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International Ban On Cruises To Be Lifted!

International Ban On Cruises To Be Lifted!

It has just been confirmed by the transport secretary today (28/07/21) that the ban on international cruises that have been in place since last July will be lifted in England from the 2nd August 2021.

A statement from the Department for Transport confirmed: “Following the close monitoring of epidemiological evidence, gained through the restart of the domestic cruise industry earlier this year, the UK government has also confirmed the go-ahead for international cruise sailings to restart from England in line with Public Health England guidance.

“International cruise travel advice will be amended to encourage travellers to understand the risks associated with cruise travel and take personal responsibility for their own safety abroad.”

It continued: “To further support the safe restart of international cruise travel, the Government and cruise industry have signed a breakthrough Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to help the industry build back from Covid-19 while protecting British nationals from future pandemic-related disruption.”

Since March 2020 the FCDO advised against international cruises for many passengers and for all customers since July 2020 and in May this year, we finally saw the return of cruises within the UK with many cruise lines offering a number of coastal cruises.

Commenting on today’s news, Vice President of Princess Cruises UK & Europe Tony Roberts said: “Today’s decision to remove the FCDO’s advice against international cruise is very welcome news. From this Saturday (31st July), Princess Cruises will have restarted domestic sailings in the UK, beginning with Regal Princess. We look forward to resuming our international cruises from the UK on Regal Princess and Sky Princess from the end of September, with a total of eight voyages sailing roundtrip Southampton”.

He continued “As always, the safety and wellbeing of our crew, guests and destinations we visit remain our top priority. Our vaccination and testing policies will remain in place for these cruises and will be reviewed on a regular basis as the global situation continues to evolve”.

P&O Cruises president, Paul Ludlow also expressed the cruise line’s joy on Twitter earlier today: “We are absolutely delighted with today’s announcement from the UK Government that international cruising can resume from the UK.”

Andy Harmer, CLIA (Cruise Line International Association) said: “The decision to allow the restart of international cruise is very good news for the industry. The success of this summer’s round Britain cruises has led the way. “

“The cruise industry has worked intensively during the last 18 months in collaboration with the Government, health authorities, ports, and other industry bodies to develop enhanced protocols that protect guests, crew and the destinations we visit. The industry looks forward to welcoming guests back onboard to visit international destinations”.

With the Government also confirming today that there will be a quarantine exemption for vaccinated EU and US travellers, there is even more confidence that cruising is getting back to how it used to be.

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