New cruise ship guidelines in the UK, will others follow?

The British Department of Transport has just issued new guidelines for domestic cruise ships:

Capacity will be limited to 1,000 passengers or 50%, whichever is lower, between May 17 and June 21.

Groups will be limited to 6 people, or two households indoors, even if they booked the cruise as a group.

The capacity limitations do not apply to crew.

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From June 21, the British Government hopes to remove all legal limits on social capacity, which means capacity limits on board cruise ships would be lifted, according to the DfT.

The DfT guidelines also state that it is illegal to travel abroad at the moment and that “the Foreign Office has advised against international sea-going cruise travel due to public health medical advice.”

The MSC Virtuosa will be the first ship to resume operations in UK waters when it sails from Southampton on May 20.

Last month, MSC’s Antonio Paradiso told Travel Weekly that he hoped to operate at 80% capacity from June 21 after the initial limits were lifted.

Palma is one of the main cruise ships stops in the Mediterranean and before the coronavirus crisis there were times when six arrived on the same day.