Celebrity Cruise and Royal Caribbean to resume their operations In The Caribbean
COVID-10 hit every sector equally but tourism was the most affected one as countries closed flight operations and cruise operations witnessed a severe decline. Nevertheless, the hope is given by the vaccine and the world is trying to get back at a normal pace. The good news is the comeback of big-ship cursing in North America.
Two of the biggest cruise lines have announced last Friday that they will be resuming their cruise operation from June. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise will be sailing out in June from the Bahamas and St. Martin respectively.
Royal Caribbean was originally scheduled to spend its summer in Europe but the most recent announcement from the world’s largest cruise line says that it will resume its operations from June 12 featuring calls in Bahamas and Mexico. Only 3,807 passengers will be allowed on board for a seven-day sea adventure.
Sister line, Celebrity Cruise also announced that it would be resuming its operations from June 5 for a seven-day adventure at destinations that include Aruba, Curacao, and Barbados. While the ship was originally supposed to spend its summer in Alaska, this change of plan will allow at least 2,218 passengers onboard.
The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has allowed cruises to carry no more than two hundred fifty passengers. This announcement was made on March 20, 2020, due to the conflicting situation of COVID-19 in the country, no new announcement has been made as of yet. Considering the situation both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise have decided not to make stops at the U.S. ports to avoid any kind of intervention from the United States authorities. Additionally, some of the top officials from the cruise lines have also told different media outlets that they will not be postponing their June plans in any scenario.
During the announcement, Mark Tamis, the senior Vice President of the Royal Caribbean told the Press that CDC is aware of their plan but has no given any reaction as of now. He made it clear that the wide availability of vaccines makes this summer the best time to restart the operations and also that the company is taking a measured approach to making sure that they are in no way involved in the spread of the virus.
Celebrity Cruise President and CEO, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo in her press briefing praised the government of St. Martin for the support they have given for the re-opening.
Both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean will not be allowing any passenger to sail without the proof of COVID-19 vaccination. However, children under the age of 18 will be allowed only with a COVID-19 negative report. Besides, the staff will be responsible for ensuring that passengers follow proper standards of procedure such as social distancing during the travel.
The announcement from the cruising line giants came after the Crystal Cruise, a rather small cruising line announced that it will be resuming its operations from North America in July. These announcements mark a significant comeback of the cruising lines after a one-year break due to travel restrictions that came as a necessary measure to avoid the spread of the COVID-19.