No single department in government wants to take responsibility for lifting the advisory against Brits cruising while the UK’s R number is rising, according to the chairman of Carnival UK.
Speaking on a Clia Global webinar for travel agents, David Dingle was asked if he thought the Foreign Office (FCDO) advice would be lifted before the end of 2020 now the sector has secured government backing for a framework for lines to follow.
He said: “I’m not going to place any bets on the likelihood of their saying that we can start immediately.”
Dingle accepted it is “more challenging” to issue the “good news” of the framework when the R number in the UK is rising, and that he can “appreciate the nervousness” in government and understands “not wanting to give out any mixed messages” regarding coronavirus.
He said that the government authorising sailings in UK waters initially would be a significant step forward for the sector, allowing a “phased restart” that would “effectively just make a cruise an extension of a UK bubble”.
“That is a particularly strong argument, and that’s certainly one that we would hope to land,” he said. “Even if we don’t get everything at the start, to able to operate just in UK waters will be an extremely important signal because it’s going to prove the concept of the framework. We will be able to demonstrate that a cruise is a very safe holiday to take.”
Dingle said Carnival UK could show that ex-UK sailings can operate amid the pandemic, and praised MSC Cruises for its return in the Mediterranean.
But he stressed: “We do have to work with the Foreign Office and also with the Public Health England and the Department for Health and Social Care so the messages going to the Foreign Office on our behalf are credible and effective.”
Dingle added: “One of the issues here is that no one person wants to take responsibility for the decision. So we’ve all got to help that process. We’re working really, really hard in trying to persuade all those who can affect this decision to come to our aid and get that decision made as soon as possible.”
Stuart Leven, vice president of government relations at Royal Caribbean International, added: “When we re-commence, one of the things we have talked about is a phased restart. So as we come back into operation you may see some cruises to nowhere as we test and try out protocols. You may then see some cruises just within the common travel area around the UK. You may see some cruises on a bilateral basis, just going to one destination, and then coming back again.
“And then you will see the resumption of the types of cruises that we know, where we’ve got guests going on longer cruises, going to multiple destinations. But it will happen over time, and it will be phased and you know the one thing we’ll see; the great thing about our industry, is we can point our ships in any direction we want to. So if we set off in an itinerary, and it turns out there was a problem on itinerary, we always have an option we always have somewhere else we can go.”
