Exclusive: Cunard to launch scenic cruises around the British Isles for first time in its 180-year history
Iconic British cruise line Cunard will launch “scenic cruising” around the UK for the first time in its 180-year history, The Telegraph can exclusively reveal.
The sailings on Queen Elizabeth will mark a year without passengers due to the coronavirus pandemic. The cruise industry voluntarily stopped sailing in March as the world began to lock down.
There will be five British Isles sailings in total, a mixture of three-, four- and seven-night voyages, with the first due to depart from Southampton on March 26, 2021.
Simon Palethorpe, the president of Cunard, told Telegraph Travel that the line was “proud that Queen Elizabeth's scheduled first sailings on return from a long pause will be exploring the British isles.”
"We can often under appreciate how stunning the British Isles are, and when we do have the opportunity to take in the scenery of our coastline, it's most often from a car or walking. There is arguably no better way to take in some of the most famed coastlines of the UK, than on board a luxury ship as it sails leisurely by."
The British itinerary will take passengers along the Jurassic Coast, a Unesco World Heritage Site in Devon and Dorset, around the Isles of Scilly and up to Scotland’s Inner Hebrides.
“Guests could, if they're lucky, see minke whales, basking sharks and the various species of dolphin that are known to [England’s] south coast,” said Palethorpe.
“As we near Mull, guests will spot puffins, and possibly white tailed and golden eagles and the orca whale.”
The short scenic cruises are a first for Cunard, a line better known for its transatlantic voyages.
The maiden British Isles cruises form part of the wider 10-month programme for Queen Elizabeth, which concludes on December 19, 2021, in Melbourne, Australia.
There will also be a number of fly-cruises in the Mediterranean departing from Barcelona. It will be the first time that the ship, which was built in 2010, has sailed fly-cruises in the region since 2014.
Queen Elizabeth’s 2021 cruises are on sale from 10am on September, 29.
With the Covid-19 pandemic causing havoc for the cruise industry this year, only a small number of ocean-going ships have returned. Italy has seen MSC Cruises and Costa Cruises welcome back passengers, while in Germany AIDA Cruises have resumed operations. Norway’s Hurtigruten was the first to bring back sea cruises but the operator has subsequently suspended expedition voyages following an outbreak of coronavirus – including planned UK sailings.
SeaDream, another Norwegian operator, has also returned to the water, and earlier this month announced plans to begin Caribbean cruises departing from Barbados.
While there were hopes that Britons would be able to return to the sea this summer, they were dashed when the Foreign Office and Department for Transport updated its advice to warn against travel on ocean-going ships.
River cruises are exempt from these guidelines and continue to operate successfully across Europe.
