Cruise is coming home: UK voyages on offer as lines scrap overseas sailings
Cruise holidays are returning to UK shores with a series of voyages in home waters intended to be “a highlight of British summer time”.
P&O Cruises, Princess, Cunard, Viking and Fred Olsen have scrapped planned overseas itineraries and are replacing them with short-break and week-long cruises around Britain.
P&O Cruises president Paul Ludlow said: “We cannot wait to give our guests a much-deserved holiday. Our staycations will provide the ultimate escape and we hope they will be a highlight of British summer time.”
Maritime Minister Robert Courts has confirmed that sailings between English ports can resume as early as May 17. Because domestic cruises are part of the UK government’s roadmap out of lockdown they “will not fall under the remit” of year-long advice by the Foreign Office against “international travel on a ship”, the Department for Transport told The Telegraph.
First at sea will be Viking, which is christening its ship Viking Venus on May 17 and sailing out of Portsmouth along the English coast from May 22. P&O Cruises is starting with Britannia from Southampton on June 27, while the maiden voyage of Iona on August 7 will be a seven-day no-stop cruise to the Scottish island after which it is named.
Fred Olsen is starting sailings with the ships it bought from Holland America. Borealis will begin from Liverpool in July, followed by Bolette from Dover in August.
Another cruise line moving to all-UK itineraries is Suffolk-based Tradewind Voyages, which is introducing the world’s biggest tall ship, Golden Horizon, this year. It has cancelled a delivery cruise from Lisbon to Portsmouth in April, followed by a series of voyages from UK ports to destinations such as Iceland, Denmark and Norway.
Instead, the line has pushed back the debut to late June, when the square rigger will sail a round trip from Portsmouth along the south coast, followed by a series of voyages from Harwich, Leith, Greenock and Liverpool.
One small company sailing around Ireland and Scotland in July is Riviera Travel, on its new 158-passenger ship Seaventure.
However, one destination that will be off limits to any round-Britain voyages is the Channel island of Guernsey which has announced it will not welcome cruise ships this year “to protect the health and safety” of residents and other visitors.
On UK rivers, the first cruise is likely to be from Gloucester on the 22-passenger Edward Elgar, which is offering itineraries from the earliest possible date of May 17. Jay Clements, of operators English Holiday Cruises, said: “The season has got off to a fantastic start – we have seen a huge increase in bookings.”
Luxury barge operator European Waterways is also offering trips along the River Thames and the Caledonian Canal from May.
In restarting ocean voyages around Britain, companies such as P&O Cruises and Princess are following in the wake of other lines around the world that have begun operating again with domestic itineraries or “voyages to nowhere”, such as ones so far in France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Singapore, Australia, China and Japan.
Royal Caribbean announced this month that it is sending its new ship, Odyssey of the Seas, to Israel, where vaccination rates are very high.
Greece and Spain have indicated that they might welcome Britons who have been given both jabs, which is already a condition of sailing on Saga ships, for example.
But with international travel still uncertain, those keen to walk up the gangway again to an ocean cruise this summer might find there’s no place like home.
How to travel in 2021
Join Telegraph Travel's panel of experts on Wednesday March 10 for the last of our series of live 'How to Travel' events. We'll be focusing on cruise, and answering your questions on when we are likely to be able to cruise again, how to beat the restrictions and what your cruise trip might look like.
