CRUISE
CRUISING in the Wake of COVID By Gary Buchanan
© SILVERSEA
A passenger shares what it’s really like to take a voyage right now
SANTORINI, GREECE
A
s the pandemic engulfed the globe, the cruise industry stared into the abyss. In limbo for 17 months, tentative shoots of recovery for cruising have appeared in unusual places, and nowhere is this comeback more evident than in Greece. To tempt travellers, the country has opened its doors to intrepid companies such as Celebrity Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean and Seabourn, propelling Athens to the epicentre of cruising’s new dawn. Silversea Cruises went a step further with its comeback celebrations and took the bold decision to christen its latest addition to the fleet — Silver Moon — in the Greek capital during a series of highly successful ten-day cruises around the Aegean Sea. I was fortunate to join a cruise prior to the naming ceremony in late July 2021. Arrival at Athens Airport proved the resurgence in tourism was no hype. Flights from Montreal, Toronto, New York, Atlanta and Washington, alongside those from European cities, were lined up at the terminal building specifically designed for the 2004 Olympic Games. Immigration formalities consisted of a perfunctory stamp in my passport, a fleeting glance at my certificate of double 42 • Vacations ® • Fall 2021
vaccination status, and a cursory check of my Greek Government Passenger Locator Form. An hour later, a black Mercedes pulled up at Miaoulis Terminal in the port city of Piraeus to take me to the Silver Moon. But first, I had to comply with some new hurdles that are integral to travel in the viral age. A member of Silversea Cruises’ staff arranged for my luggage to be tagged, she then escorted me to a passenger screening facility where personnel in full PPE gear took my temperature and performed a routine COVID antigen test. The aura was one of vigilance and the Eurofins team appeared to be well trained in diagnostic testing. In less than 20 minutes, I received my negative result and proceeded into the main terminal to complete registration formalities. I surrendered my passport, filled out a Silversea Cruises Public Health Guest Locator Form, then headed for the ship’s gangway. Travelling now requires a sheaf of paperwork, so I recommend keeping documents in a sturdy file containing hard copies of the essentials, including Passenger Locator Form, proof of double vaccination against
