'Cruise is safe to return, but Covid won’t just go away' – Royal Caribbean boss

The boss of the world’s second largest cruise line has told Telegraph Travel that an independent report has shown it is safe to resume sailing if strict protocols are followed – but that the world must learn to live with coronavirus.

In an exclusive interview, Richard Fain, the chairman and chief executive of Royal Caribbean Group to discuss the findings of the operator’s Healthy Sail Panel, explained that although viruses such as Covid-19 “don’t just go away” he expects that scientific advancement “will bring Covid strongly under control”.

The company, which consists of four cruise lines – Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Azamara and Silversea Cruises – paused all sailing in March as the world grappled with the outbreak of coronavirus. It is due to start sailing again from November 1.

In June the company joined forces with rival operator Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, the world’s third-largest, to establish the Healthy Sail Panel, a body formed to devise industry-wide public health recommendations for cruising.

Former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt, who was also Secretary of the US Department Health and Human Services, and Dr Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, are co-chairs of the panel, which is comprised of professionals with experience in public health, infectious disease, biosecurity, hospitality and maritime operations.

The panel released their 65-page report towards the end of September, which has been submitted to the US Centers for Disease Control [CDC], America’s federal agency in charge of public health.

And Fain believes there are two things that make the Healthy Sail Panel stand out from other similar task forces.

“A lot of industries and a lot of businesses have assembled panels of experts to advise them but the differences with this panel and report is the calibre of the participants: their experience, their prestige, their knowledge. This really is what we in the States would call the all-star team, he said.

“The second thing that makes it different is its transparency. Most panels meet, talk to management and that’s all anybody sees. With this panel, which we announced almost four months ago, we invited observers, including from the CDC, and outside experts. All of this was done in front of regulators and other companies. The result, I think, is that we got a much better set of recommendations.”

Rush to water?

In the lengthy report, best practice measures for passengers to get onboard are detailed in 74 separate points. These include closely controlled shore excursions, the use of face coverings, enhanced sanitation practices and proactive testing of passengers and crew.

The guidelines are “open source”, said Fain, and added: “We don’t compete [with other cruise lines] on safety”.

There are three elements that are key, he said, which are “creating something like a bubble” so that the virus is kept off the ship, procedures to control the spread if it does get brought onboard, and, if there are cases on board, there are ways to handle this “which doesn’t require inconveniencing thousands of people”.

When questioned whether they were in a rush to get back in action, he was insistent.

“We have made it clear consistently that we won’t go back [to sea] until we have the right protocols, and a greatly expanded knowledge of the disease, and the technology that can be used to deal with it.

“We asked if it was safe to resume sailing in the current circumstances. [The panel] came back and said ‘yes, if you do these things we believe you can safely return into operation’.”

Cruise Lines International Association, the cruise industry's main trade body, submitted their own report to the CDC last month. Many of the recommendations were in line with those of the Healthy Sail Panel, and Fain said that both “were responding to a request for information by the CDC”.

Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings will both be sharing even more details on protocols which will be reviewed – “undoubtable there will be even more back and forth” – but Fain is hopeful that they will agree with the lines’ panel that it is safe to resume.

“We have the benefit of the CDC literally being there as the report was being reviewed and considered.”

The importance of testing

Having followed the travel landscape of Europe during the pandemic, Fain admitted he sympathised with Britons wishing to travel, saying: “I know it’s very distressing in the UK right now.”

And he stressed the benefits of Covid-19 testing,

“We think absolutely that testing is the single most important thing you can do. It creates something like a bubble around the ship, and one of the advantages is that we can control our environment – something [cruises] have extensive experience with health and sanitary protocols,” he said.

“We can handle an isolated case when we get it on the ship. But the key advantage here is that it is now possible to test every single person, guest and crew, before they come on board.”

Fain added that “new technology is making [tests] faster, cheaper and more accurate” and cited the successful return of sea-going cruises in Italy and Germany – all of which have 100 per cent testing.

Cruise’s comeback

While Europe is seeing a steady return of cruise holidays, the picture is less clear for the UK and elsewhere.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is currently advising all British nationals against sea-going cruise ship travel. River cruises are exempt from these guidelines. The Telegraph understands that CLIA will announce their 'road map' for the resumption of cruising for the UK and Ireland this week.

In the US, cruising remains on hold after the CDC extended its no-sail order, which had been due to expire at the end of September, until October 31.

Fain predicts cruises to come back “gradually” as lines “demonstrate how well we can protect the health of our guest and our crew, and the communities that we serve.”

“We will keep learning from this process… in due course we think those positive displays will expand to other areas – which will include the UK.”