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A ban on cruises? The Government's latest lunatic decision is the last straw

I can fly to France, stay in a hotel and make merry in a beach bar, but I cannot board even a small ship on a river cruise
I can fly to France, stay in a hotel and make merry in a beach bar, but I cannot board even a small ship on a river cruise

Just as we are told we can visit 75 destinations without needing to self-isolate when we get home, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) goes and gives the cruise industry a kicking, warning against all holidays afloat.

Every sector of it. Big ships, small ships, river ships, ocean ships. Doesn’t matter. The FCO statement released yesterday is unequivocal. “The Foreign & Commonwealth Office advises against cruise ship travel at this time. This is due to the ongoing pandemic and is based on medical advice from Public Health England.”

Cards on the table: I love cruising and can’t wait to get back on board. I am not alone. A survey this week by travel agent Mundy Cruising showed almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of its customers plan to cruise in 2021 and 15% hope to sail this year. As soon as the air corridors were announced I started planning. A river cruise in France or on the Danube, island-hopping around Greece? Forget it, says PHE, who won’t comment on the decision and whose staff clearly know zip-all about cruising – and especially that there is not a one size fits all.

While not agreeing with lockdown continuing once the NHS was back on an even keel, I have tried to adopt a Panglossian outlook to life over the past four months. This is the last straw.

In a week when we’ve – quite rightly – seen financial help for the struggling hospitality sector, the cruise industry, worth £10 billion a year to the UK economy and responsible for almost 90,000 jobs when you factor in cruise line employees, travel agencies, port staff, catering companies and more, gets a sharp boot in the teeth. In April, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) industry body estimated that a 90-day suspension of cruising, which the ‘temporary’ pause has already exceeded, would lose the UK economy £2.37 billion and 13,788 jobs.

An FCO spokesman told me that the cruise ban issued yesterday was not new. It’s just reiterating what was imposed in February and March, initially on the over 70s and those with underlying health conditions, then on everyone as part of its ban on all overseas travel. However, while most of that ban was lifted on July 4, cruises are still a no-no. As far as the FCO is concerned, it was simply reminding us of the advice. It’s clarity, if you will.

But what about logic? From today I can fly to France, stay in a hotel, make merry in a beach bar and brush off my philistine leanings in the Louvre, but PHE says it’s not safe for me to board a river ship (which accommodate fewer people than many hotels) in Paris or Lyon and cruise north to Rouen or south to Avignon. I can go to Germany, Austria and Hungary, but I can’t join a Danube cruise visiting those countries. From July 15 I can stay in a hotel in Greece but not sail around the islands. I could go on, but you get the picture.

Furthermore, since March, when this pandemic forced ships around the world to cease operations, cruise lines and CLIA have been working with public health experts to develop tough health protocols. Some river and ocean cruise lines with smaller vessels have already got them in place and started sailing.

Norway's Hurtigruten has already resumed holidays - ANDREAS KALVIG ANDERSON
Norway's Hurtigruten has already resumed holidays - ANDREAS KALVIG ANDERSON

Hurtigruten, a Norwegian company, restarted with cruises in Norway just for Norwegians or Germans. This week it announced four cruises from the UK just for the British. Why not at least exempt those, given we can now stay away from home? Cruises are off to avoid the risk of repatriations, a government minister told The Telegraph today. I’ll leave you to work out the nonsense there.

And so the madness continues and we are led by the nose by a science that doesn’t know. I can go to supermarkets, shops and bars, I’ll happily board a plane. So why not a ship? Rest assured I’ll be there as soon as this latest lunatic ban is lifted.