Recently my wife and I took a 28-day cruise from Southampton to San Francisco. Covid-19 dogged the entire 9,615 nautical miles of the voyage.

Our troubles began even before we boarded Queen Elizabeth. Cunard demanded a certified negative antigen test dated no more than 24 hours before boarding. That meant finding a provider open on a Sunday – which we did eventually at a cost of £70. Not once in the ensuing month did anyone ask to see these certificates. Nor were we ever asked to produce proof of our vaccination status.

Instead, on arrival at Southampton we stood for an hour or more in unsocially-distanced, sweaty proximity with 1,400 other bemused people in a vast luggage hall at the Southampton terminal before being tested again – and then waiting a nervous 40 minutes before being told we were negative and could board. Some 40 would-be cruisers failed the test and, presumably, were sent home. Read more