With the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, the travel industry has been turned upside down, none more so than the cruise sector. Although empty of passengers these ships are still fuelled and running, manned with their loyal crew, many of whom have families that they want to get home to see. Some cruise lines have taken the option to scale back the numbers of crew which are on their ships and one such cruise line is Cunard.
Simon Palethorpe, President of Cunard, has announced the measures Cunard are taking to overcome the Covid-19 challenge, ensure the crew are safe and what measures are being taken to get them home safely. Six hundred and seventy Filipino crew from Queen Mary 2 were flown back to the Philippines on two aircraft arranged by Cunard, when she arrived in Southampton, after cutting her world voyage short in Australia returning via Cape Town. Queen Elizabeth on the other hand remained in Australia and has now sailed to Manila, a voyage of almost 3200 nautical miles, to disembark five hundred and thirty one Filipino crew members. Although for the time being she is currently anchored in the Bay of Manila for a quarantine period before any crew will be allowed to disembark. Cunard also has crew from thirty other different countries and they have stressed they are working tirelessly to ensure they all get home safely to their families.
Some may be wondering what the future of cruising holds, will it survive and if it does how will it be different to before?
Simon Palethorpe said, during this period where cruise have been paused, Cunard have been looking to the future and what changes it might involve. Although he stresses it is too early for them to give a definitive answer as to what these changes might involve, he has said that they are working with the relevant bodies to review every aspect of a holiday to ensure they have the approval and accreditation from the most trusted and informed sources. When Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria eventually return to service they will have the highest levels of health and safety protocols in place to keep their passengers and crew safe. Samuel Cunard, the founder of Cunard, said 180 years ago “Safety is all that is required”, so it seems it’s in Cunard’s DNA and they will come through this ready to take passengers on the voyage of a lifetime.
