Chris: So this is what you look like after being on a cruise or smiling!
What is cruising like in a post-COVID world? Cruises are starting to resume in some markets
around the world and the UK is leading the way. So I spoke to my friend Emma from Emma
Cruises to find out what her first cruise was like in the UK market. Hi I'm Chris Frame. I
write maritime history books and lecture aboard cruise ships about maritime history. I also make
youtube videos on the topics of maritime history and cruising. If that sounds like the sort of
thing you're interested in, please feel free to subscribe. Your cruise experience generally
starts with embarkation and it's a time of great anticipation, I mean the ship's right there you
can see it and all you need to do is get through check-in security and then put up with what can
sometimes be a really long wait. But with COVID restrictions and testing many people are asking
what kind of impact that's had on the embarkation process. Emma: So it's mostly the same process,
there's just a few extra stages that you have to go through. For me I did, I did the first
cruise from the UK a brand new cruise ship you know it was very very new and it took
about an hour and a half which I didn't think was too bad considering it was the first cruise back
but since then i think it's got a lot faster. People are getting on in under an hour.
Basically the only extra steps are they are really checking travel insurance to make sure
you have the right travel insurance they will not let you anywhere near the cruise if you don't,
which I think I think that's a good thing that should have been a thing anyway really and then
you have on the MSC Cruise I took everybody got a COVID test so it was just the extra stage of you
know swab up the nose sit down wait till they call your number and then and then board the
ship! But really that added maybe 20 minutes to the whole process? But it was very kind of like
if it was an hour and a half one line it would have been very different but you could see you
were making progress it was like 15 minutes here 15 minutes to the next thing so I thought it was,
I thought it was pretty good actually. I was expecting chaos for the first cruise to be honest
but it was pretty good. Chris: So embarkation sounds bearable well at least from Emma's point
of view. But what about the food and meals on board the ship? Meals and food has changed a
lot in recent years particularly during the cruise boom of the 2000s. There's a lot more
choice now than what you would have on the old ocean liners, with more specialty dining, extra
restaurants and the ever expanding buffet. But with COVID-19 restrictions people have been asking
what is the food experience like on board the ship? Emma: So in the main restaurants it'll be
the same the same kind of setup in the restaurants it will just be you know every other table will be
don't sit people here so you just get more space. I liked having the menus on your phone so you just
scan a QR-Code you see the menus on your phone. If you need a paper menu you can still get them
and plenty of people did but I much preferred that. On the MSC Cruise you can see the menus,
I think for the whole cruise so I was working out oh tomorrow's dinner is this, don't fancy that,
I'm going to go here instead... and I thought that was good, but apart from that you know
they still you still order with a waiter they still bring you your food the food is the same.
It's not really that different. The buffet is a bit different, but I think it's better gotta be
honest. Chris: How does the buffet work? Emma: So on MSC they make sure you wash your hands - and
I mean make sure you wash your hands which they should have always been doing anyway I think. And
then there is a one-way system they'll hand you a tray on MSC with your knife and fork on it you go
round and you just say: Can I have some of those potatoes please? And they just hand you whatever
you want on a plate over the top so at no point do you touch anything you can't breathe on anything
and I think, I think that's much better. I wish it was always like that, it does slow down things a
little a little bit and also with a one-way system not everyone is going to pay attention to that
they did quite well on my cruise but I don't know if that will be in place you know long term but I
would be quite happy if it stayed how it was on my cruise because I don't want anyone kind
of sneezing on my food and touching the tongs so yeah. Chris: Another joy of the cruise experience
is the entertainment on board, but being entertained on an ocean voyage isn't something
that's been there since the early days of cruising. In fact in the era of the ocean liners
as well as onboard the early cruise ships this was something that wasn't really heard of Passengers
used to meet on the first or second day out from the port of embarkation and arrange a committee
and organize the entertainment themselves. There were very few cruise staff on board ships if any
at all and while the entertainment organized by the passengers might have been limited to musical
recitals or egg and spoon relays, today we expect to be entertained on board our ship and we expect
it to be put on for us. And this entertainment can range from rock climbing to roller coasters
swimming pools to shows in the large show lounges on board the ship. Now I am glad
to say that things haven't reverted back to the days of old and technology has stepped in to help
make entertainment possible. Emma: So on MSC you have to book and you do it kind of on your phone
on the app. I've never had any situation where I couldn't book even if I just showed up and booked,
there's always space. But yeah it would just be you know - two seats and then two don't sit here
seats and then two seats and two don't sit here - if you're like a group of three it's fine as
long as you have space between you and the other people - the idea isn't like you've got to have
your kids sit over there to make a space you just have to stay away kind of from everybody else.
But on MSC you actually have to wear your mask when you're in the in the Theater
and I don't think they made that very clear. And I don't think people
thought that that's what it would be like because if you're sat down in a bar you're sat down in the
restaurant you don't have to wear your mask but in the theater you do. Here in the UK
it's exactly the same as it was on this cruise so I went to the theater on land
on land, I actually went out on land recently, and you had to wear your mask in the theater and there
were seats that were blocked off and I'm just so used to that so everyone followed the rules.
I mean everyone who was on that cruise wanted to be on that cruise. Chris: And I suppose the
controversial question is: How safe does it feel on board? Emma: No it hadn't crossed my mind at
all. I feel I honestly, going on that cruise ship they had even cleaned the remote control and put
it in its own little paper bag for you like that's how sanitized everything was and compared to you
know just going to a restaurant here going out on land you have no you have no idea that it's
been cleaned to the standard of the cruise ship and everybody either was fully vaccinated or
two tests so you're not going to get that on land, so i didn't didn't worry about anything. Chris: So
what's the verdict? How is cruising today compared to pre-COVID? Emma: Yeah I mean it was exactly the
same, everything you wanted to do was there it was open it was just when you go back to the
buffet for the second time you just put your mask on and walk over there and walk back like I never
missed out on anything the shows were still there. I don't mind wearing a mask I really don't mind,
um and having more space between me and other people like that's that's fine like O don't mind
if at dinner all the tables near me are closed off and then there's more people. Everything I would
normally do on a cruise was on there the things that were open were were pretty much full so I
never kind of you never sat there and were like where is everybody because it was just everybody
was in you know this the same kind of places everything was open. But I think the kind of
opening times were smaller because you'd have like an hour for the ropes course then it will close
because they want everybody to go kind of at the same time. So honestly I like I think I
knew it was a good cruise. I came back and I'm like 'wow the cruise was really good'. Chris:
So it sounds like Emma had a great time, obviously not many people have had much of an opportunity
to go cruising yet but if you have been to sea this year please let me know what you thought of
your cruise in the comments below. For those of you who are in countries like Australia or New
Zealand or other places where cruising is still banned... [Sigh]... I feel you. I understand what
it's like and the closest we're going to come to a cruise is probably playing with our model ships...
the QE2... in fact if you're interested in the QE2 you can check out a video I made of a tour of the
QE2 in the description box below, or in the info card up here. Thanks so much for joining me and
until next time I hope to see you on board... if we're ever allowed to travel again from Australia!
"oh here's a wave" [Ship Whistle]
"I feel like i need to go to Dubai now revisit my old friend..."
"What am i supposed to be saying?" "What is cruising like in
this post-COVID world... now what?" "I've forgotten everything I'm supposed to say!"
"Hi i'm Chris Frame, I make ... [laughs] cake..." "I'm the king of the world!"
[Happy Music]