Cruise & Ferry Review - Spring/Summer 2021

5 4 TUI Cruises' ships were some of the first to return to cruising after the pandemic halted global operations in March 2020 INTERV IEW A safe return Rebecca Barnes asks Wybcke Meier how TUI Cruises started to safely resume operations and welcome guests onboard its ships despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic A t the beginning of 2020, the billion-pound cruise industry was riding the crest of a wave – passenger numbers were up and around 20 new ships were poised to launch. Then the coronavirus pandemic emerged, forcing lines around the world to suspend operations. As the year progressed, many cruise operators continued to pause their services. However, thanks to the easing of travel restrictions in Europe, Germany-based operator TUI Cruises was able to resume partial operations in July. So how did things unfold? “Right after the shutdown we had two priorities: to get all guests and then all crew safely back home,” says Wybcke Meier, CEO of TUI Cruises. During a worldwide lockdown with many restrictions, this was no mean feat. After the last guests disembarked from TUI Cruises' Mein Schiff fleet on 23 March, the first crew members were flown back to their home countries with more following. “By the end of April, we had repatriated more than 3,000 crew members and by the beginning of July, we’d brought almost all of them back home,” says Meier. The next priority was to get back on track as soon as possible. This involved liaising with the necessary authorities while working on various scenarios in the background. One of the prerequisites for resuming operations was for the Federal Foreign Office and ports to lift the travel warning and relax entry regulations in the travel areas. Next, TUI Cruises focused on enhancing health and safety measures. “The health of guests and crew was, and is, our top priority,” Meier says. “We examined additional measures to prevent infection, going beyond our existing strict processes. The result is a vast health “ We have proven that cruises are possible despite the pandemic”