Why don't more international travellers, Americans, Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders, cruise
on British cruise lines. Because you can cruise pretty much anywhere in the world you want
to on a British line with the possible exception of Antarctica. But even more importantly,
I realised that I, as a Brit living in Britain, don't cruise on British cruise lines.
So I decided to set up a little experiment to work out why. As cruising, resumed, after
shutdown, and I could only cruise within the UK. I booked myself on a series of British
cruise lines to go and ask the question: what is going on with British cruise lines? And
why are people like you and me not cruising on them much more? What I found out was really
interesting and not at all what I expected. So stick with me and find out why. And if
you should be cruising on a British cruise line, because it's going wherever you want
to go.
By the way, if you're new here, I'm Gary Bembridge. And my goal is to make it more fun and make
it even easier to discover, plan, and enjoy unforgettable cruise vacations.
So here I am, in fact, on one of those lines, I'm on P&O cruises, Britannia. Now the first
problem I hit when I started on my experiment and told people I was doing this is everyone
pointed out and argued that there's no such thing as an American cruise line and a British
cruise line, because in fact, cruise companies are all registered in tax havens and their
ships are registered under flags of convenience. So, what I'm going to do in this is I'm going
to do what we all know. We actually know there are American lines and there are British lines
in practice, based on where their head operations are, where they're really focused and who
they're really catering for.
So on that basis, British cruise lines include things like Cunard, P&O, Saga Cruises, Marella,
which is actually part of Thomson, well Thomson is part of TUI Cruises. And there's other
lines like Fred Olson, Majestic and other smaller lines. US lines or American lines
tend to be things. For example, like carnival princess Holland, America, seaborne, Norwegian,
Royal, Caribbean, and so on. I think we all pretty much know what they are. There are
actually a couple of truly British cruise lines, if you go with that purist definition.
So Saga, for example, it's registered, all their ships are registered in the UK. Majestic
cruise line and a few smaller cruise lines. The same as you have lines in Norway, for
example, like Viking, Sea Dream and so on. But anyway, you get my point around what I
decided to focus on.
However, one of the things that did strike me through that whole process is that British
cruise lines have been around so much longer than American cruise lines, you know, Cunard
over 170 years, P&O, that I'm on right now, over 180 years, and yet American lines, which
are perhaps 40, 50, or even less years have completely overtaken those long established
British lines.
So does that mean that actually British lines are doing something fundamentally different,
something almost wrong? And that's what I decided to explore next. As I explored and
thought about it little bit more. Of course, what I realised is British cruise lines are
very similar to American or even European cruise lines. Let's take a look at a couple
of facts. Some of them are even owned by the same corporation. So for example, P&O cruises
and Cunard cruises, which are the two biggest UK lines are actually owned by the Carnival
corporation. So they're even part of the same group. Secondly, many of the ships are exactly
the same as ships used by American lines. So take for example, P&O, this ship that I'm
on right now, Britannia, is exactly the same ship as world class, Princess ships. So for
example, Regal Princess, which I'm on next is exactly the same ship. P&O Iona, which
is their newest ship at the time of recording is exactly the same ship as Mardi Gras. Arcadia
is exactly the same ship as Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth and even things like New Amsterdam
in Holland America.
So the hardware, the ships are exactly the same. The crew like on American ships are
also international. So the bulk of the crew tend to be foreign nationals. So for example,
on P&O and some of the other ships, they have a lot of Indian crew, but you'll still find
Filipinos, Indonesians and so on. As you will find on American cruise lines. As I've already
mentioned, the ships tend to be registered in foreign flags of convenience, a couple
of key exceptions to that. So for example, Britannia is actually registered in Southampton,
which I think was part of the deal having Her Royal Majesty the Queen naming this particular
ship. But most of them are then registered in foreign flags of convenience, the same
as American cruise lines.
So the hardware and a lot of the structures the same. So it had to be something else.
One of the critical things that struck me about British lines versus American lines
is British lines are incredibly nationalistic. They are incredibly British in everything
they do. There's a real structure. There's a real decor. There's a real sentiment around
being British. It starts even with the naming of the ship. There's huge energy and pressure
put on having members of the Royal family, for example, naming cruise ships. So Her Majesty
the Queen has named things like the Cunard ships. We've had her name Britannia that I've
mentioned. Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall has named the Saga, Spirit of Discovery. You
also find pictures of the Royal family around the ships. The sail away parties are very
nationalistic. You'll find lots of flag-waving, Union Jack flag-waving and singing of things
like Rule Britannia. So there's a real sense of national pride on these ships.
Artwork is also something that shows that whole national pride, and you'll find there's
an enormous amount of artwork by British artists. So for example, on Saga, which I was on just
before this, as part of my test, they have 1000 pieces of art. All of those are by artists
who live in the UK and 400 pieces were specifically commissioned by artists, living in the UK.
So the same is true across Britannia and the other ships as well. So again, that strong
national link. The onboard currency on most of the lines is the UK pound. There is one
key exception, which is Cunard. And as I'll talk about a little bit later, Cunard is interesting
because that is probably the most international of all of the lines, that uses the U S dollar.
Also found on the ships, some very specific UK things. So the plugs, for example, you'll
find most of the ships will then have the UK three pronged plugs. You'll find in the
cabins, there are tea and coffee making facilities with good old English brands, like PG tips.
As an interesting aside, when American lines actually sell in the UK, they will tend to
put in tea and coffee making facilities because it's something the British cruiser expects.
You'll find lots of British traditions weaved into the ship. So you'll find most of the
ships will have a pub selling lots of British beers and ale and you'll find across the restaurants,
you'll always find a good British food like bangers and mash, sausages and mash. You'll
have good old fry of English breakfast. You'll have steak and kidney pie. You'll have Ploughman's
Salad. And of course you'll have fish and chips, will be a staple of the menu.
Not surprisingly partnerships on the ships will also be very much UK names. So in entertainment
you'll find, for example, P&O partnered with people like Gary Barlow of Take That. Saga
partnered with Jules Holland, a well-known UK entertainer. The toiletries in the cabins
will be things like, for example, on here, it's The White Company. That other big English
tradition, afternoon tea, is a real staple on every single ship you'll find is afternoon
tea in the afternoon. And it's a really big, extravagant, flamboyant deal. And then of
course, you'll find the entertainment has a UK spin where the songs will be much more
UK focused bands, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones or Adele or whoever. And of course
all the quizzes will be very UK focused. However, that's probably not something that's likely
to put people off, but you'll definitely find there is a huge, strong, national British
feeling weaved through everything that happens onboard the ships.
That's not something that I find when I'm onboard say American lines, your Princess
Celebrity or whatever, there's not a big, strong sense of American nationalism there.
And even on the Norwegian lines like Viking, again you don't find that sense of patriotism
and rah-rah that you'll find on British lines.
Another key aspect to British lines is dress code. Unlike other countries, whether it's
the Norwegian lines, the US lines; UK lines have a much stricter dress code and are much
more formal. All of the cruise lines will have formal nights, which will include dinner
jacket, tuxedos, glamorous gowns, and they are pretty strictly enforced. And people are
expected to follow those. Although of course, you can get away with say a suit and tie,
but it is a really strict dress code. It's part of British cruising. And it's something
that's not only expected, but required. That's very different around the world where we're
seeing much more relaxation of the dress code and much less formal nights, certainly, much
less dinner jackets, tuxedos, and ballgowns. So I wondered if that was something that perhaps
put people off international travellers, from coming onto British lines.
However, we know that there's a lot of people who are kind of, Anglophiles, particularly
lots of Americans. You know, they love shows like Downton Abbey. You've got lots of Australians
with strong connections to Britain. So is that what's putting them off?
There is actually a much bigger reason that more international travellers are not found
on British ships. And this was something that really did surprise me enormously. Now, as
I mentioned, you can cruise on a British cruise line pretty much anywhere in the world. They
sail all around the world, whether it's the Mediterranean, Alaska, South America, Asia,
Japan, Australia.
However, one of the key reasons that you don't find more international guests on is a British
lines actually make it incredibly difficult, if not in one or two cases, impossible, to
sail on them, unless you are British. Let me give you the most extreme example and then
I'll work to the most liberal example. Saga cruises, at this point in time, it is impossible
to cruise on Saga unless you have a UK address. So I guess you could be an ex-pat for example,
with a UK address, but you cannot cruise unless you are British, basically. So they are looking
at in the future, perhaps opening it up to other nationalities. So that's the most extreme
example. Other lines, just make it more difficult. So P&O that I'm on right now, for example,
they just make it much more challenging to book a P&O cruise, and they do tend to focus
much more on British residents, but it's not impossible.
The most liberal of all of course is Cunard and particularly on Queen Mary 2. Now, when
I spoke to people on Cunard before they admitted that their most international ship is actually
Queen Mary 2. And that's because of its Transatlantics, you know, sailing backwards and forwards between
Southampton and New York. So it is extremely well known.
Once you get onto the other ships, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, you're much more likely
to find it strongly dominated by British travellers, no matter where in the world it is sailing.
It is easiest to book on a Cunard and they do have sales offices all around the world.
The other lines just make it so much more difficult. It's almost like they're not wanting
to welcome you on board. And what I realised is that what UK lines do is something very
different to American or even Norwegian lines like Viking. And what British lines do is
they create an island. They create a very safe space, if you like, which then transports
British people all around the world in that little bubble. So it's kind of a little cultural
bubble and they take you all around the world.
And it's interesting because it's kind of like a British mindset in a way, if you think,
without getting too political, in the old colonial days, it was about exporting the
British way all around the world. But it's very interesting that British cruise lines
do really create this little bubble, very safe space, very, very British, and take it
all around the world.
So for example, when they go to the Caribbean, they will charter flights and fly people into
the Caribbean and then sail people around the Caribbean and fly them back to the UK
rather than actively go out and sell those cruises to international travellers. So if
you're looking to experience a truly British experience, it is possible, but you have to
be a little bit determined. Cunard is your easiest way in, P&O probably the next, and
at the moment Saga, not so. And it's definitely something worth trying. So particularly if
you have a strong affinity for British culture and British people and British traditions,
definitely consider looking at a British cruise line, if it's doing an itinerary that you
like, whether it's Alaska, for example, Japan, Australia, or even the Mediterranean, because
you will get truly immersed in British culture. And of course, you'll get to meet a lot of
British people.
Now, if you want to know more about some of those British lines, I've put together a short
playlist with some of the overviews of the very specific British lines. So why don't
you take a look at those right now? I'm starting of course, with Cunard and one of the most
important things you need to know about cruising with Cunard. So take a click on that and I'll
see you over there.