Plenty of excitement has been generated by the news that domestic cruises could resume from 17 May.

In a tweet on 8 March, the APPMPG said: “**NEWS** Maritime Minister robertcourts announces the reopening of the domestic #cruise market in England on 17 May at tonight’s @APPMPG meeting.”

Those few words, music to the ears of all in the sector, represent – for the first time in what feels like forever – a tangible bit of hope, as there’s finally something that guests, cruise lines, crew members and all who work in the sector can look forward to.

The pathway to 17 May won’t be easy. As the pandemic has shown, dates cannot always be trusted. Nonetheless, there’s little point in holding only negative feelings. The industry knows it needs to project confidence, not just internally but also to the millions of cruise passengers worldwide who have suffered disappointment after disappointment in the last 12 months.

Speaking to reporters on 11 March as part of a media call arranged by CLIA, the association’s UK & Ireland chair Tony Roberts said: “The government announcement is hugely welcome and defines the point where we start to put in place some of those plans [to return to service].

“There is pent up-demand and we should be very confident about cruising’s return. UK cruises will offer a staycation like no other.

“In the context of a staycation market, cruise will appeal to lots who haven’t tried a cruise before. Pricing is a factor of supply and demand, but there is great opportunity to demonstrate the value of a cruise holiday. It is highly attractive to people who have not been able to go away for a long time.

“The proposition this summer will be very interesting. We will see a migration from traditional holiday types to cruise. There is an immediate appreciation of value for money when people take a cruise.”

The big question, of when domestic sailings will start, is a tricky one to answer with 100 per certainty. Princess’ sailings are labelled as departing late summer. P&O Cruises, meanwhile, has confirmed its series of short breaks and week-long UK cruises will start in the summer.

Cunard has also revealed a series of UK voyages on Queen Elizabeth, again for this summer. The line said more details will be revealed later this month. President Simon Palethorpe said: “These will be sailings from Southampton, for UK residents, around the UK and will make the very most of the summer sunshine.”

Clarity may be forthcoming when the Global Travel Taskforce unveils its report on 12 April. Roberts added: “Each cruise line will have a different timeline and plan. We’ve talked about a minimum 12-week period from when you say ‘go’ to actually having the ship back in service.

“The magnitude of getting a ship ready, today, is almost akin to bringing a new ship into service. Princess Cruises is not expecting to be ready to sail until several weeks after 17 May.

“There are people working with government and other bodies to make sure we are moving the conversation forward, looking to a return to international cruises, initially in Europe. We will have to demonstrate a body of evidence that we can operate in the UK before we can visit Europe.”

Industry to be ‘incredibly careful’

On the question of how vaccines might impact the restart of operations, the consensus is that lines will continue to monitor and adapt safety protocols as necessary, but will not be pushed into any drastic changes of procedure.

“It is a very multi-layered safety approach and no one single thing is purely relied on,” said Roberts. “[We are] encouraged by the vaccination news and the protocols will evolve, but right now we are carrying on the multi-layered approach rather than rushing it. The industry will be incredibly careful to do this the right way.”

This view was backed by Bud Darr, executive vice-president of maritime policy and government affairs at MSC Group, who said on the call: “We foresee that the protocols will remain in place for a long time. We’re in no rush to modify the protocols that have been put in place.”

MSC Cruises first returned to service last August and Darr said that with new safety protocols in action, “our guests are having a great time”.

The 17 May can’t come soon enough.