Princess Cruises’ vice-president UK and Europe Tony Roberts offers a typically measured assessment when we meet over Zoom on 26 October, despite the historic upheaval of the past eight months.

Before most of the world fully understood Covid-19, in early February Princess found itself dealing with a never-before-seen health challenge onboard Diamond Princess in Japan.

Within weeks, coronavirus was impacting several of its ships and the wider cruise and travel sectors in a seismic way.

Roberts was able to call on 20 years of cruise industry experience when he was appointed an incident commander by Princess, and flew to Miami to lead a team helping other vessels in its fleet “manage this new situation”.

Just a few days in, the situation and his remit shifted again.

On 12 March, Princess became the first major line to voluntarily suspend sailing – an unheard of decision at the time, but one that would prove prescient as the year panned out.

“The role then changed quite considerably,” Roberts recalls. “How do we get all of those guests off the ship and safely home? How do we look after our crew and make sure they’re getting what they need? How do we put the ships into lay-up? Which they’re in now.”

The already rapidly evolving situation changed yet again – as global international travel shut down. Roberts continued his incident commander role from his home outside Southampton for several months thereafter. 

During one period, he found himself working 17-hour days across both UK and US time zones.

Now, speaking of adrenaline: “When you’re in that crisis management situation and the hours are long and you’re having to make decisions, it’s quite a high-pressure environment and you somehow just find the energy.”

He describes starting at 8am and finishing at 1am the following morning, “hoping to grab a few hours’ sleep” and starting all over again.

“As for many people, it was seven days a week for a pretty extended period. Having any kind of time off or time to relax was quite tricky,” he says.

“So it does have an impact and it was a very draining time. But I also felt like I learnt a huge amount in the process too, and I’m very fortunate to have a strong team which has really pulled together.”

STICKING TO VALUES

With that frenetic period behind him, how does Roberts reflect on Princess’s handling of the crisis amid uncharted waters not just for cruise lines but for international governments too.

“I think as an organisation we stayed true to our values,” he reflects. “We looked after our guests and our crew, and we’ve sought to look after our partners as well.

“It has been incredibly hard, but I come out of it feeling hugely positive about the brand and very comfortable that we did the best we could with the information that we had at the time. 

“When you reflect on it and some of the decisions that we made and some of the plans we made and how much those plans have changed since, it has been a pretty tumultuous year.”

MOVING FORWARD

No sooner had things began to settle down globally than closer to home Roberts was called into action once again in his role as chair of Clia UK and Ireland after the Foreign Office (FCDO) on 9 July advised against ocean cruise ship travel.

The advice, he believes, was “reflective of the situation we found ourselves in at the time”, adding he “wasn’t particularly surprised”.

Roberts is hopeful there will be an opportunity for the restriction to be removed “within the coming months”, but he is also aware of the UK’s delicately balanced situation, admitting: “It’s difficult [for the FCDO] to change advice in an environment where infection rates are increasing and lockdown measures are too.

“So I guess the situation that we find ourselves in is understandable.

“The one thing I would say is that when the advice changes, the cruise industry [wouldn’t] start up tomorrow, as there’s a lot of planning and work that still needs to be done to prepare to return to sailing. So we’re two to three months away from that in any reality.”

The “critical” aspect for the successful return of ocean cruising in Roberts’ mind is getting consumer confidence right. Published in October as the culmination of “several months of work”, the UK Chamber of Shipping’s restart framework – created in consultation with stakeholders including Clia and the Department for Transport – enables lines to develop their own Covid protocols.

Roberts says the document, “which hugely moves us forward and gives a platform to build from”, will be updated when necessary medical, scientific and regulatory recommendations are required.

Clia’s early pledge to only allow embarkation of passengers and crew after a negative Covid test is “a good reflection” of that flexibility, he says.

“The document talked about ‘prescreening’ and then Clia globally took the step forward to say ‘actually, what we think that means right now is we need to have full testing in place’. 

“It’s a good example of how the framework allows you to make further decisions based on what feels like the right thing to do at the time.”

SUMMER EXCITEMENT

With this important foundation now in place and despite the backdrop of such an uncertain marketplace, Roberts is upbeat as Princess heads into the traditional wave booking period.

Booking patterns and consumer trends may be “very difficult to predict”, he admits, but adds the line “has tried to build as much certainty as possible”, particularly around its summer programme, which is usually mostly sold during turn-of-year.

With Sky Princess – launched only last year – and Regal Princess sailing from Southampton, along with newest vessel Enchanted Princess in the Mediterranean, Roberts hopes agents are as excited about summer 2021 as he and his team are.

Princess has also extended its “book with confidence” policy through to the end of October 2021, allowing customers to reschedule up to 30 days before departure. “It’s a sign we’re invested in our summer holidays in Europe and are very keen that agents feel they can be confident in promoting Princess.”

Of course, Roberts’ overriding hope for next year is to welcome back guests and agents “and get our ships doing what they do best”.

Amid his positive outlook, it’s clear a resilience has been forged that will no doubt help him – and the cruise sector – tackle future challenges. “It’s been a period like no other that I’ve experienced in my professional life,” Roberts reflects.

“I think [despite] the nature of this year, the way the sector works together and continues to push things forward shows the strength of our industry.”