Hi I'm Chris Frame and thanks for joining me. If you're a regular here or you've been paying
attention to cruise news you'll know that for the last year the world's fleet of around 300
cruise ships have been laid up. But with cruising expected to resume throughout 2021 travellers are
booking in record numbers with huge excitement from thousands of people eager to get back to sea.
What you might not know is that it takes about eight to twelve weeks to restart a cruise ship
and lots of work has already been completed behind the scenes to prepare the ships for the
mammoth task of resuming cruising. So what will the crew need to do to prepare the cruise ships
for the return of passengers? Firstly cruise ships will start welcoming back large numbers of crew.
All of the laid up cruise ships currently have a small team of officers technical crew
and essential debt crew on board this includes bridge officers, engineers, maintenance crew,
housekeeping and chefs, all under the command of a captain. As a rule of thumb there's around 100
to 120 crew aboard the laid up cruise ships. But an operational cruise ship requires a
lot more people with some crew numbering over a thousand. As such during the reactivation process,
larger teams of galley crew, housekeeping staff and technical staff will return, as well as
hospitality teams and entertainment staff. Some cruise lines have already indicated crew will be
vaccinated before returning to the ships, with the International Maritime Organisation deeming
Merchant Navy crew as essential workers. Cruise ship crew should in theory get earlier access
to vaccines however given the high demand of vaccines at the moment this is a mammoth task
and not something that all cruise lines have committed to. But at any rate all returning crew
will be required to go through COVID-19 testing processes followed by a 7 to 14 day quarantine,
only then will they be allowed to return to duty on board the ship. Once back on board the
crew will have to undergo rigorous training to get up to speed with safety requirements
as well as the modified COVID requirements that will be needed on board the ship.
COVID protocols have changed a lot since the cruise ships went into layup in March of 2020,
so the cruise lines will ensure that crew are up to speed with the new rules. Restaurant staff
for example will be trained in the new service styles that many cruise lines have adopted, such
as replacing buffets with table service. In areas of the ship where large groups congregate such as
theatres and lounges, there may also be maximum capacity rules and seating requirements that the
crew will need to be aware of. All returning crew will undergo intensive safety training, this is
particularly important given most crew would not have been at sea for over a year and some will no
doubt also be new to the industry. Some cruise lines will seek specialist help to ensure the
thousands of returning crew are intensely trained properly before the first passenger step back on
board. With training focusing on lifeboat and life raft use as well as evacuation procedures,
firefighting health and safety. On the topic of safety whilst the cruise ships have been laid up
they've largely remained 'in class'... This means the cruise ships returning to service
have continued to be flagged and registered as cruise ships throughout the pandemic,
even though there's been no cruising. Cruise ships continued to be subject to an annual inspection
by the Flag State (the country where the ship is registered(... If you're finding the terminology
confusing you can check out a video I did about this in the info card or the description below.
These inspections ensure that the ships continue to meet the requirement for seaworthiness and
safety standards. Over the past year the cruise ship's Passenger Ship Safety Certificate would
have reflected the minimum number of essential crew on board. But as each cruise ship returns
to operational status, the Flag State will conduct a thorough safety inspection
and test the crew on their emergency procedures and COVID preparedness before issuing an updated
certificate. Despite being laid up for over a year most of the cruise ships have remained
'at sea' they have periodically undertaken short voyages from anchorage to anchorage
and even called at ports for provisions and crew changes. This means that mechanically the cruise
ships have remained 'switched on' so a return to service won't necessarily require lengthy or
expensive dry docking or major shoreside work. The exception here is if mandatory dry docking
was already scheduled which usually takes place every four to five years and is dependent on the
age of the ship and also the drive docking regime that the ship is following. So you
may see some cruise ships heading to dry dock before resuming service. Regardless of the ship,
on board there's much work to be done, perhaps the most complex reactivation task involves the ship's
galleys. For the past 12 months most cruise ships have utilised only one galley, kept operational
to feed the essential crew who have been living on board. But most cruise ships have multiple
restaurants and thus multiple galleys. Many of these giant kitchens have been mothballed,
reactivating them is quite a complex process which involves testing the intricate heating systems and
cooking systems as well as ensuring that all CO2 fire suppression systems are working and that
ducting ventilation and other safety devices are working as they should be. Throughout their time
in layup teams of crew have ensured that all toilets on board have been flushed and faucets
opened weekly, so cabin door locks have been tested each time this process has been undertaken,
but the majority of passenger public spaces such as bars lounges casinos and theatres have remained
largely untouched. Thoroughly deep cleaned during the cruise pause, many of these passenger areas
have been covered in protective plastics to preserve the carpeting upholstery and drapery,
before passengers return all of this plastic will need to be removed. These passenger spaces
including cabins will then undergo further cleaning by the onboard housekeeping team to
ensure the ship presents as nicely as they did prior to COVID. Other more mundane but
essential tasks will also be undertaken this includes testing the thousands of light bulbs,
power points, televisions, thermostats, phone connections and passenger wi-fi points to ensure
everything is ship shape and ready for the guests to use again. Getting the cruise ships back into
service en-mass involves more than just the work on board the ship itself. There'll be work to do
shoreside as well with ports needing to re-hire and train staff to operate the cruise terminals,
while ensuring that all these staff are adequately trained to operate in a new environment.
The scale of the resumption of cruising is huge, which is why most cruise lines are taking a phased
approach, but if all goes well we should start to see more and more cruise ships returning to
passenger service throughout 2021. Have you booked a cruise when the cruise ships resume
passenger service? And if you have what are you most looking forward to about being back at sea?
Let me know in the comments below. Thanks so much for watching and I hope you found the
video interesting? If you did please don't forget to give it a like and subscribe and
hit the notification bell so you don't miss future videos. If you're interested in what else has been
happening during the cruising shutdown, check out my cruising and COVID playlist, and if you'd like
to know more about the history of ocean liners and cruise ships you can check out my websites
or my books which I've linked in the description below. Thanks once again for watching and when it
is safe for us to travel again - hopefully pretty soon - I hope to see you on board!
[Cheerful Music]