No more long-haul cruises from the UK?
The latest travel restrictions roadmap is to facilitate the restart of domestic cruising from the UK
The UK is working towards restarting the domestic cruise industry from 17 May, according to reports. This is aligned with the latest roadmap on lifting restrictions.
“As set out in the Prime Minister’s roadmap, the earliest possible date for this step is 17 May,” a Department for Transport spokesperson told TTG. “We are committed to restarting cruise travel when it is safe to do so, and we are working closely with the sector to prepare for a safe and successful restart.”
While this is great news for domestic cruises, this means that many sailings planned for destinations outside of the UK have had to be postponed, including Princess Cruises’ sailings to the Mediterranean, Norway, Scandinavia and Iceland, which are now temporarily suspended until 25 September.
“We share in our guests’ disappointment over these cancelled voyages, and we appreciate the continued understanding and co-operation from our loyal guests and travel advisors,” Princess President Jan Swartz said in a statement accompanying the line’s announcement. “As we prepare our ships for a return to service, we remain in close contact with the UK Government to monitor the latest travel guidance for international guests.”
For now, only UK citizens will be able to board these domestic cruises. While UK citizens will be mostly covered for any health concerns that arise during their travels, they may not have the full cancellation coverage that they would have had from their international travel insurance policies, not to mention the assistance services they may have received from more comprehensive international travel insurance providers. Perhaps there is a growing gap in the market for domestic travel insurance products…
In other UK travel-related news, the Government has introduced international travel forms for UK citizens, in which travellers will need to declare their reason for travelling overseas before departing.