'We can't continue to live like this' – meet the cruise line boss who's also an epidemiologist

While it’s not hard to find people who think they’re an expert on subject after subject, one cruise line boss really knows what he’s talking about when it comes to coronavirus.

That’s because The Majestic Line’s managing director, Ken Grant, has also been an epidemiologist for 25 years.

The 76-year-old, who founded the small Scottish boat line in 2004 with fellow sailor Andy Thoms, says he’s prepared to test passengers before they board, check their temperatures and maintain social distancing – but he draws the line at face masks. If forced to require them, he would rather abandon the planned resumption of cruising on August 1 and wait until next year.

Having worked as a public health consultant in more than 30 countries, Dr Grant is an optimist who believes there will be a vaccine by the end of the year.

The sunny days he has spent in lockdown, living just two minutes from the Majestic Line base at Holy Loch, near Dunoon, have obviously rubbed off. Dr Grant’s mood is also lifted by knowing that 60 per cent of his passengers affected by the shutdown have opted to rebook rather than take a refund. Itineraries are already selling out for next year and even 2022.

He said: "It doesn’t matter if we don’t cruise at all this year, the company is solid and we took out a business interruption loan. Our bank, the Clydesdale, has been excellent but the Majestic Line is very stable, profitable and will recover very quickly."

The line’s four boats – Dr Grant says there’s the market for a fifth – take up to 12 guests each, a number which he believes can be maintained if families or friends charter the whole vessel. In a mixed group, he thinks the maximum capacity would be eight, along with the usual four crew.

He said: "What I’ve looked into – and I’m in a discussion with Fergus Ewing, the Scottish Tourism Minister about this – is that we can test our crew every week and, if necessary, post out swabs to our passengers and ask them to send them to the lab. Testing will become easier, though – it looks as though saliva testing is coming in and should be ready by the end of July."

But Dr Grant insisted: "We’re not going to cruise with people in masks. We can make it work if it’s the one-metre rule but unless we can offer a proper Majestic Line experience we just don’t think it’s offering our customers value for money and we would rather ask them to rebook or give them their money back.

"We’re waiting to see that the Scottish government says. There is a lot of concern in the islands about bringing in Covid – a divide between the elderly who want to keep the drawbridge up and the younger people who need the business and the jobs."

The Majestic Line has kept eight of its staff working, with only two furloughed, but hasn’t been able to employ its usual 36 seasonal crew.

It was just "bad luck" that the cruise industry became the scapegoat for the pandemic following the outbreak on Diamond Princess in Japan in February, said Dr Grant.

"We know what happened at ski resorts but no one’s going to stop skiing."

Asked for his advice to his much larger rivals, Dr Grant said: "What the big lines have to do now, just as we will have to on a much smaller scale, is be very flexible and be allowed to adapt to what’s happening. It’s going to be much more difficult to plan ahead.

"Quite a few people have written to us saying they don’t want to go on a big cruise anymore but cruises are value for money and offer a very good experience – I think people who like cruising will continue to cruise."

Dr Grant believes Britain reacted correctly to the threat of coronavirus to protect the health service.

"Now we've reached the stage where you can divide both the scientists and politicians into optimists and pessimists. I’m with the optimists.

"We had to do what we did, given our knowledge of the disease, but we need to balance the economy against the public health. Once the prevalence of this disease goes down, as it appears to be going, we’re going to have to adapt ourselves to a more normal life again. We can’t continue to live like this."