Its hard to believe that 7 months ago we were at the Taj Mahal experiencing one of our “bucket list” experiences during our Dubai to Singapore Spotlight on Public Broadcasting. It’s been heartbreaking to postpone all of our 2020 voyages – each one with extraordinary programming and speakers all ready to go. Such is our world today and the question remains, “when will we travel again?” Like you, we follow every announcement, every development from the CDC, different travel blogs, and, of course, any updates from our partners at Regent. As of August 2020, no one has a clear picture but there’s a general consensus that most folks will not commit to future international travel until a tested, reliable vaccine is available.

While we await the results of 3rd trials with various vaccine options, NCL, Regent’s parent corporation,  has established a new Healthy Sail Panel in partnership with Royal Caribbean. The impressive panel consists of 11 globally recognized experts with deep knowledge in areas of science, medical practice and research, public health, infectious disease, biosecurity and maritime operations. Their mission is to identify enhanced health and safety protocols that will be applied to all Regent ships. Their suggestions will be shared with the entire cruise industry and other industries that may benefit from their findings. Learn more at: https://www.ncl.com/why-cruise-norwegian/book-with-confidence/joint-panel.

So what have we been up to?  We’ve been working with our Regent partners to identify 5 new Spotlight voyages for 2021.  In some cases, we have moved our 2020 programming to new dates/ itineraries in 2021. We have moved our Spotlight on Wines in Alaska, the Spotlight on World Wars, and our Spotlight on Journalism to 2021 dates starting in June. We have added 2 additional cruises to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of PBS in October ’21 and a special cruise with the team of Washington Week scheduled out of Miami in December ’21. We are lining up speakers and performers – all subject to COVID progress – for each voyage. We can’t wait to share all our ideas. There will be much to celebrate once we sail again…. And we will! Be well!