The government’s decision to single out cruising as higher risk than other forms of travel has been labelled “unfair and disappointing” by the boss of Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.
Speaking on a Travel Weekly webcast, Peter Deer said: “The advice given by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which specifically talks about cruising and singling it out, suggests that cruising is something which, from a consumer perspective, appears to be a higher risk than any other form of travel.
“In my mind, the singling out is a little bit unfair because, as an industry, we were the first travel businesses really to say ‘we can’t continue in our current operations’.
“We all stopped without any discussions at a government level. And we’re all responsible enough to know the most important thing we want to get right is looking to the safety of our passengers and crew.”
Deer added: “We’re really disappointed that the FCO gave the advice it did about cruising, and really missed perhaps looking at the travel industry overall and saying, ‘Well actually, all sorts of travel have a form of risk’.
“What’s the science to say that cruising is really high compared to flying in an airplane where you’re sitting next to someone for a number of hours?
“That’s the frustration and I think some of that, from the government level, is because cruising is not as understood as perhaps a typical flight and hotel package holiday.”
Asked if he felt the government was listening to the cruise industry’s appeals and arguments, Deer said: “I’m confident they’re listening. I think we’re all on the same page to recognise that cruising in the UK is a big part of travel; it employs probably 50,000 people overall when you consider travel agents, the ports, the stevedores [people employed at the docks to load and unload ships], the cruise lines.
“But the bit I’m not confident on is whether they’re going to be confident that we’re doing all the right things to make sure we’re keeping our guests and our crews safe. And I think that comes with time and taking baby steps.”
He said the situation made it difficult to predict the timing of when each line will go back into service, but insisted Fred Olsen wouldn’t re-start until it was “super-confident” everything is in place to protect crew and passengers.
“We’ve got a safe sailing charter which we have built internally which says will not go sailing until we’re really super-confident that everything we put in place protects the interests of our crew initially, so that when they get on board, they’re very happy with the health protocol put in place,” he said.
“And then on top of that, the second layer in terms of when our passengers come for their vacation, they feel equally comfortable with coming on board our ships and don’t feel that there’s a risk.”
He added: “There are various things which we believe will become something of focus and lots of people are talking about buffets and the physical distancing, and we’re working out the way we can do routines on board.
“But a lot of it will be a step back from that, and making sure people who join the ship in the first place – crew and passengers – have been tested and we are 100% confident they are Covid-free. That’s absolutely critical.
“Of course, you can get a test in a home now; and you can get it roadside, and you get the results pretty well within 24 hours. But the ultimate goal I guess, from a from a cruise line point of view, is that you can walk up; it’s a simple test and within 10 minutes you get the result and you walk straight on board a cruise ship.”