Foreign Office advises against cruise ship travel

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) has released a statement advising against cruise ship travel.

The move is being seen as the government reinforcing the message that the cruise industry is not part of the wider travel industry being opened up from tomorrow.

“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.

“The government will continue to review its cruise ship travel advice based on the latest medical advice. If you have future cruise travel plans, you should speak to your travel operator, or the travel company you booked with, for further advice.

“The Foreign & Commonwealth Office continues to support the Department for Transport’s work with industry for the resumption of international cruise travel.”

It is not clear whether the FCO advice also includes river cruises.

The new advice goes further than the FCO’s previous recommendation that over 70s and those with underlying chronic health conditions do not cruise.

In a statement, Clia said: “We have noted the advisory issued today.  The health and safety of guests and crew is an absolute priority for our member lines. Since the voluntary suspension of operations, we have been working collaboratively with the Government on the road map to resumption involving a ‘door to door’ strategy – from the time of booking through to the passengers’ return home – with enhanced health protocols.  We look forward to completing this planning exercise with Government and for the advice to be updated.”