There is no denying that the world is changing right before our eyes. As the Coronavirus death count continues to add up, we look for signs of hope. Frankly, we need to hear that this is going to be over soon and the country will be back open. Considering the science, this is not going to be over soon. The world will be different. Here are some examples of how that different is resolving in real time. It’s not really all bad news.

• Delta blocks middle seats and pauses automatic advance upgrades to enable social distancing. Few travelers will regret empty middle seats. Pre-virus, that would be a huge win. I see no reason not to celebrate now.
• Previrusly, a new word, is born. In a sentence, “Previrusly, I wanted to have as many people dining in my restaurant as possible. Now, this is a situation to be avoided.” Restaurants will discover how to first survive then thrive. In the end, you won’t be on a 2 hour wait at the Olive Garden on Friday night. I’m ok with that.
• “Post-virus” will be another eventually common phrase. Hopefully sooner than later. “Post-virus, we will want/need/be required to sail with ships less than full while paying even more attention to sanitation.” I think that’s true, at least initially. They won’t sail ships with entire decks closed down doing nothing for long. What does a cruise ship owner do with a few decks they don’t need anymore? I’m thinking apartments, inside snow ski attraction. How many football fields long are cruise ships? Cool, let’s put a football field inside the ship then. See? This could be fun.
• SeaDocs or something along those lines will refer to an increased presence of medical professionals that sail on ships. With increased transparency, there will be TV shows about these people. Small ships, given a pass by the recent CDC full stop extension bumped to mid-July, won’t be able to get by without a doctor and full medical facilities. That will be good news to passengers in distress. Not that cruise ship medical centers were understaffed or under equipped before. Post-virus, this a different world.
• We Will Have To Pay Our Fair Share And That’s Only Fair– For decades we have been paying far less than we probably should for cruises. In some cases less now than 15 or 20 years ago. Cruise travelers wanted the lowest possible price. Post-virus they will pay more. Wait, what’s good about paying more? Cruise lines will be able to be profitable while adding more staff and modifying ships for a healthy future.
• Puppies! – Good news for animal shelters: pet adoptions have increased tenfold since the beginning of isolation world.

Cruises lines that stay in business will reinvent themselves to do so. It’s going to be costly. But I believe they can do exactly that and be better than ever in a far more health-sustainable way.