One of the two German brands jointly owned by Royal Caribbean Group, Tui Cruises, said it will cancel its November sailings from Germany but continue offering its Greece and Canary Islands cruises.
Tui has been offering short cruises from Kiel, Germany, with sea days only and no port calls, on the Mein Schiff. It said today that authorities in the state of state Schleswig-Holstein, of which Kiel is a part, provided "short notice that, contrary to the previous approval, we are not allowed to carry out cruises" from Kiel until further notice.
"We very much regret the ban, especially since our cruises are international cruises and do not fall under the category of domestic travel, and we are sailing with a strict hygiene concept including obligatory Covid-19-test," a Tui spokesperson said, adding that, since July, the line has carried more than 40,000 passengers "without incidents."
"This proves that cruises are safely possible even in times of Corona."
Tui said its seven-day Greece cruises and the Canary Islands/Spain sailings will still take place. Tui employs a "cruise in a bubble" concept that encompasses the entire journey and is sold as a complete package, including transport to the ship on chartered aircraft only for Mein Schiff guests and allowing guests to disembark only on ship-controlled shore excursions.
Royal's other jointly owned brand, Hapag Lloyd, canceled all of its November cruises earlier this week. Aida Cruises, Carnival's German brand, last week canceled its November cruises, as well.