totally different,mon small ships, and have thoroughly enjoyed every one, and there are still some I would like to do at a later date [sic].”

Another added: “This will be us now Monday, as instead of our cruise we are going ot have a week in Dorset pretending we are on our Caribbean cruise [sic].”

Following the outbreak of coronavirus, most major ocean and river cruise lines have temporarily suspended all operations, including those under the Carnival Corp and Royal Caribbean International umbrella.

For an up-to-date list of all cruise lines who’ve suspended sailings, and what to do if your cruise is affected, read our guide to re-booking and cancelling your cruise.

For the latest advice on coronavirus, visit gov.uk.

Our view:
The cruise industry is facing an unprecedented and ever-changing situation and we are committed to keeping you informed with the most up-to-date news as we receive it from the sector. However, we firmly believe that the cruise industry will bounce back. When it does, we’ll be on hand to inspire with destination inspiration and exciting cruise itineraries for the years to come.