The first Princess cruise ships venture out onto the water again – 18 months after the Quarantine Diamond Princess became a gloomy harbinger of the pandemic – at a symbolic moment for a sector that was hit early and hard by the Covid crisis.
“It was pretty emotional at first because we haven’t sailed in over 500 days,” said Tony Roberts, Princess Vice President of the United Kingdom Cruises. “The moment we welcomed the first guests on board, it felt like a circle was coming full circle.”
The Regal Princess spent the early part of this week sailing out of Southampton on a three-day excursion while a sister ship, the Majestic US, was safely returning from a week-long voyage to Alaska.
“There are differences. They wear masks when you move around the ship. But it was nice to be back on board, ”says Roberts.
An even bigger sign of hope for the UK cruise industry was the government signal that international cruises could now depart from these coasts. Shortly Domestic trips were carried out, with limited passenger numbers, has been on other lines since early summer, including P&O, Saga and MSC. Most of the voyages, however, had no ports of call for their short duration: for giant cruise ships that meant being stuck in an urban apartment with short permitted movement times.
The UK’s broader, fluctuating travel rules – which may require quarantine after certain foreign port calls – mean the lines will not start sailing on new routes immediately. The government does not support cruises either: It warns that “the cramped environment allows Covid-19 to spread faster than elsewhere” and that affected ships “were previously denied permission to dock or disembark passengers. [with] severe consequences”.
The Diamond Princess in the port of Yokohama in Japan with over 3,000 passengers on board had to be quarantined in February 2020. Photo: Charly Triballeau / AFP / Getty Images
CLIA, the Association of the Cruise Industry, said it had provided large amounts of data to Public Health England and government departments to prove it was dealing with the situation. The operators have also signed a letter of intent that cruise ships will bear the repatriation costs if necessary.
According to Ben Bouldin, Vice President of Royal Caribbean and Chair of CLIA UK, the lines have made arrangements to disembark all guests if necessary and to eliminate the ghost of ships stranded again offshore while customers only “bubble” – Go on shore excursions – organized excursions – instead of wandering around independently in ports of call.
The road to recovery was arduous. Skeleton crews maintained the ships while they were anchored offshore during a hiatus that Roberts originally held for two months: “We built the crew and they made the new logs; many of them have been on board for a few months and come from over 30 countries. “
The crew will almost exceed the number of passengers. Princess started with a very low occupancy – around 40% on shelf, which has 1,400 of 3,560 berths booked – even after the state restrictions were lifted. “We make sure that the protocols work so that we don’t overwhelm the capacity – it’s important that we build it up gradually,” says Roberts.
Only those who are double vaccinated can travel, with tests for each passenger before boarding in Southampton. Technology on Princess will play a role, with passengers carrying a contactless key that doubles as an opt-in tracking device that can indicate when cabins are occupied or restaurants or theaters are occupied. Restrictions mean that while passengers can enjoy a socially distant martini of the 50 varieties on offer at Crooner’s Bar, they cannot jump in the hot tub with couples outside their bladder.
Customer trust is crucial – but apparently largely high. “Of course there are people who think this is actually not for me anymore – but others think that because of the additional measures it is, it may be one of the safest ways to travel,” says Roberts.
Notable ambassadors are David and Sally Abel, an Oxfordshire couple who stranded on board the Diamond Princess during the first outbreak and was then hospitalized in Japan after contracting Covid. You have booked at least five more Princess cruises, starting with a British Seaation next month and four in different corners of the world next year. DAvid Abel told the BBC this week: “It’s a wonderful way of life … We really feel very safe, provided that passengers get doubly annoyed.”
Pictures of Princess Diamond in quarantine in Yokohama became an early and dire harbinger of the pandemic. Photo: Carl Court / Getty Images
Such loyalty isn’t unique, says Roberts. “David and Sally are a great example of people who love cruises… And while they had a pretty harrowing experience, their predominant feeling is that they were involved in a global pandemic, not something that is cruise specific.
“Of course we have given a lot of refunds and credits, but they certainly use them – we just went on sale in 2023 because we saw such strong demand.” New customers are also booking at the same or higher rates as they were before Covid, he adds.
Anchoring ships meant considerable costs, but also no income. Parent company of the princess, carnival, released some dismal trade updates during the pandemic, made billions in losses, sold six ships and warned at some point that demand may never recover.
Roberts remains optimistic, even if the restart is taking place slowly: “We’re getting back to the point where it makes more sense to operate ships than not quite fast, but we are far from the level we would have reached before. ”
