European cruise ports are beginning to open, giving hope of recovery. A survey of a total of 113 seaports (produced by two trade associations - Cruise Britain and Cruise Europe) has revealed that several ports in Europe will be ready and waiting for cruise liners by May.
In Norway, Flam and Arendal proposed to open on May 1. In France, ports Le Havre (Paris), Nantes, Saint-Nazaire, Rouen, and Bordeaux are due to open on May 11, the day on which the current phase of lockdown in France is coming to an end.
Riga, Latvia is expected to open on May 13. Turku, Finland proposes to open on May 13, Helsinki - on May 14.
Rotterdam is due to open on May 26, though the port of Amsterdam, Netherlands will remain closed to river and sea cruise ships.
Some cruise ports are already open, despite that no cruise ships are operating. Ports ready for business include Southampton, Dover, Leith-Edinburgh, Bergen, Hamburg, Goteborg (Gothenburg), Tromso, Stockholm, Saint Petersburg.
The Norway-based company Hurtigruten is among the most optimistic cruise lines. Its cruiseferries interlink a total of 34 Norwegian ports on the Norwegian Coastal Route Kirkenes-Bergen. Two Hurtigruten ships are still operating, not for tourism purposes. The rest of the fleet (including the newbuild vessels) are either heading back to Norway or laid up.
Most cruise companies with scheduled ship deployments in Europe during the summer paused passenger shipping operations between mid-March and July 2020.
For Coronavirus updates on cruise ship quarantines (infected passengers and crew) and top-pandemic countries (COVID-19 cases and deaths, daily updated statistics) see at CruiseMapper's Norovirus page.