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The Flight Goes Nowhere. And It’s Sold Out.

People who miss flying are rushing to buy tickets for flights that land in the same place they depart from.

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By Tariro Mzezewa

In August, Nadzri Harif, a D.J. at Kristal FM radio station in Brunei, set foot in an airport for the first time in six months. The experience, he said, was exhilarating. Sure, moving through Brunei International Airport was different, with masks, glass dividers and social-distancing protocols in place, but nothing could beat the anticipation of getting on a plane again.

His destination: nowhere.

Mr. Harif is one of thousands of people in Brunei, Taiwan, Japan and Australia who have started booking flights that start and end in the same place. Some airlines call these “scenic flights”; others are more direct, calling them “flights to nowhere.”

“I didn’t realize how much I’d missed traveling — missed flying — until the moment the captain’s voice came on the speaker with the welcome and safety announcement,” said Mr. Harif of his 85-minute experience on Royal Brunei Airlines. On its flight to nowhere, which the airline calls the “ dine and fly ” program, Royal Brunei serves local cuisine to passengers while flying over the country.

At a time when most people are stuck at home and unable to travel, and the global airline industry has been decimated by the pandemic, flights that take off and return to the airport a few hours later allow airlines to keep staff working. The practice also satisfies that itch to travel — even if it’s just being on a plane again. Although most people may think of flying as a means to an end, existing solely to get them from one place to the next, some say that it is an exciting part of the travel experience. For those people, flights to nowhere are the salve for a year in which just about all travel has been canceled and people have been fearful of airlines not enforcing social distancing and mask-wearing rules.

Royal Brunei has run five of these flights since mid-August, and since Brunei has had very few cases of the coronavirus, the airline is not requiring passengers to wear masks, but staff members are. Earlier in the month, the Taiwanese airline EVA Air filled all 309 seats on its Hello Kitty-themed A330 Dream jet for Father’s Day in Taiwan, and Japan’s All Nippon Airways had a Hawaiian-resort-themed, 90-minute-flight with 300 people on board.

On Thursday, Qantas announced a flight to nowhere over Australia . That flight sold out in 10 minutes.

“So many of our frequent fliers are used to being on a plane every other week and have been telling us they miss the experience of flying as much as the destinations themselves,” Alan Joyce, the chief executive of Qantas Airlines, said in a statement this week, when that airline announced its seven-hour flight in October that would depart and land in Sydney.

Tickets for that flight ranged in price from 787 to 3,787 Australian dollars, or about $575 to $2,765. It will take travelers around Australia, flying over the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales. The airline also recently brought back its popular sightseeing flights to Antarctica that don’t actually land in Antarctica, but allow passengers to walk around and have different views of the continent. The tour company Antarctica Flights charters Qantas to operate the flights. Dozens of Australians took to the airline’s Instagram to express a desire for more of these kinds of trips to be added.

A handful of travel agents in India, Australia and the United States said that their clients have been asking about flights to nowhere in the past two months as the reality that travel will not return to normal for some time has sunk in.

Loveleen Arun, a Bangalore-based travel agent who designs luxury trips mostly for Indian travelers, said that she’s been hearing from antsy clients who wish there were such flights in India.

“One of my clients said just a few days ago, ‘all I want is to be in a window seat and see clouds go by. I miss that sight. I just want white fluffy clouds!’” Ms. Arun said. “Some people just want to drag their bags through the airport and go check them in.”

Most of Ms. Arun’s clients are well-to-do individuals and families who would find a trip to nowhere appealing if it was luxurious — something other travelers echoed.

Before the pandemic, Christopher Malby-Tynan, a marketing manager who lives in London, traveled by plane regularly, both for personal and professional reasons. The thought of getting on a flight to nowhere would only be appealing, he said, if it were upscale and did not include the usual hassle of plane travel.

“The concept of going on a flight to nowhere isn’t appetizing if it’s the same rushed cattle-being-thrown-in experience it is when you’re going on a trip,” Mr. Malby-Tynan said. “If it changed and felt like you were going on a spa date or checking into a luxurious hotel, and you were allowed to stretch out, then it would make sense.”

When Nadiah Hamid’s parents forced her to join them on Royal Brunei’s flight to nowhere, she thought the idea of flying above her home was “ridiculous,” she said, but she had a change of heart just a few minutes into the trip because it allowed her to see her home in a new way.

“Normally when you’re flying you don’t really know where you are, so it was nice to have someone contextualize things in our country and in Malaysia, and the views were really beautiful,” Ms. Hamid, 22, said.

Katie Chao, a spokeswoman for the Taiwanese airline Starlux, said that the airline has been working to make the flight-to-nowhere experience a luxurious one by allowing people to buy packages for the flight and a hotel stay.

Since August, the airline has run six flights to nowhere and has about a dozen more scheduled through October. Most of the flights have sold out within 10 minutes of being announced, Ms. Chao said, adding that wearing a mask and social distancing are mandatory on all these flights.

“We try to provide a different and fun event at the boarding gate,” Ms. Chao said. “We also arrange some special decorations in-flight. And, of course, a special-made giveaway to go with the theme each time is a must.”

Criticism of these flights has been intense, with environmental groups and travelers taking to social media to express their frustrations. They argue that an industry that had already negatively affected the environment before the pandemic is continuing to do so with these unnecessary trips.

In 2018, global civil aviation accounted for 918 million tons of carbon dioxide — equal to the combined annual emissions from Germany and the Netherlands. Rob Jackson, an earth scientist at Stanford University, estimated that global emissions could fall seven percent if lockdowns persist in parts of the world for the rest of the year.

A spokeswoman for Qantas said in an email that it purchased carbon offsets to alleviate the impact of the seven-hour flight, and Royal Brunei Airlines said it is using an Airbus A320neo, which has fewer emissions than many other planes.

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook . And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to receive expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation.

Tariro Mzezewa is a travel reporter at The New York Times.  More about Tariro Mzezewa

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The Unexpected Joys of a Trip to Nowhere

A surprise layover becomes a free day of unexpected discoveries.

Nowhere is the place you never want to go. It’s not on any departure board, and though some people like to travel so far off the grid that it looks like Nowhere (or Nome or Nuuk), most wanderers ultimately long to get somewhere. Yet every now and then—if there’s nowhere else you can be and all other options have vanished—going nowhere can prove the best adventure around.

One beauty of Nowhere is that it’s entirely uncharted; you’ve never read a guidebook entry on it or followed Paul Theroux on a train ride through its suburbs. Few YouTube videos exist of it. And this leads to the second grace of Nowhere, which is that it’s cleansed of the most dangerous kind of luggage, expectation. Knowing nothing of a place in advance opens us up to a wide-awake vitality we seldom encounter while traipsing around Paris or Kyoto with a list of the 10 things we want—or, in embarrassing truth, feel we need—to see.

I’ll never forget a bright January morning when I landed in San Francisco from Santa Barbara, just in time to see my connecting flight to Osaka take off. I hurried to the nearest airline counter to ask for help, and was told that I would have to wait 24 hours, at my own expense, for the next day’s flight. The airline wasn’t responsible for fog-related delays, a gate agent declared, and no alternative flights were available.

Millbrae, California, the drive-through town that encircles San Francisco’s airport, was a mystery to me. With one of the world’s most beautiful cities only 40 minutes to the north, and the unofficial center of the world, Silicon Valley, 27 miles to the south, Millbrae is known mostly as a place to fly away from, at high speed. And an unanticipated delay is exactly what nobody wants on his itinerary.

Nowhere is so far off the map that its smallest beauties are a discovery.

But what I found, as I dropped my checked-in suitcase off at a left-luggage counter, reserved a room at an airport hotel, and walked out into the winter sun, was that Nowhere can have grace notes that Anywhere would envy.

It was a cloudless, warm afternoon as a shuttle bus deposited me in Millbrae. Locals were taking their dogs for walks along the bay while couples sauntered hand in hand beside an expanse of blue that, in San Francisco, would have been crowded with people and official “attractions.” I checked in to my hotel and registered another advantage of Nowhere: Nobody knew I was here, and there was nothing I had to do.

Suddenly I was enjoying a luxury I never allow myself, even on vacation: a whole day free. I ordered a salad from room service—healthier and much tastier than anything I could have eaten in seat 17L—and then noticed that The American, a movie I’d longed to see when it sped through the cineplex, was available on my TV.

The movie and meal behind me, I went for a walk, and, looking in on the Marriott down the road, found myself caught up in the last dramatic seconds of an NFL playoff game on a giant screen, doubly exciting for one who doesn’t have a TV set at home. The whole event was made festive by the conferencegoers who had turned the impersonal space into a weekend party. Heart still pounding as the players rushed the field, I stepped out again, strolled along the water, and caught sight of yellow arrows pointing to the finest burgers in the West. My dinner at In-N-Out cost me all of $4.27.

Nowhere is so far off the map that its smallest beauties are a discovery. And as I made my way back to my hotel, lights began to come on in the hills of Millbrae, and I realized I had never seen a sight half so lovely in clamorous, industrial Osaka. Its neighbor Kyoto is stunning, but it attracts 50 million visitors a year.

Not so Millbrae. I had the waterfront to myself and no need to dodge tour buses or postcard peddlers. Back in my room, I saw that the irresistibly unbuttoned Golden Globes were on—I’d never managed to catch them before—and I was reminded that one of the blessings of any trip is that it can open your eyes to what you’d never take notice of at home.

Next morning I headed back, uncharacteristically refreshed, to the airport and collected my suitcase from the left-luggage counter. I arrived there to find a slim silver laptop opened to YouTube. On it, Martin Luther King, Jr., was extolling “the fierce urgency of now” and his dream of the glorious day when “the rough places will be made plain and the crooked places will be made straight.”

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I looked up and saw that the manager of the left-luggage counter, an older black man with a graying beard, was standing beside me, eyes welling, as moved as I was. We stood together in silence, and it came to me, belatedly, that this was Martin Luther King Day. If my trip had gone according to plan, I’d have missed the day almost entirely, turning my watch 16 hours ahead and arriving in Japan just as it was all but over.

I’m not sure I recognized the smiling traveler who boarded his flight to Osaka, newly aware of both this particular holiday and the meaning of every holiday. I’d slept well, and I’d seen a pretty, unpresuming town that I’d never thought to explore before.

Who knows if I’ll ever visit Millbrae again? But I’m confident that Nowhere will slip into my itinerary many times more. And I’ll relish whatever it serves up to me. No place, after all, is uninteresting to the interested eye.

Santa Barbara-based Pico Iyer is the author, most recently, of The Man Within My Head and The Art of Stillness . You can follow him on Twitter @PicoIyer .

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Why Would Anyone Take a Flight to Nowhere?

A trend has popped up for those missing travel amid the coronavirus pandemic—flights to nowhere—and one afar editor has some feelings about it..

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ANA’s “Honu Plane” took a 90-minute Hawaiian-themed flight to nowhere, leaving from and landing at Tokyo’s Narita Airport.

Photo by w_p_o / Shutterstock

“Why would anyone want to do that?” That was my first thought when I heard that flights to nowhere were popping up in different locations around the world.

A flight to nowhere is exactly what it sounds like—you get on a plane in one location, fly around for a while, and end up at the exact same airport where you started. It’s like a cruise to nowhere, without all of the activities, extravagant meals, casinos, pools, waterslides . . . you know, fun.

These flights have become particularly popular in East Asia, where most borders remain largely closed except for some travel corridors with neighboring countries, and they have also begun in Australia. There’s been a Hello Kitty–themed flight with EVA Air in Taiwan (which included food from a Michelin-starred chef), a 90-minute, Hawaiian-themed flight in Japan with ANA (in a plane that’s painted to look like a turtle), and Singapore Airlines will begin to offer three-hour flights from Changi Airport next month.

After hearing that a seven-hour sightseeing flight with Qantas that takes off and lands at Sydney Domestic Airport sold out in just 10 minutes, with tickets ranging from $566 to $2,374 (to literally get nowhere), I can no longer keep quiet. Seriously, how is this a thing? I understand what it’s like to miss travel during the pandemic. I’ve traveled internationally my whole life, I work at a travel magazine—heck, I invented the #TravelAtHomeChallenge . But I’m just going to say what we’re all thinking: A seven-hour flight is not the part I miss most about traveling. I know, I know, “it’s not the destination, it’s the journey” or whatever, but not once since lockdown began have I been sitting on my couch or reclining in my bed and thought, Wow, if only I was sitting completely upright in an uncomfortable chair with a stranger’s elbow digging into my side and a random person reclined into my lap , or Dang, I wish my feet were swollen. But hey, it’s not all about me.

Not long ago, in a coronavirus-free world, the trend was not flights to nowhere. The trend was flight-shaming . There was a push, particularly in Scandinavia, to rely more on trains and other sustainable forms of travel when possible—there was even a cool word for it, “flygskam.” Stateside, we saw a quarter of U.S. travelers reduce their air travel due to concern for the environment. If you could still get where you were going without flying, that was the way the world was headed.

Now, all of a sudden we’re taking flights when we aren’t even going anywhere because people aren’t able to travel as much in order to curb the spread of COVID-19. Although many airlines have been working to reduce their environmental footprint with carbon offset programs , a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which is used for the aforementioned Qantas flight, burns thousands of kilograms of fuel per hour (depending on factors like weight and altitude of the flight)—and it’s on the lower side for an aircraft of that size. There are lots of sightseeing options that would take less of a toll on our planet, like a scenic train trip, or another COVID trend, virtual tours .

Also, are these flights actually a good alternative right now, when they’re loading upwards of 200 to 300 people onto a plane all together? When traveling, you aren’t susceptible to COVID only once you reach a destination. You’d still be going through the airport and getting on a plane with many other people. There are tons of precautions being taken on airplanes, sure, but it’s not like these flights are almost empty. Often they’re more than half full, which not only brings up a question about the ability to social distance but also means they can’t possibly only be selling window seats. Why would you pay all of this money for a sightseeing flight if you’re going to get an aisle? It’s probably not a good time to lean over the person next to you.

The airline industry is suffering right now. As Scott’s Cheap Flights founder and “chief flight expert” Scott Keyes puts it, “The fact that airlines are operating glorified sightseeing flights underscores just how dire the current financial picture is for travel businesses right now. Flights to nowhere would not be profitable if travel were anywhere near normal.” I’m not saying you shouldn’t fly. If you’re ready and able and understanding of the current risks, and as long as you’re traveling safely and responsibly, it’s up to you. But at least make sure that when you do fly, you’re actually getting somewhere.

>> Next: Is International Travel Still Banned and When Will It Resume?

Would you get on a flight to nowhere?

Sep 24, 2020 • 2 min read

With borders closed around the world, airlines are offering flights to nowhere © Issarawat Tattong via Getty Images

Some travelers are so desperate to get back on a plane that several airlines are starting to offer destination-less trips to nowhere. In a bid to recover some of the money lost because of the coronavirus pandemic, Singapore Airlines is considering launching three-hour flights around the country that depart from and return to Changi Airport. And even if the flight isn’t going far, at least it starts and ends at the world’s best airport for eight years running .

Singapore has had strict COVID-19 rules and regulations. Its borders remain closed to short-term visitors, and those who do get approval to enter the country are required to quarantine for 14 days and are monitored by an electronic wristband to ensure they don’t leave home .

Singapore isn’t the only airline to start up no-destination flights. In July and August, EVA Air in Taiwan launched special Hello Kitty-themed flights, some of which stayed grounded for the duration of the ‘experience’. However, passengers got a huge upgrade to their in-flight meals, which were prepared by three-Michelin-starred chef Motokazu Nakamura.

In October, Qantas, Australia’s flag carrier, is also offering a seven-hour ‘joy flight’ on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Sydney that passes over the Great Barrier Reef and Uluru before landing again, and the 134 available seats sold out in 10 minutes.

‘So many of our frequent flyers are used to being on a plane every other week and have been telling us they miss the experience of flying as much as the destinations themselves’, Qantas’ CEO Alan Joyce said in a statement.

Qantas has branded the excursion as a scenic flight and said that it ‘will be carbon offset and operate on a cost-neutral basis’. The middle seats are being blocked off, but not for social distancing reasons: the airline wants to guarantee all passengers a good view from the plane’s large windows.

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‘Flights to nowhere’ are popular. Experts explain the psychology behind the COVID-era concept

On three days in early October, hundreds of Taiwanese travelers boarded packed Eva Air flights at Taoyuan International Airport. They were not bound for an international or even regional destination; instead, the flight would end exactly where it started. The passengers were set to depart on a so-called flight to nowhere, which would take them on a night-time loop around Taiwan’s main island.

The flights coincided with the Asian holiday of Mid-Autumn Festival, and pilots tilted the planes to give fliers clear views of the full moon. Flight attendants treated passengers to the holiday’s traditional delicacy: moon cakes. Three hours later, the plane touched down again at Taoyuan. In the pandemic era, it counted as a getaway.

Flights to nowhere are a desperate attempt by airlines to scrounge up sales. Parts of Asia have largely contained COVID-19, but the region’s air carriers remain mostly grounded as border closures and quarantine requirements continue to decimate demand. The ‘flight to nowhere’ gimmick is succeeding in attracting die-hard fliers. Experts say the novel trips satisfy frequent fliers’ desire for normalcy and give customers the sense of escape. But climate activists have condemned the boomerang flights for needlessly harming the environment, and the trips underscore that a more comprehensive solution for airlines—much-discussed ‘travel bubbles’—has yet to come to fruition.

Destination: nowhere

In August, Taiwan’s Eva Air introduced the ‘flight to nowhere’ concept with a Hello Kitty-themed aircraft that flew passengers on a daytime journey along Taiwan’s coastline and over Japan’s Ryuku islands .

The inaugural flight took place on Taiwan’s Father’s Day so Eva Airways numbered the flight 5288, a set of numerals that sounds like “I love you Dad” in Mandarin Chinese.

Since then, airlines across the region—in Brunei, Japan, Hong Kong, and Australia—have started offering flights to nowhere. Carriers say the trips are popular.

Eva Airways said its three-day Mid Autumn festival flights sold out. In September, Australia’s Qantas airways claimed that customers snapped up seats on a seven-hour flight over Australia’s Gold Coast and outback wilderness within 10 minutes of them going live.

Why would passengers endure the discomforts of flying—cramped quarters, mediocre food, close proximity to strangers, plus new coronavirus risks—without the payoff of landing in a new place?

A passenger on one of the Mid-Autumn Festival-themed flights in Taiwan told a reporter from the Singapore-based Straits Times that the flight offered a substitute for her family’s regular holiday trips outside Taiwan.

“We’ve been dying to travel abroad,” the passenger said. “The last time we went anywhere was when I took my family to Hokkaido, [Japan] last October.”

Alan Joyce, the chief executive of Australia’s Qantas Airlines, said in a statement to the New York Times that Qantas’ customers simply missed the experience of flying.

“So many of our frequent fliers are used to being on a plane every other week and have been telling us they miss the experience of flying as much as the destinations themselves,” Joyce said.

Benjamin Iaquinto, a professor of tourism studies at Hong Kong University, concurs. Regular air travel has become habitual, he argues—at least among those who can afford it. “[Flying] has become like a fact of nature, like something we’ve always done,” Iaquinto says.

And, in an environment where air travel has been effectively closed off, even the mundane aspects of flying may be more appealing.

“When you’re at the airport, even though it’s really boring, there’s something exciting about it,” Iaquinto says. “There’s some sense of anticipation about being in those places that are quite ordinary.”

Sebastien Filep, a professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University studying the intersection of psychology and tourism, says that an innate “desire to escape” helps drive the travel experience and pandemic-era lockdowns likely intensify that urge.

Filep says that, for many travelers, the destination is not always the most important thing. “Who you go with matters more than where you go,” he says. And Filep says there’s a growing body of evidence that “travel leads to greater well-being,” including in reducing stress levels and possibly improving cardio vascular health.

Because the ‘flight to nowhere’ phenomenon is so new, it’s difficult to tell if it offers the same benefits as normal traveling. “It’s an experiment,” Filep says.

Failing to take flight

There are flights to nowhere and then there are flights that don’t even leave the ground.

On Sept. 29, Singapore Airlines , the nation’s flagship airliner, announced a “suite of experiences” that would give customers the chance to tour airplanes, eat airline food, and meet with pilots. Kids even have the option of dressing up and playing the role of flight attendants.

“With COVID-19 drastically reducing the number of flights operated by the SIA Group, we have created unique activities that would allow us to engage with our fans and customers during this time,” Singapore Airlines Chief Executive Officer Goh Choon Phong said in a statement .

The airline said in its statement that it had considered flights to nowhere, but opted to keep its planes grounded amid backlash from local climate activists.

SG Climate Rally, an organization aimed at making Singapore carbon neutral by 2050, voiced opposition to reports that Singapore Airlines was considering conducting flights to nowhere. The flights, the organization wrote, “encourages carbon-intensive travel for no good reason.”

Climate activists in Australia , the U.K., and elsewhere have voiced similar concerns about the environmental impacts of flights that serve no purpose beyond tourism.

“I personally think it’s an environmental disaster,” said Iaquinto. “It’s really frustrating if you’re in sustainable tourism because transportation takes up the vast majority of tourism’s carbon emissions.”

The popularity of flights to nowhere is not an encouraging sign to those who hope that a post-pandemic world may usher in a new era of more sustainable travel.

“There’s so much talk about how this is the perfect opportunity to reset and start being sustainable,” says Iaquinto. “I agree it’s a great opportunity, but I’m just not convinced it will happen.”

Blowing the travel bubble

However successful, flights to nowhere won’t make up for airlines’ cratering sales.

As of now, airliners are only offering the flights on a limited basis and their ticket sales are likely to make little to no impression on balance sheets. Hong Kong’s HKExpress is offering three flights in November at prices starting from $50. Eva Air’s three-day Mid-Autumn Festival flights cost between $200 and $300, while Qantas’s one-day flight will range from $566 to $2,734 .

On Oct. 6, the International Air Transport Association said it expects airlines globally to burn through $77 billion in cash in the second half of 2020. The organization warns that 5 million people in the airline industry are at risk of losing their jobs.

Singapore Airlines recently cut 4,300 workers after posting over $1 billion in losses in the first half of 2020. In quarterly earnings posted in August, Qantas reported nearly $2 billion in losses and Eva Airways recorded a loss of over $20 million .

For Asian airline carriers, a return of cross-border flights would provide more relief.

Government officials in Asia have discussed the concept of ‘travel bubbles,’ in which countries with few coronavirus cases would open travel routes with each other and drop quarantine requirements for each other’s visitors, since at least May , but until now they have failed to materialize .

But there are signs that travel bubble talks are once again picking up steam.

Singapore and Hong Kong are reportedly moving closer to creating a two-way flight corridor, and Thailand recently announced that it will begin admitting Chinese tourists at the end of October. South Korea and Japan announced that they will begin introducing cross-border, quarantine-free business travel this week.

Flights to nowhere may be popular among some travelers for now. Even so, for air carriers there is substitute for flights to somewhere.

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‘Flights to nowhere’: Growing number of airlines offer unusual trips as travel remains stalled

With international travel in much of the world still disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, some airlines are resorting to “flights to nowhere” that target passengers who long for air travel — and some are willing to shell out plenty of money for the tickets.

Qantas, among the latest to advertise a flight that departs and arrives at the same airport, told Reuters that the trip sold out less than 10 minutes after going on sale on Thursday. “It’s probably the fastest-selling flight in Qantas history,” a spokeswoman for the airline said.

The Australian carrier is following other Asian airlines that have offered similar options. Such flights have already taken place in Taiwan and Japan, while Singapore’s national carrier said Sunday it was considering one, as well.

The seven-hour Qantas flight will depart Sydney on Oct. 10 and return on the same day, with no stops along the way, to comply with restrictions on interstate travel. Passengers have been promised views of the Great Barrier Reef, the Uluru monolith and the Australian outback as the plane flies over the country at low altitudes.

The 134 available seats on offer quickly vanished at prices that ranged from $787 to $3,787 in Australian dollars, the equivalent of $575 and $2,765, according to Reuters. “If the demand is there, we’ll definitely look at doing more of these scenic flights while we all wait for borders to open,” the spokeswoman told the news agency.

Airlines have suffered badly during the pandemic, with industry groups suggesting that overall revenue may fall by 50 percent in 2020 after governments shut down borders and passengers cancel planned travel.

Last month, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said that the coronavirus pandemic had led to the worst financial climate in the company’s 100-year history and that international flights were unlikely to resume before summer 2021. The airline lost roughly $2.9 billion during fiscal 2020.

On Thursday, the airline took out full-page advertisements in several newspapers that called for the reopening of domestic borders. The advertising space for the campaign was donated by Australian media companies, the Guardian reported.

Though flights to nowhere come with significant costs for the airline, industry experts have said they are likely to break even on them, if not make a small profit, though they are unlikely to create any fundamental change to the bottom line for the struggling industry.

“It certainly doesn’t hurt to do these flights, but I wouldn’t expect a big impact in terms of revenue or reduced losses during these challenging times,” Brendan Sobie, an aviation analyst with Sobie Aviation, told the Strait Times after Singapore Airlines suggested it may start flights to nowhere next month.

Environmental groups have raised concerns about the trend, pointing out that carbon emissions from air travel are a major contributing factor to the worsening climate crisis. Qantas has promised to pay for carbon offsets to alleviate the impact of the seven-hour flight, according to Reuters.

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Simple Flying

Airlines all over the world are launching flights to nowhere.

All over the world, there has been a rise in the number of flights on offer that go precisely nowhere. While some of these services never even leave the ground, others really do take off and are proving a hit with passengers.

The rise of flights to nowhere

Amid the chaos caused by the COVID pandemic, airlines have turned to increasingly inventive ways of keeping cash flowing into the business. For some, a rapid pivot to cargo has helped sustain the bank balance, while others have focused on repatriation flights and other passenger services.

But one thing almost unique to this pandemic is the number of airlines operating flights to nowhere. Although it's not a massively widespread phenomenon, more airlines are being added to the list by the day, giving aviation enthusiasts with itchy feet a chance to fly without the risk of travel.

It's an unusual move but one that ticks lots of boxes, both for the airline and its passengers.

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Flights to nowhere that don't leave the ground

One of the first places to operate flight to nowhere was Taipei's Songshan Airport in Taiwan. Usually handling daily flights to Tokyo, Seoul and numerous places in China, the airport suffered from a 64% drop in passenger numbers as a result of COVID. That was a shame, as the airport had just completed extensive renovations of its facilities and installed a brand new lounge.

To show these off to potential future passengers, Songshan worked with EVA Air and China Airlines to conduct a virtual flight. Passengers were allocated tickets on a raffle basis, and could then enjoy the full airline experience, including check-in, lounge access and boarding. The planes themselves never actually left the airport, but nevertheless, the experience was incredibly popular, with more than 7,000 people applying to take part.

There's also a flight in Japan that takes 'virtual flying' to the next level. First Airlines offers travel-hungry individuals the chance to 'fly' to a number of exciting destinations, including New York, Rome and Paris. Through the wonders of Virtual Reality, people can really experience the cities, as well as a realistic take-off and landing experience. For $60 per person, with a full, destination themed meal service included, it's a bargain way to get some sort of travel satisfaction.

The airlines that are really taking to the skies

Of course, you don't have to keep your feet on the ground with all these flights to nowhere. Some airlines have taken the next step of offering passengers a real flight experience, without ever leaving their hometown.

ANA's A380s are some of the most iconic aircraft in the world, and the airline is keen to keep them ready to go once trips to Hawaii are possible once more. As such, ANA needs to fly them every now and then, to keep them operational and current. But rather than taking them for a spin completely empty, ANA has offered up seats onboard, complete with the real Hawaiian inflight experience.

Back in August, ANA operated a one and a half-hour sightseeing flight aboard its blue Flying Honu. It conducted a circuit of the Tokyo area, while passengers enjoyed exclusive drinks and souvenirs.  So successful was this endeavor, the airline is already gearing up for a second similar operation.

Taiwan's Starlux Airlines struggled to launch due to COVID restrictions but wanted its passengers to get the Starlux experience anyway. The airline undertook a ' pretending to go abroad' sightseeing flight, heading out over the Pratas Islands in the South China Sea. It, too, is planning another flight of this nature.

As well as EVA Air's on the ground experience in conjunction with Songshan Airport, it also offered a special Father's Day experience that did leave the airport. The flight took off from Taipei Taoyuan Airport and flew for two hours and 45 minutes before landing right back where it started.

Royal Brunei Airlines has been operating ‘Dine And Fly’ sightseeing trips too. It flew its first on Sunday August 16 th , a trip lasting 85 minutes and with 99 passengers on board. Passengers got to view the glorious island of Borneo from the sky, while enjoy brunch on board. More flights are planned throughout September.

Most recently, Singapore Airlines has revealed plans to fly from Changi to Changi in around three hours, to give its wanderlust ridden fans a chance to soar again. Plans are still being firmed up, but it's expected that these flights will take place before the end of October.

And it's not just Asian airlines either. Australian flag carrier Qantas has moved to reinstate something it used to do many years ago – sightseeing flights to Antarctica. Rather than using a 747 for the 12-hour jaunt, now the airline will use its Boeing 787 Dreamliner to make the trip. With Australian borders closed until at least next year, it's the furthest the flying kangaroo can hope to travel for quite some time.

Why are airlines doing this?

It's interesting to see airlines making the most of these unusual times in this way. While ancillary revenue has always been a hot topic in the world of aviation, this really is something quite different.

In essence, airlines already need to fly the planes in order to keep them current. As such, if they are able to secure the permissions from the airport and other relevant authorities, why not stick some people onboard too? It brings in some money, makes them popular with fliers, and provides an opportunity for work to otherwise struggling cabin crew.

Interestingly, Singapore Air Charter surveyed several hundred people and found that most were willing to pay for a flight to nowhere. 75% said they could pay, with around half saying they would pay over $200 for an economy seat and up to $430 for a business class seat.

It just goes to show that, for many of us, the flight is just as enticing as the time we spend in a new place on arrival. It will be interesting to see if any of these sorts of trips remain once demand picks back up.

• It's Not Just You

The Strange Allure of a Flight to Nowhere (and Other Places We’re Desperate to Go)

A version of this article appeared in this week’s It’s Not Just You newsletter. SUBSCRIBE HERE to have It’s Not Just You delivered to your inbox every Sunday.

OH, THE PLACES WE’RE DESPERATE TO GO

Lately, in that gray-blue hour before a winter sunrise, I’ve taken to staying in bed and flying to Morocco. It’s the place I’ve been that’s the least like Brooklyn, where I have spent most of this pandemic. Trying to remember the way the air feels on your skin in an unfamiliar climate is the smallest of escapes. Maybe it’s a necessary one, now that everything within reach feels so unrelentingly familiar.

I like to relive a flight over the Sahara. From a plane, the backlit dunes look like an optical illusion, gentle sand waves rippling out to the horizon’s edge. But once you are down there, on earth, you realize that those waves are massive, four, eight or 10 stories high.

Driving over dunes is another kind of flying. You have to muster enough speed so you don’t get stuck at the crest, but not too much that the car flips over on the other side. It’s the slimmest of margins, but an experienced driver can take you into the air for a few wild seconds where you can see the top of the next dune and look down at the trough below.

The angle on the way down is so steep, you brace yourself on the seat in front of you as if you’re doing a push-up. When you reach the bottom, with a thud and rattle, it feels like a triumph. And then you’re mortal again. Just a human, standing in the shade of sand giants.

Any novel perspective is precious in these claustrophobic months.

It’s hard to see a situation clearly when you’re still in the middle of it. And boy, we’ve been in the middle of it all for a while now.

I guess that’s why I wasn’t surprised to see that some airlines are scheduling “flights to nowhere.” In our travel-starved, pandemic-addled state, people will actually pay to go to the airport, get on a plane wearing their face masks, and fly over their own country or a neighboring one and come right back. A seven-hour Qantas sightseeing flight over Australian landmarks sold out in 10 minutes.

Taking a plane to nowhere sounds crazy, even before you consider the cost and the needless carbon emissions. Then again, we can all understand a craving to get off the planet, or at least slip the bounds of whatever little patch of earth we’ve been pacing for the last year.

Flying can give us context. Here’s where you are in the world; here’s what your part of it looks like from a new vantage point.

I’m reminded of the iconic Earthrise photo taken by Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders in 1968. (See below.) It was the first time humanity could see its home from afar. That utterly transformative perspective, that vision of our fragile blue-swirl of a planet above a gray moonscape, was a revelation—and not just for the astronauts. On the 50th anniversary of that mission, Anders wrote : We set out to explore the moon and instead discovered the Earth.

One could also argue that when we set out to explore the rest of our country or the world, we are discovering ourselves.

But a fter the world opens up again, I don’t think we’ll need to book a SpaceX flight to feel like we’re somewhere startling and new. For many of us, seeing a new movie in a real theater will feel like a trip. Or better yet, dancing in the sticky aisles of a dark music venue humming with people and anticipation.

And when we step back into the light, blinking and disoriented, the air on our skin will feel different.💌

More on Flying in Morocco I was in the Sahara reporting on an all-women off-road competition so you can read more about flying over dunes in cars in this Sports Illustrated story. And, amazingly, the drivers navigated with maps and compasses, no phones or GPS allowed.

If you’re new to It’s Not Just You, SUBSCRIBE HERE to get a weekly dose delivered to your inbox for free. And you can send comments to me at [email protected].

COPING KIT ⛱

HOW TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE HEROES We all want to honor those who’ve risked their lives in the fight against COVID-19, often to the detriment of their own mental, emotional, physical, and financial health. But it’s hard to know what we can do as individuals. A new organization, Patient Care Heroes aims to create a community of support for nurses, doctors, and any person involved with caring for patients. Check their site for ways you can be part of this community, from sharing inspirational stories of healthcare heroes to making contributions that support mental health services.

THE SCAFFOLD EFFECT by Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz, a leading child and adolescent psychiatrist and president of the non-profit The Child Mind Institute is a valuable new resource for parents who want guidance in this difficult time. Koplewicz explains the book’s core concept this way:

“The metaphor of the parental scaffold is visual, intuitive, and simple: Your child is the ‘building.’ You, the parent, are the scaffold that surrounds the building. The framework of all your decisions and efforts as parents is the three pillars of your scaffold: structure, support, and encouragement. Eventually, when the building is finished and ready to stand completely on its own, the parental scaffold can come down.”

And, have a look at TIME’s Black Renaissance cover ( photograph by Awol Erizku for TIME) featuring inaugural poet Amanda Gorman in conversation with Michelle Obama. Gorman discussed poetry, sudden fame, and she said this about her future: “I’m learning that I am not lightning that strikes once. I am the hurricane that comes every single year, and you can expect to see me again soon.”

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Our weekly acknowledgment of the animals that help us make it through the storm. You can send your comfort creature photos and stories to me at [email protected].

Meet MOSEY , the puppy with his pal ASHER . Photo submitted by JULIE .

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Airlines Offering 'Flights To Nowhere' Amid COVID-19 Travel Restrictions

Michael Sullivan

Got that itch to travel? With many international routes still closed, Asian countries with low COVID-19 rates are offering "flights to nowhere" that start and end at the same airport.

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'Flights to nowhere' are the latest travel craze amid COVID restrictions

Tickets cost between A$787 and A$3,787 ($575 and $2,765.) Image:  REUTERS/David Gray

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Stay up to date:.

• Qantas Airways Ltd has joined Asian airlines offering a 'flight to nowhere' - giving passengers the chance to enjoy the airline experience.
• The flight departs and lands at the same destination but flies over Australia's Outback and Great Barrier Reef.
• However, there have been questions raised about the flight as it encourages carbon-intensive travel for no reason.

Qantas Airways Ltd said a seven-hour scenic flight over Australia's Outback and Great Barrier Reef had sold out in 10 minutes, as it joined a growing trend in Asia offering "flights to nowhere" that take off and land at the same airport.

Tough border restrictions to keep the coronavirus under control have led to a 97.5% plunge in international travel in the region, according to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.

Many frequent flyers miss getting on planes and airlines including Taiwan's EVA Airways Corp and Japan's ANA Holdings Inc, desperate for revenue and to keep their pilots' licences current, have offered special sightseeing flights.

The Qantas flight, in a Boeing Co 787 typically used for long-haul international journeys, will fly at low levels over Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef and Sydney Harbour before landing back in Sydney.

Tickets cost between A$787 and A$3,787 ($575 and $2,765) depending on the seating class and the 134 available seats were quickly snapped up, a Qantas spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Have you read?

This thai airline opened a restaurant serving in-flight meals craved by customers, because of 'flight-shaming', airlines are asking us to fly less - and it's working, these 4 charts show the crisis faced by airlines – and the possible way ahead.

“It’s probably the fastest selling flight in Qantas history,” she said. “People clearly miss travel and the experience of flying. If the demand is there, we’ll definitely look at doing more of these scenic flights while we all wait for borders to open.”

Taiwan's EVA used one of its iconic Hello Kitty livery planes for a special father's day flight last month, while ANA used an Airbus SE A380 that usually flies to Honolulu for a 90-minute flight with a Hawaiian experience on board.

Tickets costing $6,888 Taiwan dollars ($236) for a Tigerair Taiwan flight from Taipei that will circle over South Korea’s Jeju Island reportedly sold out in four minutes. The price includes a one-year voucher for round-trip tickets from Taiwan to Korea, which can be used after COVID-19 travel bans are lifted.

Chen Shu Tze, 44, an engineer from Taipei, said she signed up for the flight because the voucher made it a good deal and she missed being able to travel - especially to South Korea, a favourite destination.

“The pandemic has a devasting impact on the tourism and airline industry, so I want to help boost the economy, and I miss flying,” she told Reuters.

All of the countries where the flights are on offer have relatively low numbers of COVID-19 cases by global standards.

Among other airline stunts, Thai Airways International PCL this month opened a pop-up restaurant on the ground, offering in-flight meals served from airline seats to would-be travellers.

Climate concerns

Singapore Airlines Ltd is also eyeing scenic flights from next month, the country's Straits Times newspaper reported on Sunday, an idea that received widespread criticism from environmentalists and online commenters. "First, it encourages carbon-intensive travel for no good reason and second, it is merely a stop-gap measure that distracts from the policy and value shifts necessary to mitigate the climate crisis," said awareness group SG Climate Rally. Singapore Airlines said it is considering several initiatives but no final decision has been made on whether to offer sightseeing flights.

Qantas said it would pay to offset the carbon emissions on its scenic flight from Sydney, though online critics noted that would not actually reduce emissions.

The concept of scenic flights is not new. Antarctica Flights has chartered Qantas jets for scenic flights over Antarctica for 26 years. An Air New Zealand Ltd sightseeing flight over Antarctica in 1979 crashed into Mount Erebus, killing all 257 people on board.

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The Pros and Cons of a Cruise to Nowhere

See recent posts by Megan Wood

Before cruising regulation laws changed in 2016 , "cruises to nowhere" were a popular and profitable way for cruise lines to offer quickie two-day vacations that led to, well, nowhere. Essentially, these cruises let passengers enjoy everything onboard the ship without docking at a port of call. It was partially a marketing strategy for the cruise line and partially an easy getaway for cruise lovers. Today, some cruise passengers are still taking cruises to nowhere, but they're doing it legally. Passengers simply stay on the cruise ship when it docks. Whether this sounds like a genius workaround or a waste of money depends on who you ask. Take a look at the pros and cons of a cruise to nowhere.

1.  Fewer crowds. While (almost) everyone else is lining up to exit the cruise ship at port, those who stay behind will find themselves with free reign to use the usually overflowing swimming pools, restaurants, fitness center, and bars.

2. Free meals . If you’re on a cruise ship that includes free dining (the vast majority do) then your meals onboard are already covered. Same goes for those who purchased drink packages. Staying onboard saves dollars on food and drinks.

3. Gambling. Many cruise ships have small (or huge) casinos onboard that are only open in international waters and must close at port. The popular exceptions to that rule are ports in Nassau or Bermuda , where it’s legal to stay onboard and gamble.

4. Lectures, shows, and classes. Most cruise ships cater to those who choose to stay onboard with a selection of activities. Norwegian offers a daytime itinerary that includes culinary demonstrations, live game shows, towel animal folding lessons, and dance demonstrations.

5. Mobility restrictions. Not all ports are easy to navigate, especially for senior or disabled passengers. For some, docking at a port and enjoying the view from the cruise ship is much safer than going ashore.

6. Time to relax. Lots of “cruise to nowhere” passengers simply enjoy having a whole stretch of days in front of them without a schedule. For them, sleeping in, ordering room service, and lounging by the pool is the whole point of a vacation. So why not do it on a cruise ship that’s essentially an all-inclusive resort?

1. Not all cruises. A “cruise to nowhere” can be pretty bleak if you’re on a very low cost cruise ship with few amenities or a smaller specialty cruise that’s designed to dock at smaller ports for maximum immersion in a place. For instance, Viking Star includes shore excursions in their base rates and docks in Barcelona and St. Tropez.

2. Not all cabins. Sure, if you splashed out on a spa suite with a private balcony and butler service, you might be tempted to spend more time soaking up every last minute in the lap of luxury. But for budget-conscious cruisers with Inside Cabins, you’re going to be looking for every excuse to get out of your windowless and cramped cabin and out in to the world.

3. You’re missing out. Proponents of “cruises to nowhere” sometimes argue that they take the same cruise every year and have seen everything they want to see at port. But that can’t possibly be true. For those who need some inspiration, check out our Port Guides .

4. Tourism dollars.  Cruise ships are allowed to dock in specific destinations because they bring tourists and tourists’ dollars. It’s no secret that cruising (like all travel) has environmental and social impacts that can alter a destination. So it seems a little unfair to not get off the boat and spend some money on the local economy.

The Verdict

Overall, we think it’s a huge mistake to stay onboard a cruise ship (if you’re physically capable) for the entirety of your cruise. You’re missing out on experiencing new cultures and trying something different by remaining on the ship. But we also understand the siren call of free buffet lunches and no lines at the free-fall waterslides. As a compromise, we suggest spending at least the morning in port, and then returning to the ship for a late lunch and onboard activities. After all, if you’re just on the cruise ship for amenities, you may as well book an all-inclusive resort on land. We’ve got a few suggestions for you.

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Ultimate Guide to Singapore’s Cruise to Nowhere on Royal Caribbean

If you have never been on a cruise or if the concept of cruising for a vacation doesn’t attract you, then this post is meant just for you. Even till a few weeks back, I would have never imagined going on a cruise for vacation. However, experiencing Singapore’s “Cruise to Nowhere” on Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of Seas has completely changed my views about cruising. At first, the concept of cruising with “no destinations” felt absurd and the perfect hot-spot for breeding the pandemic. Travel-starved for 14 months, this was the only semblance of travel I could afford living in Singapore. With international borders still closed, I am happy to have experienced this mini-getaway that did wonders to my mental health. Also, thanks to Singapore’s exemplary management of the pandemic so far, I was never concerned about health and safety.

Before going on Royal Caribbean’s Cruise to Nowhere, I had no idea what to expect from it. A few positive reviews from friends inspired me to book this cruise as I was desperate for some change. But little did I know, I needed to plan a few important things that would make this cruise experience better. Although spontaneous getaway is good, you definitely don’t want to miss these insider tips to make this cruise vacation even more amazing. So if you want to find the ultimate guide to planning the perfect “cruise to nowhere” vacation in Singapore, continue reading below.

Table of Contents

REVIEW OF QUANTUM OF THE SEAS

Things to know before booking the cruise to nowhere, 1. what is the itinerary of cruise to nowhere.

As the name suggests, Cruise to Nowhere sails with no fixed destinations. Typically the first day starts off from the Marina Bay Cruise Center in Singapore when the cruise departs at 8pm. Next few days it sails on the sea and finally returns back to Singapore on the last day. During our 4-nights cruise, we had sailed far away from Singapore, Malaysia, & Indonesia and for most parts there was no land in sight. The vast expanse of the endless ocean merging with the horizon and the sound of waves gently breaking against the hull of the ship will make you feel relaxed throughout the entire trip.

2. HOW MANY DAYS FOR CRUISE TO NOWHERE

This is entirely dependent on you. Currently Royal Caribbean Cruise to Nowhere in Singapore is having options of 2-3-4 nights cruises. Depending on your schedule as well as your mood, you can opt for either one of these options. The cruise to Nowhere has so many events that you will never feel bored even if you decide to go for the maximum 4 nights option.

Back in January when I had booked this cruise for March, only options available were 3-nights (starting on Mondays) and 4-nights (starting on Thursdays). Currently, Royal Caribbean has 2 nights options which is ideal for people who are seeking a cruise experience on a budget. Since our main purpose of the trip was to celebrate our wedding anniversary and go on a weekend trip to avoid extra leave days from work, we chose the 4-nights option.

3. WHERE TO GET THE BEST DEALS FOR CRUISE TO NOWHERE

I am not a cruise expert but while planning, the official site of Royal Caribbean was the best site for finding the best deals. They are currently running amazing promotions where kids sail free, 50% discount over regular rates to name a few. During our booking, we availed Chinese New Year sale promotions which was fabulous. Being flexible with dates will also help in saving a lot of money. So, to get the best deals, I will highly recommend to book from their official site.

4. ACCOMODATION OPTIONS IN ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE

There are 4 types of Staterooms (rooms in Cruise) one can choose during sailing.

• Interior Room ($$) – Big & comfortable rooms for family with wide array of amenities with no external view.
• Ocean View Room ($$) – An upgrade to Interior room with ocean view window.
• Balcony Room ($$$) – As the name suggests, you get amazing views of the ocean from the comforts of your room’s balcony.
• Suites Room ($$$$) – If you are in the mood to splurge, then suites is the ideal option for celebrating an occasion! There are two kinds of Suite available on board. Junior Suite (267 sq. ft. room with 81 sq. ft. balcony) and Grand Suite (543 sq. ft. room with 259 sq. ft. balcony). The Grand Suite is the most expensive splurge with a mezzanine level, a king sized bed, two bathrooms, a spacious living and dining area and a huge balcony. Some of the rooms even come with a private jacuzzi.

Depending on your budget and number of members traveling together, you have to decide on the staterooms. If your sole purpose is to experience cruise life on a budget, the interior room is your best option. While those who wish to splurge, balcony or suite rooms are ideal. Since this was my first “cruise vacation” celebrating our wedding anniversary, I was looking for a junior suite. Unfortunately, suite rooms were completely sold out for our preferred dates. So we settled for balcony room and to my surprise it was big & perfect for a couple! I am extremely happy with the balcony room as I got to enjoy the lullaby of endless waves crashing!

Cruise Tip: If you have missed booking the room of your choice due to unavailability, fret not, as you will get another chance to try your luck. Just a week before sailing, Royal Caribbean will email you with the option of bidding. Provide your best bid and you can end up securing one of your dream rooms at a much cheaper price!

5. ROOMS WITH BEST VIEWS FOR CRUISING

Once you decide on the kind of staterooms, you will need to decide the location of the stateroom . There are 3 options; Aft (back of the ship), mid-ship (center of the ship) & forward (front of the ship)! Next, you will need to decide on the floor of the deck! If you are prone to seasickness and want to be at the center of all attractions, mid-ship will be your preferred choice. Usually lower decks close to the dining places tend to be more expensive while upper decks are cheaper in general. If you opt for balcony rooms , any deck from 10th & above in mid-ship will be best for views of the ocean While 13th deck may seem close to most attractions of the cruise, it can also get busy and noisy!

Another great tip to decide your stateroom is looking at the options of rooms given on the cruise planner. If you look carefully, certain staterooms with specific symbol can accommodate more number of people. For example, a triangle can accommodate 3 people even though you are paying for 2 guests. This will ensure you are securing a bigger room. Make sure to avoid selecting the rooms which has obstructed views from the balcony if you are keen on that aspect. Finally the lower the numerical value against the stateroom, the better the room size will be. For instance, 1D option will be better than 2D in terms of size.

While booking for balcony rooms, you can either select your own room or let the system automatically select best available rooms. If you are totally unsure of your choices, then latter may seem the best fit! Since I had done my research and was keen on certain aspect of the room, I chose the room of my choice looking at the cruise map of the room as mentioned above.

Cruise Tip: Since the cruise will be sailing North of Singapore in the first few days, select your balcony room facing west i.e. left of the cruise. This will ensure amazing views of the ocean from the balcony while avoiding the harsh sun during the daytime. In addition, you will get to experience amazing sunset views as well as breakfast views from the comforts of your balcony.

PRE-BOARDING TIPS FOR CRUISE TO NOWHERE

Since this was my first cruise experience, I was completely unaware of the things to expect inside the cruise. But since this was an all-inclusive cruise vacation, we did not have to worry about detailed planning. However, few of the things mentioned below will come very handy for a hassle-free experience during your cruising.

1. COVID-19/PCR TESTING

As travel is slowly restarting, PCR tests is the new norm. On Royal Caribbean “Cruise to Nowhere”, the cost of swab tests for PCR is included in the cruise package. One will need to test negative to be eligible for boarding.

Once you have booked the cruise, approximately 10 days before sailing, you will receive email with instructions for scheduling PCR test. The swab tests are done at Raffles Convention Center at Raffles City Shopping Center. You will need to create an account on TrustOne web or download the TrustOne App where you can view the test results within 24 hours of testing. Generally the PCR test opens 3 days before sailing date. We took our tests 2 days before sailing and received the negative test result the next day.

The PCR test can be a bit uncomfortable but definitely bearable and quick. The entire process takes less than a minute. Staying calm and relaxed will ease the process. Previously, they did another test after disembarking. However, this has been discontinued.

2. THE APPS YOU WILL NEED FOR CRUISING

For pre-boarding and planning, these are the 3 apps that you will need:

• TustOne App – As mentioned before, you will need this app to schedule and view the PCR test result.
• TraceTogether – You can either carry your TraceTogether token or if you are like me, you can use this app for contact tracing. Every guest on board also receives a “Tracelet” (bracelet for tracing) which you are to wear at all times.
• Royal Caribbean App – The most used app before and during the cruise. With negative PCR-test result, one has to answer the health questionnaire before checking-in. This app has everything you need from checking-in to the day wise activity schedule as well as for monitoring any in-cruise expenditure. Once you link your booking, you will be able to start the check-in process and also select the boarding time.

Cruise Tip: Boarding time opens at 2 pm until 7pm at an interval of 30 mins to ensure safe distancing. Bear in mind, the sooner you get on board, the earlier you can connect to the ship’s wifi which will allow you to book the entertainment and dining options which tend to get filled up quickly. You can also start enjoying the cruise amenities immediately after boarding.

3. PLAN YOUR CRUISE EVENTS BEFORE SAILING

Royal Caribbean app will be the most useful app during your cruise for booking entertainments, shows, dining and other activities. However once you have logged onto the app with your given confirmation dates, the events don’t show up until the very day of the sailing. If you are a planner like me, this may frustrate you.

To overcome this issue, all you need to do is change the date of sailing closer to your sailing time. Keep in mind to select the dates that correspond to the same nights of cruise for better planning. For instance, if you are sailing on 1st- 5th April, then under your account, “select a different sailing” as shown in the photo. On next page select “Get more details on ships we support” and select “Quantum of the Seas” under Supported Ships. Among the several dates shown, select the one matching most close to your itinerary. I opted for the 25-29th March (4-nights cruise) to have a detailed views of the events, categorized by days and time with full details.

This tip will come in very handy if you want to plan or know things in advance. Trust me, you will save plenty of time on board if you have this valuable information before hand. This will help you to know the exact timing of the shows that you may want to book and plan your trip better.

Cruise Tip: You can book all the shows staged on the venues of Royal Theatre, Two70 and Music Hall only after boarding. The shows are available on a first-come-first-served basis. Therefore, the earlier you book your check in, the higher the chances of your getting the preferred time slots.

4. NO NEED FOR BEVERAGE AND DINING PACKAGES

Royal Caribbean cruise package involves complimentary dining for over 11 different restaurants on board. Barring a couple, the food is delicious and good in most restaurants that one can save money on food & drinks package. If you are keen to trying some of the speciality restaurants, that I highly recommend, paying separately will be the best option.

On boarding, you will receive 2 bottles of drinking water. For the remaining days, it’s best to carry your own water bottles and fill them during your meals at restaurants. Alternatively Café Promenade and Sorrentos serve water upon request. Alcohol is not complimentary in the package. Although one can opt for drinks package to have alcohol any time of the day, I did not see the need. The alcohol pricing and quality is similar to that of USA. So for every meal you can have a very good wine at ~10$ while the package is ~65$ per person/day.

Cruise Tip: During room service, which is complimentary, request glasses of water for free. Avoid bottled water as it will cost you additional money. Also, they stop serving alcohol after 10:30 pm on board just like in Singapore. It’s best to carry your own alcohol and every person can carry two bottles of alcohol which you can consume in room even after 10:30pm. If you carrying your own alcohol (highly recommended), carry them in your hand luggage as you will not be allowed to carry them in check-in luggage.

5. PREBOOK WIFI ON CRUISE PLANNER BEFORE DEPARTURE

If you wish to enjoy your favorite Netflix shows or stream music nonstop or share your live stories with the world, you will require good internet. While the cruise has public wifi, the speed is really slow for seamless streaming. It is best to purchase the wifi on the cruise planner few days before the departure. Few weeks before sailing, you will receive email promotions about VOOM Surf+ Stream packages. You can avail 10-20% discount on packages that range from 1 to 4 devices. We booked the package for 2 devices, one for each.

Cruise Tip: The cut-off time for online booking on cruise planner for internet, dining, beverages packages is 3-days before the sailing. Once you miss this time frame, you cannot avail the discounts. Also if you wish to save money on internet packages, you can book just for 1 device and click the “forget wifi network” and toggle between your devices under the same internet package.

THINGS TO DO ON QUANTUM OF THE SEAS

The number of activities and events that are available on this cruise is truly incredible. There are activities for all kind of travelers, be it adventure seekers or leisure travelers. The scale and extravaganza of everything will leave you in awe if you are cruising for the first time making you wonder how is it possible to have all these activities inside a huge moving vessel. You can choose to jam-pack your days with tons of activities or take it slow and easy. I have mentioned some of the activities that are worth trying and experiencing for an unforgettable experience.

1. THE NORTH STAR

For the most incredible views on the cruise, get on the North Star! Seeing the cruise and ocean 300 feet high above the sea level simply feels amazing.

This ride takes about 7 mins and you can have 360 views of the incredible expanse. Each ride takes in six people at a time, with allocated standing spots one metre apart. Book the ride through the app as soon as you embark using the Royal Caribbean App.

Cost: US$20 per person Tip: After the ride, while getting off the stairs, the views are amazing for clicking some photos.

2. ROCK CLIMBING

For all those who want an adrenaline rush, rock climbing on a cruise may seem exciting. Although avid climbers may find it underwhelming, it is a very different experience to climb on top with the views of ocean all around. A fun and safe experience to give it a try if you have never tried rock climbing before, especially for kids over 6 years.

3. THE SOLARIUM

There are 3 pools on the cruise but Solarium is the adults-only indoor pool (16+ years only)! With floors to ceilings glass windows, Solarium is located at the front of Royal Caribbean on the top deck. This place is perfect for couples and friends who want uninterrupted time soaking in the jacuzzis while gazing at the stunning ocean views.

The rules for these indoor pools are strict and you may have to wait in queue to get inside the pool due to safe distancing measures. There is also a bar and two jacuzzis at the front for magnificent views of the ocean. If you just want to chill, there are plenty deck chairs to lounge with drinks and views. Don’t forget to collect your pool towels before entering the Solarium!

Cost: Free Tip: Best time to soak in for views is around sunset. We saw some of the best sunsets from the Solarium. There are doors at the extreme end of the Solarium where you can go out to get a side view of the cruise and enjoy the evening breeze with a glass of wine.

4. DODGEM CARS

For all the thrill seekers out there, you can enjoy the fun of bumper cars on the cruise. It’s fun for both kids and adults to drive and bump into each other.

This is inside the SeaPlex, an indoor entertainment center on the 15th floor. It hosts many activities like dance class, crossbar challenge, basketball, foosball, table tennis and an arcade.

Cost: Free Tip: Since there are limited spaces, it is best to book the activities at the opening time at 9AM.

5. WATCH EVERY SUNSETS & SUNRISES

Never before this cruise, I had known how blissful it is to watch the sunrises and sunsets onboard the cruise. If your room is facing the East, don’t miss the sunrises! While we watched few sunsets from our west-facing room, our favorite was to watch rising or setting sun from the top deck or from the Solarium. The 360 degree uninhibited views of the ocean will ensure you will enjoy the surreal moments without fail.

Cost: Free Tip: If you are lucky enough, you may even spot few dolphins!

6. RIPCORD BY iFLY

If you have always fancied to sky-dive but never mustered the courage yet, this is your chance! Ripcord by iFLY helps you to experience the indoor version of sky-diving providing all the thrill and excitement of free-falling.

Since I have already ski-dived before, I passed on this activity. But, definitely one of the coolest experiences on board that you may want to try out (kids over 3 can also experience this).

Cost: US$40 (Free for suite guests)

7. BOOGIE BOARDING / SURFING

Another amazing experience to try is surfing on the 12-meter simulator of waves! If you have always wished to surf but never had the opportunity, this FlowRider surf simulator is ideal activity. With 100,000 liters of gushing water, surf like a pro or balance to stay upright on the board! This activity is sure to pump-up all the adrenaline junkies.

This activity is open for 7 hours from 9:30AM-5PM and entrance is subject to capacity. The first and last half an hour is set aside for advanced surfers. I couldn’t get a chance to surf as the queue for this activity was long as it is a popular activity.

Cost: Free for group sessions, US$69 and above for private sessions. Tip: To secure a free spot, queue for this activity before they open in the morning.

8. LIVE PERFORMANCES / SHOWS

The array of entertainment shows and live performances in this cruise is simply spectacular. The theatrical performances will make you wonder if you are watching on land or on a cruise. Been deprived of live performances for more than a year, watching every show on the cruise was a special delight. With cutting-edge high-tech acoustics and revolving, multi-functional stage shows, you will feel like watching shows in Las Vegas! Definitely book the shows first thing on board through the app and recommend watching them all.

Cost: Free Tip: Since seating is on first-come bases, arrive 15-20 mins before show to secure best seats!

The BeatleManiacs

If you are a fan of Beatles then this event is for you. Although I am not a big fan of Beatles, I loved watching this first live performance after more than a year. Some of the classics will make you swoon and singalong.

Sequins & Feathers

With extravagant costumes, sets and choreography, these performers will take your breath away. This particular performance made me feel I was watching one of the Las Vegas shows live on the cruise. Everything was so dazzling and amazing that you will be thoroughly entertained.

Starwater Show

This was my second favorite live performances because of the amazing songs and spectacular performances. The talented artists and every-changing stage will keep you enthralled throughout. A spell-binding visual treat, “Starwater explores the nature of human emotion through a fusion of live performance artistry and groundbreaking technology”. Definitely a must watch performance!

Gold Art Duo

The winner of Ukraine & America’s Got Talent, this duo will make you believe in the impossible. With body as flexible as a ribbon, they flawlessly creates a spellbinding performance of magic, comedy, aerial and complicated acrobatic. If you have time for watching only one performance, then this is your MUST-WATCH!

9. MUSIC & DANCE

Apart from the above four live performances, the Royal Caribbean’s Cruise to Nowhere has several other musicals and dance shows that will keep your days busy and making the late nights excited. Honestly there were far too many options than that we could attend. One of the musical shows that we enjoyed a lot is Piano Bar Entertainment by Paul O’Shea late nights at Schooner Bar. Another one was Live Jazz with Orchestra at Boleros. The relaxing atmosphere with good music was perfect to wind down the busy eventful days.

10. RUNNING TRACK ON TOP DECK

Although there is a fully functional gym on cruise, the joy of running on the jogging track of Quantum of Seas is unparalleled. If you are a fitness freak, you will absolutely love running on the amazing track on deck 15 either during sunrise or later in the evening.

The cold breeze sweeping you while running and the views of the vast endless ocean all around makes running a lot more fun. It’s also a perfect way to keep a check on the unlimited calories from all the gourmet food on cruise.

As soon as you’re out in international water, you can hit the casino. This is a pretty decent sized casino and entrance is based on the capacity. With cards being shuffled, stacked chips and poker machines paying out, this casino has all the feels of Las Vegas. There’s everything from the slots to blackjack, roulette to poker, all at a manageable minimum bet.

12. SHOPPING & SPA

Finally if you are in the mood to get pampered, then visit the onboard Vitality Spa. One of the largest spas at sea, you can avail medispa services to a full-service spa and beauty salon. I pampered myself with a manicure & pedicure and thoroughly enjoyed the experience overlooking the ocean views.

Also for all the shopaholics, Cruise to Nowhere has an array of international brands that will provide amazing retail therapy. Brands like Tiffany, BVLGARI, Coach, Michael Kors, Salvatore Ferragamo etc have retail stores as well as events that keep the shoppers engaged.

FOOD & DRINK OPTIONS ON QUANTUM OF THE SEAS

Complimentary dining.

Royal Caribbean’s Cruise to Nowhere is an all inclusive package with a wide array of food options. The complimentary food options are plenty with variety of cuisines like Indian, Italian, Asian, Chinese, Mexican, Japanese. There are many food options available for vegetarians as well as gluten-free.

We opted to have our most meals in Main Dining Room & My Time Dining Room . These served continental breakfast, and changing menu for lunch and dinner with amazing views of the ocean. Sorrento’s Pizza was perfect place for quick bites pizza while Solarium Bistro was ideal for munching some snacks in the late afternoon. You can reserve most of these places on the Royal Caribbean app or walk-in to get your seat.

Windjammer is an all-you-can-eat buffet hall with a wide array of cuisines. It’s open during every meal times (breakfast, lunch and dinner). This particular restaurant was a hit-or-miss one for the food options for me but all the desserts that I tried was simply fabulous.

One thing you shouldn’t miss while cruising is having the complimentary Room Service . We opted to have Breakfast from our balcony overlooking the ocean and it was such a treat. If your room is facing the West, it’s best to have breakfast in the balcony as the harsh rays of the sun wont disturb you.

SPECIALITY DINING

Apart from all the complimentary restaurants, the cruise offers many speciality dining options. We treated ourselves with lunch at Jamie’s Italian and it was just amazing. The gourmet Italian lunch experience with wine was worth the extra splurge of US$30 per person, where we got to choose one dish from every category! It was so much food that we stuffed ourselves & spend the afternoon napping after the sumptuous meal.

Since we love sushi, we had our last dinner at Izumi Sushi and it was the perfect end to the cruising vacation. The wonderful maki rolls & sashimi paired with sake was a wonderful change to our palette. The food was amazing and the service was top notch to make this whole dining experience wonderful.

Although we had heard great reviews about Wonderland , we were not able to secure any reservation to this restaurant. With limited capacity and open only for dinner, this restaurant is hard to book onboard. If you are keen to dine in this creative themed restaurant, I would strongly advise to call (+65 6305 0033) and make reservation the moment you have booked your cruise.

There are many bars and lounges on the cruise that are ideal to get your favorite cocktails and drinks. Almost every main decks have bars with good options for drinks. I loved the  Sky Bar  by the pool and  Sunshine  in the adults only Solarium. If you are up for something fancy, don’t miss out the chance to get your drinks made by the robots at Bionic Bar . It’s just a wonderful experience to watch the robotic arms work in perfect synchronization and mixing the ingredients to get you the perfect cocktail!

FINAL DAY OF CRUISE TO NOWHERE

The day before disembarkation, each room will receive a luggage tag with a number on it! Based on the number on the tag, each room will have an allotted time for disembarkation. On the final day, the cruise arrives at the port at 6:30am and disembarkation begins as early as 7am until 10am to ensure safe distancing measures. Our luggage tag was 33 and hence we stayed on the ship till 9:30am.

Since we had a late departure, we were able to enjoy the breakfast at the cruise along with some time photographing the Singapore skyline from the top deck. There’s no fixed pattern how the numbers were allocated but we were glad to receive a late slot and enjoy some more time on the cruise.

Few weeks ago, after disembarking, every guests had to undergo an antigen testing. However, this test is no longer needed as more and more residents of Singapore are getting vaccinated.

IS A CRUISE TO NOWHERE WORTH IT?

Hell YEAH!! ABSOLUTELY YES!!

Let’s be real… after 14 months of being stuck in Singapore, this was the closest semblance to vacation that I could have. Sailing far away from the lands and seeing the vast ocean with sounds of waves crashing against the ship helped me disconnect from the real world and feel completely relaxed.

Not once throughout the cruise I was worried about the pandemic as Singapore government and cruise management have demonstrated exemplary measures to ensure safety and public health. We had to do gazillion times temperature screenings and contact tracing but it was worth every bit for this wonderful holiday. The stress free enjoyment and relaxation that was possible on this “Cruise to Nowhere” was beyond words. The joy of watching live performances, movies on board, listening to musicals and get to eat amazing food and unwind at pools were far worth the fact of not having a destination.

Although I have never been on a cruise before, this sailing gave me the best experience of a cruising life minus the hop-off-destinations. I am glad I was introduced to cruise life in this manner as I got to explore and experience everything that was offered on board and I truly loved it. This was definitely once in a lifetime experience and Royal Caribbean’s Cruise to Nowhere is the only vacation we can have before the international borders open!

Planning to go on a cruise to nowhere? Comment any questions you have below & I will be happy to clarify!

I hope this detailed guide to Cruise to Nowhere in Singapore has inspired you!

For further reading on other Singapore inspirations, discover : 🏨 The Hotel with the Best View in Singapore – The Ritz Carlton Millenia 🌳 Best Photo Spots in Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

PIN FOR LATER!

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26 comments.

I can see it. I love the days at sea, although really for me, I love the ports too. Great review, gives a real feel for what it is like.

So true! I love ports and those charming towns as well. Miss traveling to such places so much.

I have never done a cruise before, but now I feel like I have after this great post. I honestly never heard of a “cruise to nowhere,” but I can see how this was almost therapeutic, given the current situation in the world.

Thanks so much Shelley! I had never ever imagined before I would end up going for such a “vacation” but so glad this happened as this is the only “travel feel” we can avail given the current situations.

I’ll be honest in that I am not a cruise person at all. However, I would love the North Star view and the Many gorgeous sunrises and sunsets from the deck. The concept of a cruise to nowhere is interesting and certainly makes sense during these pandemic times.

I feel you Ildiko.. I was just like you too but past one year with no traveling, I had only this as an option & thoroughly enjoyed this little getaway.

Wow! I am impressed with this cruise. I honestly have never had a desire to go on a cruise, nor have I been on one, but after reading this article, you definitely have me wanting to book a Royal Caribbean cruise! That is so awesome they have the indoor skydiving and the pools look so beautiful. Great guide Sunetra! 🙂

Thank you so much Taylor. This cruise has changed my mindset and given the scenario, it was the best vacation I had in last 14 months!😅 Can’t wait to travel again once Singapore opens its borders.

I really enjoyed following your cruise adventure on Instagram and this is so nice to have everything break down in one post! Thank you Su! I would definitely like to do one one day *w*

Aww Thank you so much Marina and I hope this guide will help more people from Singapore to enjoy the only “vacation” we can have.

A cruise to nowhere sounds like such a bonkers idea! Like you, I’ve never really felt compelled to experience a cruise. However, the cruise to nowhere looks like such a relaxing escape! What a great way to relax and recharge while still feeling like you’re getting a vacation. The ship looks incredible! Maybe I’ll be tempted to try a cruise after all! Thanks for the great guide!

That’s so true Hannah!! Being traveled starved for more than a year, this escape was therapeutic and truly enjoyable!

This is such a fun concept! It’s a great idea to go on a cruise for a few days even though the international borders are not open!

Good to see that cruises ate happening, even if they are just at sea.

I’ve never actually been on a cruise before. Maybe a cruise to nowhere is a good way to experience the atmosphere on the boat and stop me from being worried that I’d get bored or feel claustrophobic on one. It looks amazing!

So true. This was the best way I could ever experience a cruise life 🙂

I didn’t even know this existed, how neat!!

What a cool experience! The views from the North Star look spectacular. Singapore is definitely on my travel list, post pandemic and I would love to do this! Thank you for the recommendations!

Your photos are always SO SO beautiful – and this looks utterly amazing, I never knew there was so much to do onboard a cruise ship!

Thank you so much Shafinah! Even I was pleasantly surprised and hence loved the experience so much.

This sounds like so much fun! I’ve only been on a cruise once and it was so much fun. I do like this ‘cruising nowhere’ I’ll definitely check it out.

This was my first and I enjoyed it so much! I’m also very glad there was no “destination” involved and hence could enjoy the cruise amenities and entertainment so well.

Great that you were able to go here during these times! Thanks for sharing your experience!

It’s my pleasure. I am indeed glad this opportunity came by for the residents of Singapore as the international borders continue to be closed for leisure travel.

Sounds like so much fun! I still haven’t cruised yet!

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This Qantas Supermoon 'Flight to Nowhere' Sold Out in Under 3 Minutes

Here's what the lucky passengers can expect on the flight.

Meena Thiruvengadam is a lifelong traveler and veteran journalist who has visited more than 50 countries across six continents. Her writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal , Departures , TripSavvy , and other publications.

With travel opening in fits and starts around the world, there's one pandemic itinerary that remains popular: the "flight to nowhere."

Qantas' latest three-hour " flight to nowhere ," set to depart from and return to Sydney on May 26, sold out in 2.5 minutes, CNN reported . There's no space available on a waitlist either. "We have been absolutely overwhelmed with the popularity of our special flights," Qantas chief customer officer Stephanie Tully said in a statement .

Last year, a seven-hour Qantas flight over the Great Barrier Reef and Australian outback sold out in just 10 minutes. And earlier this year, a series of Qantas mystery flights to surprise domestic destinations also sold out quickly.

The 100 or so passengers lucky enough to score a seat on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner will get a bird's-eye view of the moon turning red against the night sky when a total eclipse occurs alongside a supermoon . The 787 Dreamliner is known for its large windows — the kind that would be perfect for moon gazing.

The flight is set to depart Sydney at 7:30 p.m. local time on May 26. After flying over the world-famous harbor and iconic Opera House, the flight will head to 43,000 feet to take in the first and only full lunar eclipse expected this year. The total lunar eclipse is slated to occur between 9:11 and 9:25 p.m. local time.

Qantas is working with an astronomer to design the ideal flight path for viewing the eclipse and supermoon. Dr. Vanessa Moss will also be on board to talk passengers through what they're seeing outside the plane's windows.

Ticket prices started at $499 in economy and $1,499 for business. A preflight cocktail party, in-flight food and beverages, and swag — including a commemorative certificate — will be included.

Meena Thiruvengadam is a Travel + Leisure contributor who has visited 50 countries on six continents and 47 U.S. states. She loves historic plaques, wandering new streets and walking on beaches. Find her on Twitter and Instagram .

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The Ultimate Cruise to Nowhere review: Royal Caribbean Cruise Vs Dream Cruises

If you could only pick one cruise-to-nowhere getaway, it’d be…

In Dec 2020 when Cruises to Nowhere had just begun, we got to experience Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas .

On that post, someone asked:

So this one’s for David, as well as those who can’t decide which cruise to go for — Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas ? Or Dream Cruises’ World Dream ?

In this Cruise to Nowhere review, we’re breaking down each cruise line’s accommodation, food and activities (including shows) to give you a fair comparison of both cruises.

Covid-19 tests and Pre-boarding Process

Photo credit: The Straits Times

Swab tests are now compulsory on both cruises with slight logistical differences. The good thing is COVID-19 tests are included in your cruise package for both cruise lines.

Royal Caribbean

On Royal Caribbean cruises, you’re required to take a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test at Raffles Convention Centre 72 hours before boarding.

We took ours two days before the cruise and received our results the next day. The process was really quick and straightforward so we were in and out within 15 minutes.

At the end of the cruise, you’ll be given one final swab — there’s no need to wait for results this time and the swab doesn’t go in as deep as the pre-boarding test.

Dream Cruises

For Dream Cruises, an Antigen Rapid Test (ART) will be administered on the day of boarding. A pre-assigned time slot will be printed on your ticket so you just need to show up. Test results will be ready after 20 minutes to an hour.

Our experience through the testing area was quick and smooth too. The whole process was very organised and the only significant waiting time we had between stations was waiting for our results.

Although not as accurate as the PCR test, the ART is a lot less invasive! Instead of the swab going all the way in, it only scrapes the walls of your nose.

Same as Royal Caribbean, you’ll be swabbed one final time upon disembarkation but there’s no need to wait for results before leaving the cruise centre.

Cruise Accommodation

The two cruises offer similar accommodation types from staterooms to grand suites.

Royal Caribbean Balcony Stateroom

The balcony staterooms are pretty similar and are perfect for two.

Dream Cruises Balcony Stateroom

The only difference between these two rooms is the bathroom. Dream Cruises’ comes with a double sink and a wider shower area — great for families with kids.

Dream Cruises Balcony Stateroom Bathroom

Dream Cruises’ Balcony Staterooms: From  ~S$419/pax for three nights Royal Caribbean’s Balcony Staterooms: From  S$469/pax for three nights

For an elevated experience, book a suite for extra perks and access to experiences.

We personally got to experience Dream Cruises’ Palace Suite . Although it’s the cheapest class in the Palace Suite, the perks you get outside the room do give you a nice feeling of being taken care of.

Dream Cruises Palace Suite

Perks include butler service, a basic drink package (coffee, tea and juices) and complimentary dining at all speciality restaurants. Palace residents also get full access to all the private facilities — from a separate pool area to 24-hour dining at the Palace Restaurant!

Photo credit: Royal Caribbean

A comparable room on Royal Caribbean is the Junior Suite. The interior is pretty similar — with space for the room, balcony and bathroom. However, in terms of the suite experience, the Junior Suite is more similar to a bigger balcony stateroom than a suite.

Apart from extra room, WiFi, the Deluxe drink package and access to specialty dining are excluded.

If you’re going for a low range suite experience, then Dream Cruises gives you more bang for your buck!

Dream Cruises’ Palace Suite: From S$630/pax for two nights Royal Caribbean’s Junior Suite (Large Balcony): From S$769/pax for three nights

If “go big or go home” is what you live by, here’s the ultimate experience on each ship:

Royal Caribbean’s Grand Loft Suite is the second highest class and comes with a mezzanine! The suite also fits a king-sized bed, two bathrooms, a spacious living area and an  equally  spacious balcony.

Grand Loft Suite Stateroom

Apart from complimentary access to all  speciality dining experiences , staying at the Grand Loft Suite also includes the Deluxe drinks package which means free-flow drinks all day — alcoholic beverages included! But the best part is that you’re assigned a Royal Genie (personal butler) who will help you with bookings and customise the experience so you have a memorable one on the ship ✨

Palace Penthouse living area. Photo credit: Dream Cruise s

Dream Cruises’ equivalent is the Palace Penthouse. Unlike the Palace Suite, it features a separate living-cum-dining area, with a private step-out balcony. The space can hold up to six guests.

Dream Cruises’ Palace Penthouse: From ~S$786.30/pax for three nights Royal Caribbean’s Grand Loft Suite: From S$744/pax for three nights

For the ultimate experience, here’s what you can expect from the most luxurious rooms of each ship:

Dream Cruises’ Palace Villa is the epitome of luxurious living with two bedrooms, a dining room, a living room, a jacuzzi and three bathrooms. This suite is so big, it can accommodate up to eight people!

On top of the Palace privileges, you’ll be even more spoilt with round-the-clock butler service, and priority access to shows.

Royal Caribbean’s most luxurious suite is their Royal Loft Suite. It doesn’t have multiple bedrooms like Dream Cruises’ Palace Villa, but it boasts a spacious two-floor contemporary design perfect for parties of six. These suites are either located at the front or the back of the ship for utmost privacy.

Upon checking in, you’ll be welcomed with Moët and Chandon in the room. Epic room aside, you also have complimentary dining at specialty restaurants, all-day free-flow drinks and a Royal Genie at your every beck and call!

Dream Cruises’ Palace Villa: From  ~S$1,259/pax for three nights Royal Caribbean’s Royal Loft Suite: From ~S$3673.53/pax for three nights

Breakfast at Dream Cruises’ Palace Restaurant

For foodies, a cruise is the best place to be! From glorious buffet spreads to high-end speciality dining experiences, both cruises boast an array of dining experiences. Here’s how they compare.

Complimentary Dining Experiences

Royal Caribbean’s Windjammer and Dream Cruises’ Lido are where you get an all-you-can-eat buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. These buffet options are open to all guests (regardless of room class).

In terms of size and variety, Windjammer takes the cake — serving a wide range from burgers to tacos and even vegetarian and gluten-free options! Lido seems quite limited in comparison, but they serve more fried foods and Asian cuisines.

There may be fewer options on Dream Cruises’ Lido but a plus point is that the menu switches up during Themed Night Dinners. On their recent Thai-themed cruise , the buffet spread included popular Thai dishes like Pad Thai, Wok-Fried Crab in Thai Curry and Steamed Barramundi Fish with Lime Juice!

For complimentary dining options, Royal Caribbean has a much better selection. Apart from the buffet, they have four main dining rooms: Sorrento’s pizza, Dog House’s crafted hot dogs, as well as sandwiches and soups at Two70. Dream Cruises only has Lido and two other main dining rooms for complementary options.

Specialty Dining Experiences

Specialty dining requires a top-up if you’re not a suite guest.

For Dream Cruises, speciality dining works on an ala carte basis where you’ll need credits to spend on dining. Purchase these credits onboard, with up to 20% off dining credits when bought on embarkation day!

On Royal Caribbean, you just pay a one-time fee and eat as much as you want — basically paying for a reservation.

Although both cruises have a steakhouse, Dream Cruises serves more Asian cuisine with Korean BBQ, hotpot and Teppanyaki.

Umi Uma Teppanyaki

Something special on Royal Caribbean is their novel dining experiences like Jamie’s Italian ala carte buffet and Wonderland’s molecular gastronomy.

Painting our menu at Wonderland

If food experience is a priority when you travel, we’d say go for Royal Caribbean’s cruise.

Activities On Board

Royal Caribbean’s surf simulator, FlowRider

Free activities on Royal Caribbean: FlowRider, bumper cars, rock climbing, archery, Seaplex activities, Dodgem Cars, outdoor film nights, dance classes, jewellery making, scrapbooking, folding artistry, Yoga classes, Pilates classes, Spin classes.

Royal Caribbean’s rock wall

*Pro-tip: Aim for the first slot of the day or during meal times to beat the crowd as these activities can get packed quickly.

Dream Cruises’ water slides

Free activities on Dream Cruises: Water slide Park, obstacle rope course, rock climbing, mini-golf, life-sized chess, ping pong, SportsPlex, Muay Thai classes, HIIT classes, belly dancing, ballroom dancing, bingo, Cinema at Sea.

Dream Cruises’ high-elements rope course

Paid activities on Dream Cruises: Esc EXPERIENCE LAB — a Virtual Reality studio with eight thrilling game stations. Imagine chasing zombies or shooting down enemy drones (top-up of $4–20/game).

Paid activities on Royal Caribbean: iFly’s indoor skydiving (S$54.40), North Star ride ($27.20) and an arcade.

For activities, Dream Cruises has a lot more variety so it seems like there’s always something to do. You could learn a new sport before breakfast and pick up new dance moves after lunch!

Places to Chill On Board

Dream Cruises Public Pool

There are pools and jacuzzis on both cruises which you’ll have to get a timeslot for. However, the booking systems on Royal Caribbean and Dream Cruises are completely different.

On Dream Cruises, you’ll need to make a physical reservation at the pool itself to get a slot sometime in the day. Whereas Royal Caribbean works on a first-come-first-serve basis with lifeguards limiting and controlling the numbers.

*Pro-tip: Head to the pool first thing in the morning for both cruises to beat the queue.

One perk about cruising with Royal Caribbean is having a kid-free escape like The Solarium, an adult-only pool.

Royal Caribbean’s Solarium

Dream Cruises doesn’t have this for the general public, but if you’re a Palace guest, you’ll have exclusive access to their private pool area at the top of the deck — reservations are required.

Dream Cruises’ Palace Private Jacuzzi

On Royal Caribbean’s North Star

For a nice break from the busyness, take a seven-minute ride on Royal Caribbean’s North Star (top-up is ~S$15.90 or free for suite guests). This observation deck takes you 300 feet above sea level, offering mad views of the endless horizon and a birds-eye view of the cruise below.

Alternatively, both cruises have deck chairs all around that face the ocean. It’s still a great view nonetheless, especially during sunset.

Dream Cruises’ Faith Show

For me, a huge part of the cruise experience is late-night entertainment. If you’re looking to have your mind blown with multitalented performances, Dream Cruises’ acts are definitely where it’s at. With stunning acrobatic acts and quirky dance numbers, I was thoroughly entertained throughout.

Photo credit: Dream Cruises

Dream Cruises also hosts a special show — Dream Boys (only for those 18 and above)! It’s basically their version of Magic Mike, featuring beautiful men and raunchy dance moves, with sprinkles of comedy throughout. The show costs S$50, which is a steal compared to Magic Mike Shows in London (~S$146.38).

Fun fact: These performers have multiple roles on the ship — Muay Thai instructor in the day, Dream Boy by night!

Royal Caribbean’s Two70 Violin act

Royal Caribbean’s Two70 showcases are a great way to just unwind. Enjoy world-class music performances and mind-boggling magic shows before calling it a night.  

Drink Packages for Three-Night Cruise

For some of us, drinks are a crucial part of the Cruise To Nowhere experience — yes, we get it. If that’s the case for you, Royal Caribbean is definitely where you can drink your money’s worth. The Deluxe package at S$163 for a three-night cruise includes all beverages including cocktails, beer, wines and non-alcoholic beverages (basically anything under $12).

Dream Cruises’ full drink package on the other hand only has free flow coffee, tea, juices, and soft drinks. Alcoholic beverages are only free-flow between 5–7PM.

Royal Caribbean Vs Dream Cruises — Which Cruise to Nowhere Would You Pick?

Royal Caribbean’s Solarium, an adult-only pool

Here’s our take:

Rooms — The rooms on Dream Cruises’ World Dream are generally more affordable than Royal Caribbean for a similar room size. However, if you’re going for the ultimate luxury experience, Royal Caribbean takes the win.

Entertainment — This is a tough fight. Both ships have more than enough options to keep you entertained on a three-night cruise. If you’re going for more extremes, you’ll appreciate Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas for its Flowrider and iFly.

Dream Cruises’ World Dream has its epic water slides and more options when it comes to shows and classes. Of course, the star of the show here is the Dream Boys — if that’s your thing.

Dining — If you’re a real foodie, we’d go with Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas for this one.

Cruises are basically our only chance to get away from Singapore for now. And the good thing is cruises do make you feel like you’re overseas! So whichever Cruise to Nowhere you end up with — whether it’s Dream Cruises or Royal Caribbean — you’re bound to have a good immersive break, until travel resumes once again!

We hope this Cruise Comparison was helpful — if you’ve experienced both Cruises to Nowhere, let us know which you prefer in the comment section below!

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Hi, great post on the comparison! Wanna update on something, i just came back from Dream Cruise, they did not do a swab test before disembarkation. So i was only swab once, before boarding. Hope this helps!

thanks for the update!

Hi , thanks for the superb comparison ! I just got back from Dream Cruise World Dream.

An update for you , you don’t have to make reservation for accessing the pool now.

thanks for sharing!

I recently took a cruise on Royal Caribbean and it was amazing! The service was great and the ship was very clean. Dream Cruises, on the other hand, was not as great. The service was not as good and the ship was

Thanks for sharing!

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Think you’ve tried every hike in L.A.? Think again. The Bridge to Nowhere awaits

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This story is part of our ultimate guide to hiking in L.A. You can buy a print copy at the L.A. Times store .

Deep in the folds of the San Gabriel Mountains, five miles from the nearest paved road, stands the Bridge to Nowhere.

It’s sturdy enough to have lasted 85 years, strange enough to draw crowds and start arguments. Especially lately.

To reach it, park at the end of Camp Bonita Road near LaVerne and start walking along the East Fork of the San Gabriel River, with steep slopes rising on either side.

On the East Fork Trail, you’ll gain about 800 feet of elevation, ford the river several times, tiptoe amid loose rock and sidle past enough Spanish bayonet cactus (a.k.a. chaparral yucca) to pop every balloon in the American West.

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But first, you will have questions. How did this extraneous infrastructure get here? Who owns it? Why hike to it?

Those answers are coming, but they make more sense once you’re standing in the canyon. That’s why, on a sunny morning in February, Times photographer Brian van der Brug and I hit the trail for the 10-mile round-trip journey.

I knew the two-lane concrete bridge was built in 1936 as part of a plan for a quicker route from the San Gabriel Valley to Wrightwood on the east side of the mountains. So far, so good. But in 1938, a flood changed the plan.

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Even though the bridge was done and blacktop had been laid along the roadway-to-be, the builders walked away, leaving their folly on a 50-acre plot surrounded now by the Angeles National Forest and Sheep Mountain Wilderness.

At 9 a.m., we set off for that folly, the river burbling to our left. It’s a mostly flat path but with plenty of rock-hopping. And as the trail wriggles, you have no choice but to cross the river. At least six times.

For us, the water never reached knee level. But you do need to watch your step and check the weather first.

Even in light rain, the river swells, often for days. That fast, cold water makes crossings risky, and several fatalities have been reported along the river’s East Fork in recent years.

We made sure to hike on a weekday, when parking is easier than on weekends. On Saturdays and Sundays, other hikers told us, the trailhead lot fills fast and latecomers must park along the shoulder of the road.

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Why so much activity? Here’s where the story takes another turn.

In 1989, an outdoorsy entrepreneur and chiropractor named Ron Jones bought the 50 acres that includes the bridge. He soon had government approvals to establish a weekend business staging bungee jumps from the bridge.

More than 162,000 jumps later, Bungee America continues. Prices begin at $99 per jump, and Jones is quick to point out there’s never been a fatality.

He doesn’t have to allow hikers on his property, he said, but he does. Because of the canyon’s shape, you can’t see the bridge without stepping onto his land.

“It’s an amazing hike,” said Jones, who estimates he’s done it 2,000 times. “We see bighorn sheep up there almost every weekend.”

His advice to hikers? “Use common sense. There are lots of rocks. You don’t have to worry about rattlesnakes this time of year, but in summer that’s something to be aware of.”

As for all those river crossings: “We do the entire hike in wet shoes.”

Lately, there are a lot more hikers on the trail. The surge began early in the pandemic, during that spell of severity when county officials closed beaches and many other recreational options. A wave of new adventure seekers rolled into the San Gabriels, along with litter and graffiti.

“I have seen more litter, more graffiti and more vandalism in that canyon than in any other time in the past 32 years,” Jones said. “The pandemic has changed the landscape.”

Angeles National Forest public information officer John Clearwater said workers haul more than 10 tons of trash a week from the San Gabriel Canyon area, which includes many other trails. He had no specific figures for the East Fork Trail, except to say, “It is very heavily used.”

The litter, which seemed to dwindle after the first mile or two, didn’t bother me as much as the graffiti did. Just as you begin to feel as if you’ve left behind the city, another spray-paint scrawl turns up on a rock, tree or old bit of riverside infrastructure. Somebody thought it would be helpful to mark the trail with bursts of yellow and red.

For years, Jones said, he has instructed his employees to pick up litter along the path to the bridge. But now there’s too much, he said, and he’s thinking about charging a user fee that hikers must pay to step onto his property. This would be something like the Forest Service’s Adventure Pass ($5 a day, $30 a year ), which is required if you’re hiking the East Fork Trail.

Jones would use that money, he said, to hire staff to clean up the trail even though most of it belongs to the Angeles National Forest.

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“We are in conversation with Ron Jones and are looking at the impacts on our forest visitors,” Clearwater said.

In other words, this hike might get pricier. And tidier.

The farther we hiked, the less paint and litter we saw. And because we were following a river up a canyon, there was no chance of getting lost. Instead of worrying about that, we pondered the best spots to cross the water, kept an eye out for bighorn sheep (no luck) and came up with new questions.

Why are these mountains so steep? About a third of John McPhee’s 1989 book “The Control of Nature” is devoted to that question.

“The San Gabriels, in their state of tectonic youth, are rising as rapidly as any range on earth,” McPhee wrote. “Their loose inimical slopes flout the tolerance of the angle of repose. Rising straight up out of the megalopolis, they stand ten thousand feet above the nearby sea, and they are not kidding with this city. Shedding, spalling, self-destructing, they are disintegrating at a rate that is also among the fastest in the world.”

OK, so how bad was that flood in 1938?

It’s the reason the Los Angeles River is imprisoned today in miles of concrete channel.

That rain-fed flood killed scores of people (estimates vary) along the Los Angeles and Santa Ana rivers, destroyed 5,600 homes and inundated highways, bridges and railroad tracks throughout L.A. County.

Along the Los Angeles River, local leaders asked the Army Corps of Engineers to make neighboring areas safer, and the engineers came up with the concrete channel.

The San Gabriel River, already controlled by multiple dams, did less damage in that flood. But as you stand in the shallows on the East Fork, well above those dams, it’s terrifying to imagine a 50-year surge coming your way.

That guy hunched by the riverside — is he panning for gold or fiddling with fishing gear?

Could be either.

After our first water crossing, we met Mark Flo of Lakewood and his friend Dave Robinson of Seal Beach, both in full fly-fishing gear. They’d been on the water for two hours.

Like many other anglers here in recent years, they’d caught nothing.

“The river has suffered these last few years,” said Flo, who has hiked and fished the San Gabriel since 1990. “This used to be full of rainbow trout. But between the gold mining and the drought ....”

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Said Robinson: “It’s a great little ecosystem. It’s been damaged over the years. But it’ll come back. We just need to get out of the way.”

At several points, we passed men with prospecting tools. It’s illega l to prospect along the East Fork (panning, sluicing or dredging) but it’s also common. Asked how many prospecting citations had been issued along the East Fork in the last two years, officials said they “don’t have information on citations at this time.”

Some prospectors bring tents and all sorts of tools. Others sit by the water with a pan.

A man from Torrance pointed out a tiny gleaming fleck in his muddy pan.

“I surfed for 50 years. But now I can’t get to my feet fast enough. So I do this,” he said. Then his eyes twinkled — more brilliantly, I have to say, than his little fleck.

“Fifteen thousand of these,” he said, “and I’ve got 100 bucks.”

We reached the bridge after 3½ hours of hiking — though if you’re not stopping to conduct interviews and take pictures, as we did, you might get there faster. Bungee jumpers make this same trek; no shortcuts. Because the trail climbs a few hundred feet above the river in its last mile, you’re even with the top of the bridge when you first glimpse it.

You notice the completion date, “1936,” etched at one end, the two lanes leading to solid canyon wall on the other side. The deadest of ends.

When we showed up, the site was deserted, which was perfect. For a better angle, we crossed the span (about 100 feet) and continued a few steps up the canyon. That gave us the big picture: the entire manmade spectacle rising 120 feet from a chasm full of river-washed granite boulders. No graffiti.

Another two or three hikers would show up every 10 or 15 minutes.

“It’s beautiful. The rocks are amazing,” said Daniela Osorio, a Caltech geology grad student, gazing at the black-and-white patterns on the chasm wall.

Meanwhile I looked at the bridge again. Why was it so familiar?

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Like Pasadena’s storied Colorado Street Bridge (completed in 1913 and 150 feet high), this concrete span has an open-spandrel design that draws your eye to its arch and supports. The two could be cousins.

And then I pictured Big Sur’s Bixby Creek Bridge, about 360 miles northwest. Also concrete, also with an open-spandrel design, 280 feet high, built in 1932. A big sister.

The return half of the hike was much quicker, a little more than two hours. On the way, I thought again about McPhee, who wrote, “In Los Angeles versus the San Gabriel Mountains, it is not always clear which side is losing.”

True that. But if you can get to the Bridge to Nowhere and back again, unharmed and uncrowded, leaving only footprints and carrying a renewed recognition of the puniness of mankind and the might of the San Gabriels, you’re absolutely winning.

The East Fork Trailhead, which leads to the Bridge to Nowhere, is at the terminus of Camp Bonita Road in La Verne. The parking lot includes restrooms. The Forest Service requires hikers to have an Adventure Pass ($5 per day or $30 per year, available from many convenience stores, gas stations and government outlets near trailheads).

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Born and raised in California, Christopher Reynolds has written about travel, the outdoors, arts and culture for the Los Angeles Times since 1990.

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How Singapore's ‘travel to nowhere’ mantra is changing the face of tourism during COVID-19

Singapore has chosen not to offer a flight-to-nowhere experience with its national carrier instead refashioning one of its jets into restaurant. Its tourism body has also okayed a cruise-to-nowhere concept.

Key Highlights

• For those missing the sound of a jet engine roaring or the scenic views on offer aboard an airplane, several international airlines have imagined a way to travel without actually going anywhere
• The country's national carrier, Singapore Airlines had also dallied with the flight-to-nowhere concept but abandoned the idea following a 'market study and comprehensive review'
• Starting next month, two cruise ships will sail out of Singapore, hitting the open seas before returning to the same port

For the large majority of people, the joy of travelling doesn't really come from the act itself. Deliriously standing in long queues waiting to go through security check, or spending hours on end sealed inside a metal capsule hovering thousands of feet above the ground isn't typically what one remembers about a vacation. 

But with the COVID-19 pandemic hitting the global tourism industry possibly the hardest, tourism bodies around the world are having to develop creative ways to satisfy their clients' wanderlust while attempting to stay afloat. 

Enter the concept of a 'flight to nowhere.' For those missing the sound of a jet engine roaring or the scenic views on offer aboard an airplane, several international airlines have imagined a way to travel without actually going anywhere. 

Take EVA Air, for instance. The airline based out of Taiwan stole headlines in August when it announced a flight to nowhere as part of a Father's Day promotion. The flight departed Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on August 8, spent three hours in the air during which time passengers were treated to a Michelin-star meal, before landing at the same airport. 

Singapore leading the way in travel innovation

But Singapore's Tourism Board has had other ideas. The country's national carrier, Singapore Airlines had also dallied with the flight-to-nowhere concept but abandoned the idea following a 'market study and comprehensive review' that considered the environmental implications, financial viability and general public feedback. 

Instead, on October 24 and 25, the airline will allow customers to dine inside one of its A380 double-decker jets fashioned into a restaurant. Customers can indulge in Singapore Airlines' dishes – widely believed to be among the finest airplane food globally – while watching movies on the plane's in-flight entertainment system. Bookings range anywhere from $37 (economy class) to $440 (private suite). Members can also use miles to make purchases. 

Additionally, the airline is also preparing to offer tours of its SIA Training Centre where customers can engage in flight simulator training lessons, grooming workshops with the airline's flight attendants or cabin crew activities for children. Moreover, the company is also launching a new initiative known as SIA@Home which will see first-class and business-class food delivered directly to customers' homes. 

But, by far, the biggest innovation Singapore is experimenting with is a cruise to nowhere. Starting next month, two cruise ships will sail out of Singapore, hitting the open seas before returning to the same port. Genting Cruise Lines' World Dream and Royal Caribbean International's Quantum of the Seas are offering round-trip journeys from November and December respectively as per a recent statement from the Singapore Tourism Board. 

In order to obtain a CruiseSafe certification, cruise operators will need to implement a series of stringent protocols that include increased sanitisation, improved air circulation measures, and physical distancing. The ships will operate at 50 per cent capacity with the cruises open only to Singapore residents. 

The underlying rationale behind the cruise according to representatives from the Singapore Tourism Board is to help regain customer confidence in travel. The cruise-ship industry has effectively been in a comatose state since March following a number of COVID-19 outbreaks at sea. In several cases, thousands of passengers were trapped at sea for months as ports refused entry to ships. 

Whether the cruise to nowhere trend picks up or not remains to be seen but those whose interests have been piqued are advised to take advantage of the option sooner rather than later. With optimism growing over the development of a vaccine, it is unlikely that the travel-to-nowhere experience will become a mainstay.  

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Travel to Nowhere – Life Without Travel

The only place one can travel to currently is travel to nowhere. It is time for virtual travel and reliving those precious travel memories.

Travel by its very nature is all about the outdoors. Be it getting lost in the beautiful arms of nature or being awed by an architectural masterpiece crafted by the hands of Man. As travel writers, it goes without saying that travel is the grist to the mills of our mind. Mills, that churns out content in the form of words that go on to form sentences and paragraphs that stoke the imagination of the readers. So how do the mills function without the grist? How does the traveller feel when shackled by circumstances? In the times when travel is impossible and it is literally a situation of travel to nowhere, how are passionate travellers and those for whom travel is sustenance coping? For that one needs to delve deep into the minds and hearts of travel writers.

Travel for us, as it must be for others of our ilk is a multi-dimensional activity. We travel to the same destinations multiple times and not always physically. We travel to exotic places even before being transported there physically, on the wings of our imagination. We then travel to the same places with our physical bodies. Again we head back there many times as we relive the experiences while writing about them. Yes, we are not travelling anywhere, barring the confines of our homes, but who has ever been able to chain the imagination of the mind?

So though we are not able to travel physically, we revisit the places through our writings, the words are the vehicles that ensure that our travel does not stop and we continue to explore the world through our imagination fed by years of travel and nurtured by innumerable travel experiences.

Virtual Travelling

• Recreating the magic of the destination through your writing or videos
• Even if you are not a travel writer or blogger, this is the time to start penning your experiences and reading about travel
• Spend your time planning your bucket list itinerary for the time when things come back to normal
• Participate in online webinars and workshops related to travel and travel destinations
• Go on a virtual tour to the place that you have always dreamt of waking up in, there are many Virtual Reality 360 degree trips to exotic places
• Watch Travel videos
• Read Travel Blogs
• Go through photo albums
• Look for travel-related posts on Instagram and other social media platforms
• Read travel-related articles or travel books
• Watch travel-related movies

Travel, they say is a great educator, yes it is, and it also teaches tolerance and instils a positivity that is rare. Travel and the dreams that travel inspires and forges keeps us going today though we travel nowhere.

We know that the world will heal itself and soon the wilderness of the wilds will beckon us to experience its wildlife, the museums of the world will resonate with our footfalls, the temples, mosques, and other monuments of India and the world will smile welcomingly at us. Till then we bide our time and indulge in writing about travel and dreaming about it.

If you wish to collaborate or work with us then reach us at [email protected]

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2 thoughts on “Travel to Nowhere – Life Without Travel”

I love this article. The mind is do Initiative and creative and it’s an amazing gift to be able to put thoughts done on paper. I have always liked writing, expressing my thoughts and even poems its so therapeutic.

Yes times are tough for so many of us for many different reasons. I don’t get to travel much but we do like to go away for the odd weekend away and it is frustrating not being able to. We are also getting frustrated not being able to do much, it is so important to get out and about with young kids! I’ve seen loads of virtual tours being share online and I think that is a superb idea, it also gives us a chance to check things out that we can add to our travel list for when things are not so crazy anymore.

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Train to nowhere: can California’s high-speed rail project ever get back on track?

Despite 14 years of work and about $5bn spent, the 2008 promise of quick transport between Los Angeles and San Francisco has not materialized

In the depths of the 2008 recession, Californians were sold on a beautiful dream: a bullet train that would whisk them between Los Angeles and San Francisco in less than three hours.

The project was to be the start of a new era of high-speed rail that would eventually stretch the full length of the west coast, from San Diego to Vancouver, across the desert to Las Vegas, and, eventually, all across the continental United States.

California voters that year approved the sale of $9bn in state bonds, on the understanding that the LA to San Francisco line would be up and running by 2020. It was not long before the incoming Obama administration upped the ante, with a national plan for 8,600 miles (13,840 km) of high-speed rail lines, later increased to 12,000 miles (19,312 km), that would help kick-start a dormant economy and wean a highly mobile nation off the fossil fuels threatening to destroy the climate.

Fast-forward to the present, and the dream is all but dead. The Obama plan collapsed, falling victim to a combination of inexperience, mismanagement and furious opposition from several key Republican legislators and state governors. The California project is still technically up and running, but it is so far behind schedule that it has yet to lay a single mile of track, despite 14 years of work and about $5bn spent.

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, is no longer talking about the 500-mile stretch from LA to San Francisco, because the projected price tag has skyrocketed far out of reach. Instead, his office is focusing on a 172-mile segment connecting a handful of medium-sized cities in the flat agricultural Central Valley. Even if the stars align, though, and a restive legislature can be persuaded to release the necessary funds, the segment still might not start serving passengers until 2030.

Reviving rail in a country built on it

The optimistic view for the project’s future – espoused most vigorously by California’s high speed rail authority, its consultants and its lobbyists – is that the stretch from Merced to Bakersfield will, once finished, provide proof of concept and thus convince state and federal authorities to shell out the many tens of billions of extra dollars it would take to extend the line north and south. Yes, the project is expensive, they argue, but so were the public investments in the highway system and the passenger airline industry, and the economic benefits of those are inarguable.

The boosters also sense a unique opportunity, since California is currently running a $97.5bn budget surplus and the White House, led by “Amtrak Joe” Biden, has been offering billions more, largely thanks to last year’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which allocated up to $108bn for public transport projects. “All we need is one system up and running. The rest will follow,” the editor of the industry publication Railway Age, William C Vantuono, all but pleaded in a recent article. “California right now is our only hope,” he added.

The more pessimistic view is that the project has turned into a boondoggle, the proverbial “train to nowhere”, and no good can come of continuing to throw money at it. The Merced to Bakersfield stretch is projected to cost more than $20bn – several billion dollars more than a previous projection made in 2019 and likely to grow only more expensive. It is also far from clear who would ride on it since it largely duplicates an existing Amtrak rail route.

“It’s dreamland. It’s unrealistic. It will never cover its own expenses from the farebox,” said Quentin Kopp, a retired former legislator and judge who led the charge for an LA-San Francisco high speed line for two decades, starting in the 1990s, but has now lost hope that it will ever see the light of day.

“Who cares about going from Merced to Bakersfield? I am appalled and angry over the bastardization of the promise to taxpayers … It’s a stupid waste of money. All this is doing is making contractors and engineers and bureaucrats fat and happy.”

The high speed rail authority said it was “simply untrue” to suggest that its timeline and budget projections were unrealistic. Authority spokeswoman Annie Parker stopped short of predicting that the Merced-Bakersfield leg would break even, however, saying only: “We see a robust demand and a profitable system in our future.”

Newsom is making his second attempt in two years to jump-start construction by persuading the legislature to release the remaining $4.2bn left in the 2008 bond fund and combine it with federal money to jump-start construction. “This is the future of transportation in California,” he said in a promotional video released when he first launched his funding campaign in March 2021. When completed, he promised, the high-speed line through the Central Valley would take 400,000 cars off the roads, clean up the air, and create new jobs.

Even if Newsom gets his money, though, it is far from clear what it will buy. The state’s legislative analyst complained earlier this year about a lack of up-to-date budgetary information, making it “very difficult for the legislature to make informed decisions”.

The legislature, for its part, has shown a particular reluctance to electrify the line from Merced to Bakersfield up front, and if that decision sticks it would reduce the line, at least temporarily, to a conventional track unable to meet the promise of 220-mph speeds. The rail authority, meanwhile, has developed its own plan to start with just 119 out of the 172 miles – a plan that among other things, would leave riders 19 miles short of Bakersfield and oblige them to complete the journey by bus. Authority chief executive Brian Kelly acknowledged in the most recent business plan that this is “not an ideal operating segment”.

As legislative leaders haggle with Newsom over high-speed rail and the rest of California’s latest budget, they are not tipping their hands about possible outcomes. But a number of them went into the talks skeptical if not downright hostile. “The idea that you would spend all your money on a train that doesn’t connect to anything and just hope you’re going to get more money, I find a really frightening business proposition,” the chair of the California Assembly’s transportation committee, Laura Friedman, told the policy news site Cal Matters earlier this month.

Many of the skeptics, including Friedman, are big-city Democrats, legislators one would usually expect to embrace public investment in high-speed rail. So their skepticism – and the failures, delays, cost overruns and broken promises that lie behind it – is a particularly heavy blow to those Americans who love the idea of reviving rail travel in a country that was largely built on it.

These are people who have ridden the Eurostar, or darted through the Tuscan countryside en route from Rome to Milan, and want nothing more than to see similar systems in place at home. “When people experience this in the United States,” industry consultant and unabashed train lover Eric C Peterson said, “they’re going to say: why couldn’t we have had this earlier?”

Doomed from the beginning

High-speed rail in California was always going to be a moon shot. Many transportation experts point out that high-speed rail systems are tricky to deliver because of high start-up costs and long construction schedules, and the costs are often compounded by the complications of purchasing land, building stations, blasting through mountains and bridging rivers. Countries that have moved fastest on such systems tend to have a highly centralized governmental system, like France’s, if not an out-and-out authoritarian one, like China’s.

The United States, by contrast, has a highly decentralized system of government, with multiple competing jurisdictions jostling over land, water, electricity and other vital resources, and a political tradition, especially in the west, that celebrates personal freedom and private property over collective enterprises in the public interest.

In the decades after the second world war, inter-city train travel faded fast because of the boom in car ownership, cheap gasoline and the interstate highway system. Today, it has a meaningful presence only on the northeastern seaboard, where Amtrak trains remain a popular, traffic-beating option between Boston, New York and Washington. In most places, Tom Zoellner writes in his 2014 book Train , the American railroad “is still regarded as a charming antique, an object of art for eccentrics and a last resort for the poor. Approximately 98% of the American public has never set foot on a city-to-city train.”

While European countries have developed high-speed systems with a lot of accumulated expertise and a pre-existing base of regular riders, the US flew almost completely blind in the years after 2008. California’s leaders didn’t want to finance a high-speed rail line without voter approval, and when Quentin Kopp chaired the effort to craft a successful ballot initiative he found himself boxed in by requirements deemed politically necessary that arguably doomed the project from the outset.

The initiative promised a journey time between LA and San Francisco of two hours and forty minutes – a timeframe that demanded exceptionally high speeds if the train was to stop anywhere along the way and greatly complicated the engineering . The initiative also promised that the service would pay for itself, with no operating subsidy, a promise that now seems near-impossible to keep.

After voters approved Proposition 1A, narrowly , the High-Speed Rail Authority found itself woefully understaffed and spent a small fortune on outside consultants, who wrote lots of reports and hired lots of other consultants but did not get the line built. Even today, progress consists of just a handful of new viaducts and bridges, along with most (but not all) of the necessary land purchases and environmental approvals.

That’s still better than the rest of the country, where every last high-speed rail project proposed during the Obama era has been dropped, in large part because of furious resistance from Republican governors and legislators. By now, Republican party orthodoxy is hotly opposed to high-speed rail, in line with a 2021 Cato Institute study that called it “an obsolete technology because it requires expensive and dedicated infrastructure that will serve no purpose other than moving passengers who could more economically travel by highway or air”.

When Newsom first announced he was paring back the California project, in 2019, it prompted the Trump administration to yank back nearly $1bn in federal funding. While the money has since been restored by the Biden administration, many California legislators worry that if the Republicans take back Congress after this November’s mid-term elections or – worse – if they take back the White House in 2024, it could kill whatever is left of the country’s last surviving high-speed rail project, regardless of what gets decided in Sacramento.

A growing number of critics thinks California may have made a strategic mistake with its“ high-speed rail or bust ” approach and should have put more money into lower-cost projects to link the disparate parts of the existing state rail network. Kopp, still formidable and furious at the age of 93, agrees with that approach. He thinks the only responsible thing to do at this point is declare high-speed rail a failure and devote the remaining money in the bond fund to extension projects in the Los Angeles and San Francisco metropolitan areas.

“I think it’s done,” he said. “Nobody else in the United States is wasting money on this. The legislature should stop the funding again this year, and Newsom should wise up before it becomes part of the historical record that he threw our money away.”

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California Mercilessly Mocked For Spending $11 Billion and 9 Years on High-Speed Rail Bridge to Nowhere

Posted: May 9, 2024 | Last updated: May 9, 2024

California has completed a significant portion of its high-speed rail project, the Fresno River Viaduct, after spending $11 billion and taking nine years.  

This section of the rail is meant to eventually connect San Francisco to Los Angeles but currently stands alone, leading to significant public scrutiny and criticism from high-profile figures.

Elon Musk's Reaction to the Viaduct

Elon Musk responded to the completion of the Fresno River Viaduct with just a sad, crying emoji, perfectly capturing the sentiment around this seemingly futile project.   

The bridge, part of a plan to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles, now hangs in limbo.   

The Scope and Future of the Project

The high-speed rail bridge is just one part of a broader plan to create a high-speed route from Bakersfield north of Los Angeles to Merced, approximately 80 miles from the Bay Area. 

Despite already spending $11 billion , the future of this project is uncertain, with discussions about potentially scrapping it altogether.  

Billy Markus's Sarcasm

Billy Markus sarcastically hailed the project as “the most remarkable human achievement ever,” on X, formerly known as Twitter.     

His biting sarcasm underlines the frustration felt by many watching the project's slow progress.

The Reality of Walking the Viaduct

Markus pointed out the absurdity of the project’s scale versus its results.    

He said , “1600 feet of high speed rail after 9 years and 11 billion dollars it takes about 5 minutes to walk 1600 feet so a high speed rail for that is a really big deal.”    

The Completed Section of the Rail

The Fresno River Viaduct, one of the first completed structures of the high-speed rail system, spans nearly 1,600 feet . 

This structure is designed to let trains travel over the riverbed and run alongside the BNSF Railroad, yet it stands as a solitary achievement amidst broader project delays. 

Public and Prominent Criticism

The rail project has been widely criticized for its massive expenditure with minimal progress.    

Public figures like Markus have been vocal about their disdain, using platforms like X to share their views, which resonate with many Californians frustrated by the project’s pace and cost.     

The Staggering Cost of Incompletion

Markus again mocked the slow progression and high costs, sarcastically saying on X, “wow so impressive, can’t wait until year 2400 for this to finish for 700 quadrillion dollars.”  

His comment illustrates the public's skepticism about the completion and financial management of the project.    

A Venture Capitalist Weighs In

Patrick Blumenthal, a venture capitalist, critiqued the financial inefficiency of the rail project.  

He highlighted the disproportionate costs, “0.3 miles completed. After 15 years. After $11.2 BILLION. $36.96 billion per mile,” showcasing the extraordinary expense of the project relative to its progress.   

High-Speed Rail Authority’s Statement

The California High-Speed Rail Authority has attempted to maintain a positive outlook, emphasizing that the Fresno River Viaduct is among the first completed high-speed rail structures in the state.    

This statement aims to highlight a milestone in the long-delayed project.   

The Project's Configuration

The authority explained that the rail would run parallel with the BNSF Railroad, covering the riverbed area.    

This detail was part of the broader strategy to integrate the new high-speed rail with existing transport infrastructures, though the completion of the full route remains uncertain.

The Future of California’s High-Speed Rail

As the high-speed rail project hangs in the balance, the conversation continues about the viability and justification of continuing.  

The public and pundits alike are watching closely, waiting to see if this bridge will ever lead to its intended destination.    

Global High-Speed Rail Success Stories

Countries like Japan and France showcase successful high-speed rail systems that balance efficiency with sustainability. Japan’s Shinkansen and France’s TGV have set standards in reliability and speed, fundamentally changing travel dynamics in their regions.

These systems emphasize precision engineering and rigorous safety protocols, serving as models for integrating high-speed rail into national transport infrastructures.  

Boosting Local Economies Through High-Speed Rail

High-speed rail projects have historically led to economic uplift in regions by creating jobs, enhancing property values, and increasing tourism.

For example, the introduction of high-speed rail in certain areas of Europe has revitalized smaller cities by improving accessibility and attracting new businesses.

Environmental Impact of High-Speed Rail

High-speed rail offers a greener alternative to air and road travel, significantly reducing carbon footprints per passenger. However, the construction phase poses challenges like habitat disruption.    

Balancing these factors is crucial for sustainable development, making high-speed rail a pivotal part of environmental planning in transportation.    

Advancements in Rail Technology

Modern high-speed rail systems incorporate cutting-edge technologies such as magnetic levitation and automated control systems, increasing speed and safety.   

These innovations reduce travel time and maintenance costs, presenting a case for their adoption in California’s high-speed rail project.   

Innovative Financing Options for Infrastructure

Exploring innovative financing options like green bonds , which are designated for environmentally friendly public sector projects, could provide a substantial boost to funding.    

Infrastructure banks and crowd-sourced funding also offer novel ways to accumulate capital, potentially easing the financial burden on taxpayers and speeding up project timelines.  

Navigating Political and Policy Landscapes

Large-scale infrastructure projects like California’s high-speed rail often face complex legislative environments.

The project has seen various policy shifts and political debates that have influenced its scope and funding, highlighting the need for strategic political engagement and policy adaptability.

Exploring Sustainable Funding Strategies

Public-private partnerships and other federal funding initiatives could alleviate financial pressures and ensure the continuation of the high-speed rail project.    

Such strategies could provide the necessary capital infusion while distributing the financial risks associated with large-scale infrastructure projects.    

Project Management Insights from High-Speed Rail

It's clear that effective project management is critical in avoiding delays and managing costs in large-scale projects. 

Lessons from the California high-speed rail project emphasize the importance of comprehensive planning, stakeholder engagement, and adaptive project execution strategies to prevent ending up with a rail bridge to nowhere. 

Integration with California’s Transportation Network

In theory, a high-speed rail could dramatically alter California's transportation landscape by providing a high-speed link between major cities.   

It would make sense for the state to help reduce road congestion and lower dependence on short-haul flights, contributing to a more streamlined and efficient transportation network.  

Urban Development Influenced by Railways

The development of high-speed rail stations can serve as catalysts for urban renewal, driving commercial and residential development in surrounding areas (via The NY Times ).

Media Influence on Public Perception of High-Speed Rail

Media coverage also plays a significant role in shaping public opinion about infrastructure projects.  

The portrayal of California’s high-speed rail in the media has been mixed, with some focusing on the setbacks and others highlighting the potential benefits, which ultimately influences public sentiment and political support. 

Future Scenarios for California’s High-Speed Rail

Looking ahead, the high-speed rail project faces several possible futures ranging from successful completion to potential stagnation. 

Scenario planning can help stakeholders understand the implications of various outcomes, preparing them for strategic decisions that could shape the state’s transportation infrastructure for decades to come. 

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A cruise to nowhere: Royal Caribbean sailing canceled after guests boarded

A Royal Caribbean International Alaska voyage became a cruise to nowhere over the weekend, with the line canceling the sailing after guests had already boarded.

The cruise line’s Radiance of the Seas ship experienced propulsion issues, forcing it to shorten and eventually scrap the weeklong itinerary, according to notices shared with guests. The sailing was originally set to depart from Vancouver on Friday.

Charlene Chong, who was on board with her husband, their 3-year and 11-month-old children, and her parents, said passengers were notified Saturday afternoon that the cruise was canceled. The 34-year-old teacher and her husband previously took a cruise for their honeymoon, but this marked their first trip with Royal Caribbean.

“My parents had wanted to go to Alaska for a really long time,” said Chong, who lives in Vancouver.

The cruise line warned guests several days before boarding that the ship had a “technical issue with its propulsion system,” according to an email sent to passengers that Chong shared with USA TODAY. The line later pushed the departure back by two days to allow more time for repairs.

Royal Caribbean said boarding would proceed as planned but that the terminal would close Friday evening due to U.S. Customs and Border Protection rules. Passengers would not be able to leave until the ship arrived at Icy Strait Point.

“We were going stir crazy a little bit,” said Chong.

Royal Caribbean gave guests onboard credit worth two days of their fare, a future cruise credit of the same amount, complimentary drinks and other compensation, another email said.

According to Chong, the ship sailed toward a nearby cargo port, but the captain announced Saturday afternoon that the sailing could not proceed and that guests would need to disembark by Sunday at 4 p.m. Chong said she and her family were “lucky” they were local, but she saw other guests scrambling to change their flights and find accommodations.

Your cruise was canceled: Now what?

“We understand the disappointment due to this unfortunate turn of events,” the cruise line said in a letter shared with guests. “We truly extend our sincerest apologies for the continued unforeseen disruptions to your vacation.”

Royal Caribbean gave them their money back as onboard credit with any remaining amount refunded, increased their future cruise credit to 100% of their fare and kept its open-bar policy for the remaining time on board. The line also offered to reimburse trip change fees up to $250 for guests traveling domestically and $400 for international travel and additional reimbursements for hotel and transportation costs, among other compensation.

“Due to a technical issue, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the April 26 sailing," a Royal Caribbean spokesperson said in an emailed statement. "Guests will receive a full refund and 100% future cruise credit, and have been notified directly.” The spokesperson did not comment on the specifics of Chong's experience.

The ship will resume service for its May 3 sailing.

After they got home, Chong and her family booked a trip to Mexico instead – though her parents decided not to join as they were “a bit exhausted by the whole ordeal.” For now, she’s not inclined to use the future cruise credit. “I would like to go to Alaska,” she said. “I'm not sure if I want to go with them.”

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach him at [email protected].

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