Operational management
“Sales have been strong since we announced our domestic return to sailing in the UK, with people eager to get back out there and seek out new experiences again,” says Ben Bouldin, vice president EMEA at Royal Caribbean. “After a year of staying home, paired with missing out on moments and occasions with family, friends and loved ones, we are seeing and feeling tremendous hope and optimism.”
Great British getaway
Royal Caribbean restarted domestic cruising on 7 July, with a series of four to seven-night sailings, dubbed ‘Ocean Getaways’, on board the Anthem of the Seas. Ports of call have included Liverpool, Belfast, Kirkwall and Glasgow, and guest satisfaction scores, says Bouldin, have been consistently high. “We have recently announced the extension of our British Isles sailings through October 2021 following the great response from our UK guests and the complexities that we still need to navigate with international cruising,” he says. “CLIA estimates that the cruise sector contributes £10bn to the UK economy every year and we expect this figure to grow in the future as more people discover the joys of cruising from the UK.”
It is a similar story at Saga Cruises, which has been offering a number of British itineraries aboard its two ships, Spirit of Discovery and Spirit of Adventure. The latter embarked on its maiden voyage on 26 July, following a naming ceremony scheduled to coincide with ‘Freedom Day’ (the ending of most Covid-19 restrictions in the UK). “Our itineraries around the UK have been extremely popular, with almost all departures sold out and we have shown places that many British guests have not been to, such as the Scilly Isles,” says Nigel Blanks, CEO of Saga Cruises. “Our guests have told us how much they enjoy the smaller, more boutique cruising experience we offer, and the ‘always inclusive’ promise on board.” The enforced break, he adds, functioned as a time to recoup and reset, particularly when it came to the food, beverage and entertainment options that Saga Cruises has on board.
Satisfaction on the menu “We have reviewed all of our menus, adding new choices and dishes that our customers are already telling us they love,” he says. “We also took delivery of our second new ship Spirit of Adventure, allowing us time to get to know the ship and prepare her for her inaugural season. Spirit of Adventure is a sister ship to Discovery but she is more modern and contemporary than her sister.” While many cruise lines used the break productively, it doesn’t take much probing to see how detrimental this time really was. Cruise lines incurred huge losses throughout the pandemic –
World Cruise Industry Review /
www.worldcruiseindustryreview.com
according to the credit agency Moody’s, the likes of Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line each lost nearly $900m a month. The easing of restrictions, and the opportunity to resume sailings, is a boon to operators across the board. The big question is whether they can fully rebound against a backdrop of continuing restrictions. To take just one example, Scottish cruise calls were banned until 19 July, forcing a number of operators to change their plans at the eleventh hour.
Opposite page: Saga Cruises' Spirit of Discovery – the company's first ever new-build ship.
“After a year of staying home, paired with missing out on moments and occasions with family, friends and loved ones, we are seeing and feeling tremendous hope and optimism.”
Ben Bouldin
Worse, the threat of a Covid-19 outbreak still looms large. While there were no reported outbreaks on British ships this summer, Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth cancelled its first planned sailing after a number of crew members tested positive. And every ship has needed to implement capacity restrictions and Covid mitigation measures. “We have reduced capacity aboard, enhanced air conditioning which supplies 100% fresh air to cabins and public areas, and a double medical team and dedicated isolation area,” says Blanks. “The measures we have put in place go above and beyond the guidance from the UK Chamber of Shipping, which has been agreed by public health experts and the government.”
Sanitised hands on deck
The guidance in question, first published in October 2020, makes recommendations around passenger screening, ventilation, disinfection and so forth. Additionally, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) advises that ships must not operate beyond a 50% capacity, and that they should have a vaccination policy in place. Most, though not all, operators require guests to be fully jabbed (meaning they have received their second dose of vaccine at least 14 days before embarking). “For sailings from the UK, our guests aged 18 and over must present proof of full Covid-19 vaccination, while those younger than the eligible age must undergo testing,” says Bouldin. “The vaccine policy is one of the cruise line’s multilayered measures that safeguard the wellbeing of all guests, crew members and the communities at each port of call.”
Insofar as they can fully control their environment, cruise ships may actually have an epidemiological advantage over other forms of hospitality, at least while the guests are on board.
$900m
The amount cruise lines, such as Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line, lost per month throughout the pandemic.
Moody’s 41
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