Anthem of the Seas entering the river Mersey, Photo credit Dave Jones
Royal Caribbean International has extended Anthem of the Seas’ UK-based season until October and announced plans to welcome international guests onboard from next month.

The ship returned to the UK for the first time in six years in July to restart Royal’s domestic cruise programme.

In September “eligible international guests” will also be able to sail from Southampton, subject to the latest UK government travel advice and their country of residence.

Fully vaccinated travellers from the US and EU were granted exemption from UK quarantine requirements this week.

Anthem’s British Isles sailings feature calls to Liverpool, Belfast and Kirkwall and Glasgow. All adults must be fully vaccinated and all passengers must provide a negative Covid test result before boarding.

Anthem’s extended season opened for bookings on Wednesday (4 August).

Ben Bouldin, Royal’s vice-president EMEA, said the line was “thrilled” with the response to its UK programme since restarting, with cruises achieving “peak guest satisfaction levels”.

“We welcome the recent update from the UK government, which lifted advice against international cruise travel. While this marks a positive step forward in the global return of cruise, there are still complexities to navigate when calling at multiple European ports of call from the UK,” he added.

“This, coupled with the popularity of our British Isles sailings to date, has led to our decision to extend our sailings around the British Isles, and I’m delighted to welcome international guests to experience these itineraries, starting in September.”