Celebrity Cruises UK cruise season on the cards for 2021 cruise line confirms

A Celebrity Cruises UK cruise season may be in the planning stages, the cruise line hinted on social media.

In a Twitter post, the cruise line confirmed that it is in talks with authorities in the UK for a possible 2021 summer cruise season.

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Referencing its restart plans announced earlier this week for the Caribbean, and its plans to deploy Celebrity Apex in the Mediterranean, Celebrity Cruises said that it is in talks with authorities in the UK and other destinations around the world.

Celebrity Cruises would join a host of other cruise lines that have confirmed upcoming cruise seasons in the UK for 2021.

The spate of announcements from P&O, Viking, Princess Cruises, Cunard Line, Marella, Fred Olsen and MSC, came after the UK government announced that domestic tourism regulations would be relaxed from May 17th onwards.

The new regulations will allow cruises to resume, but only if they stick to British ports and put in place strict COVID testing, mask wearing and social distancing protocols.

P&O was the first cruise line to go one step further and insist on a vaccine in order for passengers to book. It has announced that any passengers without proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 won’t be able to board.

Celebrity Cruises is owned by Royal Caribbean, which has also confirmed cruise restart plans, but in Cyprus aboard Jewel of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean has announced that it too will require full vaccination from guests, but it isn’t clear whether Celebrity will do the same.

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Celebrity is no stranger to the UK cruise market. The cruise line deployed its Solstice-class cruise ship Celebrity Silhouette in Britain for the summer, 2019 season, sailing to the Mediterranean and Northern Europe from Southampton.

For its Caribbean and Mediterranean cruises planned to resume in June this year, Celebrity Cruises and its parent company Royal Caribbean require vaccines, which Royal Caribbean President and CEO Michael Bayley has described as a game-changer for the industry.

“With the number of vaccinations and their impact growing rapidly, we believe starting with cruises for vaccinated adult guests and crew is the right choice,” he said.

“As we move forward, we expect this requirement and other measures will inevitably evolve over time.”

The decision caused significant pushback from many potential guests, but P&O has made the same requirement for its UK restart and has reported record demand, indicating that vaccine requirements are unlikely to affect demand in the near future.