Royal Caribbean Blog

Celebrity Cruises has announced changes to its customer loyalty program for guests when cruises restart.

The Captain's Club program offers benefits and enhancements to the cruise for passengers that are repeat customers, and Celebrity posted an update with changes to their offerings.

Celebrity says they have taken the time during the cruise industry shutdown to make "refinements" to the Captain's Club program.

Events

New events will be held onboard, such as the Captain’s Club Sneak Peek Series beginning on Celebrity Apex.

"Classic members and above can enjoy a sneak peek of the Eden décor, live music, and interactive art at Wonder at Eden in a reserved space just for Captain’s Club members. Plus, you can sample the specialty cocktail of the evening and enjoy a meet and greet with the artists and performers."

An event for Elite members and above is Create and Pour, where you can sip a favorite wine while creating art.  The event is lead by an artist, and will begin on Celebrity Apex.

Welcome Parties will move to the outdoor spaces, such as the Lawn Club and Rooftop Garden.

Captain's Club Cocktail hour has changed as well, and will no longer take place in the lounge.

Instead, guests will be able to enjoy unlimited drinks from the Captain’s Club menu daily from 5pm to 7pm at bars and lounges throughout your ship, including complimentary wine varieties that will now rotate between Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Grigio, Moscato, and Pinot Noir. 

Celebrity says since the line will begin including all guests with unlimited drinks as part of the Always Included package, "we’ll be introducing new events and benefits so stay tuned."

The full list of member events available for your sailing will be provided onboard. 

Member Perks & Benefits

Spa discounts will be available of up to 20% off for Select members and above.

Previously, Captain’s Club members could enjoy a one-time 10%-15% discount based on tier levels while in port. Now, Select and Elite members can enjoy multi-use discounts of 10%, while Elite Plus and Zenith members can enjoy multi-use discounts of 15% and 20%, respectively (excluding MedSpa and Retail).

Complimentary access to Persian Garden on one port day of your choice will still be available on Solstice and Millennium Series Ships for Elite members and above.

Photo discounts

Changes have been made to the photo discounts and offerings.

Celebrity has increased discounts of 25%-50% off any photo packages and up to $300 off Studio Packages for Classic members and above.

In addition, they have added more greenscreen options allowing you to have one photo session with multiple backgrounds.

A partnership with GoPro will offer 360 degree photography and aerial photos.

Laundry

Celebrity is introducing new laundry packages on select sailings for Elite and above members.

• Evening Chic dry cleaning service for only $35 (up to 8 individual items).  
• Pressed to Impress, Elite, Elite Plus and Zenith members can add pressing to one of their complimentary bags of laundry per sailing for just $20.  

Details to be available onboard.

Internet

Wifi is included for all guests with the Always Included program, so the Captain's Club discount for internet access has changed.

Now, if you sail with Always Included, you can apply this discount to upgrade from the Surf to the Stream.  If you do not sail with Always Included, you can apply the 10% - 35% discount to any internet package and the complimentary minutes for Elite and Elite Plus will still apply. 

If you book pre-cruise, your discount is combinable with the additional 10% pre-cruise advantage. 

Zenith members will continue to enjoy a complimentary Stream internet package for one device in both scenarios.  

Beverage packages

Another change as a result of Always Included means discounts for upgrading your standard drink package.

Now, if you sail with Always Included, Classic Members and above can enjoy a 5% – 10% discount to upgrade from the Classic Beverage Package to Premium Beverage Package before you sail (pre-cruise).

The percentage is based on your member tier. If you do not sail with Always Included, Classic members and above can also receive a 5% - 20% discount on Classic and Premium beverage packages purchased before you sail and based on tier.

Elite members and above that do not sail with Always Included can also continue to enjoy the daily cocktail hour from 5pm – 7pm at bars and lounge throughout their ship.  Zenith members will continue to enjoy a complimentary Premium beverage package in both scenarios.

Wine

Classic members and above can now enjoy up to 20% off any bottle of wine.

Zenith Member Updates

The top cruiser on each sailing with the most points in Captain's Club can enjoy a complimentary dinner at a specialty dining restaurant, along with complimentary flowers and wine. 

Celebrity will also give Zenith members the opportunity to take part in an interview with our cruise director that will air on our in-stateroom televisions.

Due to social distancing, Zenith access to the lounge at The Retreat and Michael’s Club will be limited to members staying in The Retreat until further notice.

The CDC's inbox is getting full as cruise lines are rapidly applying to restart cruises.

A motion filed in court on Monday related to Florida's lawsuit against the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gave an update on where the CDC stands in granting approval for test cruises to begin.

According to the federal agency, cruise lines and ports have been busy making preparations for cruises to restart.

As of June 1, 2021, the CDC says it has provisionally approved 4 requests for test cruises to begin, with another 6 requests "under review".

The CDC also said it has received and provisionally approved 2 conditional sailing certificates for highly vaccinated cruises. These are cruises which will meet or exceed the mandate of having at least 95% fully vaccinated passengers and 98% fully vaccinated crew members.

In addition, port agreements covering 22 vessels at 5 ports of call have been approved, and another 6 are awaiting review.

The CDC divulged this information as an example to mediators that the CDC is indeed living up to its end of the bargain with the cruise lines to get ships back into service.

Read more: Everything you need to know about Royal Caribbean test cruises

"In short, cruising is set to resume as planned, and Florida cannot establish an irreparable injury that would occur in the absence of an injunction," representatives for the CDC stated in its motion.

So far, the public is aware of two of the four ships approved for test cruises: Freedom of the Seas and the Disney Dream.

The CDC has not listed what the other ships are, nor which other ships have applied for permission.  Thus far, the public is only made aware of specific approvals when a cruise line executive announces or leaks the information.

In terms of port agreements, Galveston, Port Canaveral, Port Everglades and PortMiami are all known to have signed agreements with various cruise lines to support test cruises.

The Port of Galveston announced on Tuesday that Royal Caribbean was "near completion on May 26" of its port agreement.

Test cruises and port agreements are all part of Phase 2A of the CDC's Conditional Sail Order (CSO).

The agreements also detail how the port, health district and cruise lines plan to respond in the event of an outbreak with medical care, transportation and housing, if needed. The cruise lines must demonstrate that they have agreements in place with providers for all of these services.

Procedures detailed in the agreements include the following:

• Simulated passenger cruises
• Compliance with port COVID safety procedures
• A tabletop exercise with cruise line and port staff on port COVID safety procedures and protocols
• An emergency response plan in the event of an outbreak
• A plan for medical evacuations at sea coordinated with the U.S. Coast Guard
• Cruise terminal and transportation vehicle cleaning requirements

Florida objects to the CDCs conclusion

The purpose of the motion by the CDC was to essentially say Florida's lawsuit is meritless, but Florida objects.

The CDC believes not only are cruises in the process of restarting, it says, " Florida cannot establish an irreparable injury that would occur in the absence of an injunction."

The agency believes an injunction against the CSO would actually hinder, not help, Florida's goals.

According to the CDC, an injunction would end cruising in Alaska for the season (because Alaska Tourism Restoration Act (ATRA) only benefits ships operating with a Conditional Sailing Certificate under the CSO).

The ATRA temporarily permits “covered cruise ships” to meet an alternative standard, where a “covered cruise ship” is defined as one that  “has been issued, operates in accordance with, and retains a COVID–19 Conditional Sailing Certificate of the CDC” and “operates in accordance” with that Certificate.

In addition, the CDC thinks if the CSO was waived as a result of the lawsuit, the public would not trust cruise ships are safe, "an injunction would cast considerable doubt on public confidence in the industry, particularly in the State of Florida, which is publicly battling with the industry over its own laws."

Lastly, the CDC said an injunction would "otherwise undermine the carefully laid plans for safe resumption of passenger operations."

The motion says the CDC shared this information with the State of Florida via email on Monday, and Florida "partially opposes this motion and will file a response."

MSC Cruises revealed the design for its newest cruise ship that will be among the largest in the world, and there are a few design ideas that look eerily similar to Royal Caribbean's Oasis Class ships.

MSC World Europa will debut in late 2022 and is 22 decks high, and 1,093 feet long.  That makes it four decks taller than Symphony of the Seas, although Symphony is still longer at 1,184 ft 5.0 in.

The ship will be right around 205,000 tons, which is just a bit less than 228,081 GT of Symphony.

Cruise ship design is more of an evolution in the industry, with different ideas building on each other over time. With that being said, MSC certainly has "borrowed" a few ideas from the Oasis Class ships.

MSC Cruises announced the ship will be divided up into different areas of the ships, known as districts.  Royal Caribbean pioneered the idea of using neighborhoods to help break up the ship into easily navigated areas for passengers.

Just like the Oasis Class, there will be 7 zones.

Perhaps most noticeable is the promenade zone at the back of the ship opens up into a sky-covered area with a giant dry slide at the aft of the ship.

MSC World Europa design

Oasis Class Boardwalk

The concept art for this aft area of the ship looks very similar to the Boardwalk neighborhood of the Oasis Class ships, with the dry slide idea coming from Royal Caribbean's Ultimate Abyss.

The dry slide on MSC will be 11 decks tall. The Ultimate Abyss on Royal Caribbean's ships is 10 decks high.

That will give MSC bragging rights for having the longest dry slide at sea.

MSC World Europa dry slide

Ultimate Abyss on Harmony of the Seas

For what it is worth, Royal Caribbean trademarked the Oasis Class stern design in 2018.

In the trademark paperwork, Royal Caribbean made certain to specify some of the features that make this design unique.

"The mark consists of the stern section of a cruise ship having a set of stylish oblong-shaped balconies on the left and right sides of the stern section, a pair of ornamental slides extending from the rear section of an decorative fish head to cascade downward to a lower deck of the cruise ship, and a pair of tusk-like structures extending upward from the top of a lower deck of the cruise ship, to a mid-deck level of the stern section, each tusk-like structure includes a set of stylish curved vertical beams intersecting near the top portion of the tusk-like structures, and an ornamental crown and anchor symbol suspended between the pair of tusk-like structures."

Another idea MSC is incorporating into its ships is an infinite ocean view cabin, which sounds a lot like the infinite verandahs on Celebrity Edge.

MSC Infinite Ocean view staterooms

Celebrity Cruises Infinite Verandah

These rooms will have a panoramic sliding window that turns into a glass balustrade when open.

MSC World Europa will enter service in December 2022 and spend her inaugural season in the Persian Gulf. Her season will begin with a four-night sailing from Doha, Qatar to her homeport of Dubai, UAE.

The vessel will offer seven-night cruises from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, Sir Bani Yas Island, Dammam, and Doha, with an overnight back in Dubai to end the voyage.

On March 25, 2023, MSC World Europa will head to the Mediterranean, and in summer will offer seven-night cruises calling in Genoa, Naples, Messina, Valletta, Barcelona, and Marseille.

Copying is a cruise industry tradition

Before anyone gets too hot under the collar about the "inspiration" MSC has seemingly taken from Royal Caribbean, keep in mind that many ideas get borrowed from other lines.

When Norwegian Cruise Line came up with the idea of Freestyle Dining for its dining rooms, many cruise lines quickly adopted something similar. Royal Caribbean has My Time Dining as an option.

Royal Caribbean even admitted its idea for virtual balcony staterooms came from Disney Cruise Line's virtual portholes.

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain explained how his line took the idea and expanded upon it, "We actually had looked at the idea, and we didn't think that the technology and the receptivity from the public was there."

"Disney proved that the public does value something like this."

Read more: 4 Royal Caribbean features inspired by something else

There are plenty of other examples of cruise lines replicating other line's ideas, but you get the idea that this happens more often than you might think.

Another cruise line has gotten approval to start test cruises by the CDC.

Royal Caribbean was the first cruise line to receive approval to start test cruises in June, and now it looks as though Disney Cruise Line is the next line to get approval.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has given the Disney Dream permission to conduct a test cruise between June 29 and July 1.

In a letter shared by Disney Signature Experiences President Thomas Mazloum, confirmation of the approval was shared with team members.

Thanks to LaughingPlace.com for sharing the contents of the letter.

"I have some great news to share, team.

We received word that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has approved our application to conduct a simulation cruise in advance of resuming normal operations.

This is a critically important milestone for Disney Cruise Line – and I want to thank everyone who has been supporting our return-to-service plans with such dedication and hard work.

We now have the green light to conduct our two-night simulation cruise aboard the Disney Dream from June 29 to July 1, sailing from Port Canaveral. The ship will sail with volunteer passengers and test our newly developed health and safety protocols, which have been meticulously tailored to the current public health environment. All of these protocols are essential to cruising responsibly, and Disney Cruise Line couldn’t be more committed to making vacation dreams come true as it prioritizes the wellbeing of all who step aboard our ships.

Today, as we move closer to restarting our U.S. cruises, I want to spotlight the tremendous resilience and positivity of the team. Your collaboration and continued enthusiasm throughout the pandemic have been nothing short of amazing, as we’ve researched, drafted, revised and refined our comprehensive roadmap for cruising again. It has been no small feat – and I’m extremely proud of everyone.

We will continue to evaluate our health and safety protocols, working closely with the CDC, and make adjustments as we work toward a full resumption of cruising. In the meantime, we can all take pride in the approval of our application with the CDC – a milestone that reflects the incredible talents of our entire team."

Last week, Royal Caribbean announced it receieved permission to start test cruises on Freedom of the Seas, beginning June 20.

These test cruises are required by the CDC if a cruise ship will not reach 95% of its cruise passengers being fully vaccinated (along with 98% of its crew members).

Disney and Royal Caribbean rely on many families to sail, and since children cannot be vaccinated, the test cruises are necessary since less than 95% of the passengers will be vaccinated.

Each cruise ship needs to conduct test cruises in order to recieve approval by the CDC.

Each ship must conduct at least one test cruise, and each simulated sailing must be between 2-7 days in length with a least one overnight stay, including through embarkation, disembarkation, and post-disembarkation testing.

The CDC recommends a minimum voyage length of 3 days with 2 overnight stays.

No mention yet by Disney if or how they will select volunteers for their test cruises.

Royal Caribbean set up a sign up form, which has received over 250,000 people sign ups so far.

Read more: Here's how to sign up to be a volunteer for a Royal Caribbean test cruise

Volunteers on a simulation cruise must meet requirements set by the CDC, including being at least 18 years old and informed of the risks of setting sail on a test cruise during a pandemic. Volunteers may or may not be vaccinated against COVID-19.

If they aren't vaccinated, they'll have to self-certify that they aren't at risk of critical illness due to COVID-19, or give documentation from a healthcare provider. (Cruise lines that can certify that at least 95% of all passengers will be vaccinated are allowed to skip the test cruise requirement, per the CDC.)

The cruise industry in the United States has been shutdown for over 15 months, and in that time a lot of predictions were made of what a cruise might be like whenever they resumed.

The good news is the cruise industry is on its way back, and as we are on the precipice of ships sailing again, there are certainly a few "doom and gloom" predictions that turned out not to be accurate

One constant throughout the shutdown has been change, and what we know one month versus another month may be completely different. Some of these predictions or anticipated changes might have been accurate for the time, but were rolled back or abandoned due to many factors changing in the world around us.

I thought it might be fun to look back on the more memorable things we thought would happen to cruise ships that looks like it will not end up occurring.

Many more ships sold or scrapped

Early on in the shutdown when it appeared cruise lines would not be operating for far longer than anticipated, selling cruise ships to generate cash seemed like something many lines would do.

While there were plenty of cruise ships sold or scrapped, Royal Caribbean came out of the shutdown with far fewer ships disposed of than I think many expected.]

Some other cruise lines were forced to sell off older ships rapidly at the beginning of the cruise industry shutdown in order to generate cash flow and curb spending.

Royal Caribbean said goodbye to two of its ships: Majesty of the Seas and Empress of the Seas.  The ship formerly known as Sovereign of the Seas was scrapped as well.

But Carnival and other lines sold off more ships, and many people thought many more ships would meet their demise sooner than later.

Elimination of the buffet

Last summer, the big question was if the cruise ship buffet would ever be offered again.

The rumor that cruise ship buffets might be axed came out of the uncertainty of new protocols, health recommendations, and a better understanding of Covid-19.

In May 2020, it looked like Royal Caribbean might completely redeveop the Windjammer buffet space and abandon the classic buffet. A couple of months later, we got confirmation the buffet was not going anywhere.

Since then, cruise ships have been able to restart cruises with the buffet in place, albeit in a full service manner, where crew members serve you the food instead of you serving yourself.

Fans of the Windjammer will be happy to know their beloved quick meal location is not going anywhere.

Bankruptcy

After a few rounds of cruise cancellations in 2020, there were more than a few cruise fans who thought cruise lines would have to fold and declare bankruptcy.

There were even some people that cancelled all of their bookings rather than take future cruise credits because they thought once the line went under, their money would disappear.

A few small lines did call it quits, such as Pullmantur Cruises, but the major and even mid-size brands are still in operation and looking to restart.

Granted, most lines took out substantial loans to stay afloat that will take years to pay back. But with new bookings on the rise, and future bookings strong, it looks like cruise lines will be around a while longer.

Back to back cruises banned

I am really not sure where this rumor got started, but right around the time the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) moved from the No Sail Order to the Conditional Sail Order, there were rumors floating around that back to back cruises would not be allowed.

I think the notion for this rumor was based on one of the CDC's rules, which said cruises could not exceed 7 nights under the Conditional Sail Order.  Therefore, some thought a back to back cruise would not be permitted.

As it turns out, this was never a rule and speculation at best.  

2021 Alaska cruise season cancelled

Up until a few weeks ago, the Alaska cruise season being cancelled again this year seemed like a foregone conclusion.

Alaska's cruise season was entirely cancelled in 2020, and with Canada extending its cruise ship ban again through all of 2021, it seemed like it would be another lost year for cruises.

Thanks to the hard work of Alaska's congressional delegation, a bill to temporarily waive the cabotage laws that requires foreign-flagged ships to visit a foreign port when sailing from the United States was passed by Congress and signed into law by the President.

Not only are cruises legally able to sail to Alaska this year, Royal Caribbean and other lines announced new itineraries for sale.

Where and when we will have to wear masks on a ship

To be fair, this one is still in flux, but it looks like cruise ship passengers will not have to wear a face mask onboard a ship nearly as often as it looked like we would have to.

Thanks to declining Covid-19 cases, and an incredible proliferation of vaccines among the public, requirements by the CDC on face mask use have been scaled back.

Royal Caribbean has not released its health protocols for cruise ships sailing this summer yet, but there is no question mask use onboard will be required far less than if those rules had been posted a few months ago.

Just last week, Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain said masks would not be needed for the fully vaccinated, "We're optimistic that masks won't be required anywhere if you're vaccinated and since most people will be."

Cozumel homeport

Right around the time cruise lines were considering basing their ships outside the United States to get around the CDC, Cozumel really wanted to get in on the action.

The Mayor of Cozumel spoke on a radio show about the idea of basing ships from Cozumel.

It seemed like a good idea, until you realized the Mayor was speaking about a pier that did not exist yet, and the fact flights to the island of Cozumel are nearly impossible to find.

Despite the wishful thinking on behalf of the Mayor, no cruise line ever announced plans to go through with basing a ship in Cozumel.

Did I miss something we all thought was going to happen but it appears will not? Share your observations in the comments!

Norwegian Cruise Line announced it will cancel a second cruise ship that was scheduled to sail from outside the United States this summer.

NCL said scheduled cruises from the Dominican Republic on Norwegian Gem are cancelled on sailings between August 15, 2021 through October 10, 2021.

Originally, NCL was going to set sail with three ships outside of the United States:

• Norwegian Jade from Athens, Greece
• Norwegian Joy from Montego Bay, Jamaica
• Norwegian Gem from Punta Cana (La Romana), Dominican Republic
• Norwegian Getaway in Rome
• Norwegian Epic in Barcelona

Sailings on the Joy were cancelled last week, leaving just the Jade to sail from Greece.

In an email sent to guests booked on the Gem, the cruise line announced the time required to get the ship ready and the desire for Americans to cruise out of local ports drove the change.

"As you may know, we have for many months said that launching and crewing our vessels require approximately 90 days. At this time, we are doing our best to maximize our operational fleet and active crew to deliver on cruise vacations in destinations our guests value the most."

"We are so sorry your cruise has been impacted but we hope to welcome you aboard another sailing."

Joy's sailings were cancelled so that the ship could be redeployed to Alaska instead.

The new cancellations come less than a month after Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) CEO Frank Del Rio told investors customers were buying up the new sailings, "The response to our international voyage resumption has been overwhelming and even sailings from our new Caribbean home ports are performing better than expected despite the extremely condensed booking window."

Royal Caribbean also recently cancelled two scheduled sailings outside of the United States: Vision of the Seas from Bermuda and Odyssey of the Seas from Israel.

Odyssey's season was cancelled due to the cruise line's inability to get its crew members vaccinated, as well as violence in the area.  Vision's cruises appear to be cancelled due to weak demand and the anticipated return of cruises from the U.S.

Both Royal Caribbean and NCL seem to see far more demand for cruises departing from the United States, than positioning ships in new homeports.

Adventure of the Seas is still scheduled to sail from the Bahamas in less than two weeks, and NCL has three ships with cruises out of Europe planned.

We already know Freedom of the Seas will begin test cruises in June 2021, but are revenue cruises already planned as well?

A week ago, Royal Caribbean announced it would start test cruises on its first ship to get approval from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Freedom of the Seas.

Friend of RoyalCaribbeanBlog @UltimateCruiseNews spotted on the Miami Dade County cruise ship schedule at PortMiami listing Freedom of the Seas cruises, beginning on July 2, 2021.

The schedule seems to have Freedom of the Seas offering 3- and 4-night cruises from PortMiami through the month of July.

In addition, the Royal Caribbean app shows very similar dates for Freedom of the Seas on its schedule.

Royal Caribbean has not cancelled its July sailings across the board, and still has bookable cruises on Freedom of the Seas from Cape Liberty, New Jersey on the cruise line website.

Royal Caribbean has not made any announcement about a redployment for Freedom of the Seas, but the schedule might shed light onto what could be coming.

In comparing the Royal Caribbean app dates to the PortMiami schedule, as well as what is listed on Royal Caribbean's website, it seems the app has both sailings loaded in at the moment.

Of course, the docking schedule does not contain much information in the way of determining what the intent is for the ship. Could these sailings in July be revenue cruises? More test cruises? A mistake by the county?

Freedom of the Seas will definitely be conducting test cruises from PortMiami between June 20-22, 2021, and that is reflected on the schedule.

Simulated voyages (also known as test cruises) are when cruise lines can operate ships with volunteer passengers in order to prove their new protocols work.

These are not cruises you can book, but rather, are limited voyages where a cruise line invites certain unpaid volunteers to help go through all the necessary steps and procedures to ensure cruise ships can be run safely.

Each cruise ship needs to be approved by the CDC in order to conduct test cruises.

As to how accurate the July sailings listed are, and if they are the precursor to Royal Caribbean announcing revenue cruises remains to be seen.

In March 2021, the Port of Los Angeles website listed Navigator of the Seas on their schedule prior to Royal Caribbean making their own announcement.

Los Angeles pulled down their schedule for a short time until Royal Caribbean made their formal announcement.

One of the most important countries to the cruise industry in Europe is set to reopen its ports to cruise ships.

The gateway to Western Mediterranean cruises is Spain, and it looks as though they will welcome back cruise ships next month.

Spain's Transport Minister is reported by Reuters to have said its ports will allow cruise ship traffic once again, beginning on June 7.

With new cases falling and an increase in vaccinations in the country, Spain's government officials believe the time is right to let cruise ships back in.

In April, the European Union announced plans to allow fully vaccinated Americans to visit their countries this summer.

Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Croatia are the countries leading the charge to allow Americans, since their economy relies so heavily on tourism.

Spain's Prime Minister said fully vaccinated people from anywhere in the world would be allowed in last week, beginning June 7th.

Royal Caribbean has two ships scheduled to sail from Spain this summer, Harmony of the Seas and Rhapsody of the Seas.

Harmony's summer season is scheduled to begin on July 4, 2021 and is still on the cruise line's schedule to sail from Barcelona.

Harmony of the Seas European season is scheduled to run between July through October, wwith 7-night Western Mediterranean cruises that visit Palma de Mallorca, Provence, Florence, Rome, and Naples.

Rhapsody of the Seas has a transatlantic sailing scheduled for November 30, 2021 from Barcelona.

Cruise ships have been prohibited from operating in Spain since June 2020.

Royal Caribbean has not officially cancelled or made any updates to scheduled cruises in July, including Europe or the United States.

As of the posting of this article, Harmony of the Seas is off the coast of Barcelona, and Rhapsody of the Seas is in the Bahamas.

Happy Sunday and unofficial start to summer! Temperatures are rising, and so is the pace of cruise news to share with you this week.

Royal Caribbean has moved the closest yet to getting ships sailing in the United States by announcing test cruises on its first ship.

Royal Caribbean has received permission from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to start test cruises on Freedom of the Seas from PortMiami.

The test cruise can commence on June 20-22, 2021.

Royal Caribbean News

• Spectrum of the Seas will restart cruises from Hong Kong on July 30
• Blocks arrive at shipyard for Royal Caribbean's first Icon Class cruise ship
• CDC gives cruise lines relaxed face mask guidelines and issues new rules for vaccinated passengers
• Royal Caribbean Group CEO: "We will not need to be wearing masks" on cruise ships
• President Biden signs new bill into law to allow cruise ships to sail to Alaska in 2021
• Royal Caribbean extends ability to cancel cruise for a credit until July 31, 2021
• Important things to know about Royal Caribbean's restart plans
• Royal Caribbean has vaccinated over half of its crew members
• Florida's vaccine passport law is holding up Royal Caribbean's new health protocols for cruises this summer
• Royal Caribbean patents new firework illusion special effect for its cruise ships
• Royal Caribbean offering up to 35% off pre-cruise purchases with Cruise Planner sale

Cruise News

• Celebrity Cruises announces first ship to sail out of the United States in June 2021
• How will Celebrity deal with Florida's vaccine passport ban?
• Carnival announces agreements with Port Canaveral, Miami & Galveston to restart cruises
• Norwegian Cruise Line announces 8 more cruise ships that will sail from the U.S. in 2021
• Carnival plans to run test cruises from Galveston
• Norwegian Cruise Line expects to get approval to sail from the CDC "in the coming days"

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 408th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, covering some of the latest cruise news this week.

There has been a ton of changes, updates, and announcements by Royal Caribbean since last week's episode, so Matt talks about all the changes on this episode.

Please feel free to subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can! We’d appreciate it.

New RCB Video: Here's what volunteers have to do on a test cruise

Have you subscribed to the Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube Channel? We share some great videos there regularly, all about taking a Royal Caribbean cruise! This week, we are sharing our latest video — Here's what volunteers have to do on a test cruise — and don’t forget to subscribe here.

Royal Caribbean Group CEO talks about changes we can expect on a cruise this summer

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain shared his most optimistic video update yet this week.

The opportunity for cruises to restart again from the United States is something Fain sees as the result of widespread vaccine distribution, public pressure on government officials, and a change in the relationship with the CDC.

So what will a cruise be like once they can sail again?

"As we restart, there will be some more restrictions than before," Mr. Fain explained, "but we expect there will be temporary and similar to what we've all become used to on land.

Optimism surrounding the cruise industry's chances of restarting are likely the most optimistic they have been in well over a year, and that includes Royal Caribbean.

Over the last couple of weeks, Royal Caribbean (and its sibling cruise brands) moved the closest yet to real sailings out of the United States, and it has a lot of cruise fans excited.

After more than 15 months of no cruises from North America, we are swiftly looking at the real prospect of summer cruises.  Essentially, restart plans went from "if" to "when" in many people's minds.

While a restart is very close, cruise lines are not out of the proverbial woods quite yet, and there are some hurdles and challenges left to overcome.

Here are the most important things you should know about Royal Caribbean's restart plans.

Adults (and some kids) need to be vaccinated

For months, Royal Caribbean was uncertain if passengers would need to be vaccinated, and the answer now appears to be yes.

If you are thinking about going on a cruise ship this summer or fall, you will need to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

The cruise line updated its policy recently to all adults over the age of 16 on North American sailings will need to be vaccinated in order to go on a cruise before August 1.  After August 1, that age restriction drops to 12 years old.

Royal Caribbean has not said much since the policy was changed, but it is clear they are looking to mitigate risk as much as possible.  In an industry that is unfairly and unfortunately associated with outbreaks, they cannot afford to take chances.

Could this policy change? Certainly as life gets back to normal and the vaccine becomes more widely available, there is always a chance this policy could be relaxed.  But in the meantime, plan to be vaccinated if you want to cruise this summer.

Test cruises will be necessary first

While Celebrity Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line are going to straight to revenue sailings, Royal Caribbean International will have to conduct test cruises first, and then move to revenue sailings.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gave cruise lines two choices: get 95% of passengers and 98% of crew fully vaccinated and skip test cruises, or do test cruises first.

Royal Caribbean opted to do test cruises simply because they are a family cruise line and knew they could not get to 95% of its guests fully vaccinated, primarily due to the amount of children onboard.

This means each ship will need to conduct a series of test cruises to demonstrate its new health protocols can work before the CDC will approve a ship to sail with paying passengers.

Speaking of test cruises, if you are interested in being a volunteer on a test cruise, there does appear to be a way to volunteer and hope you get picked.

So far, Royal Caribbean has announced test cruises will begin in June on Freedom of the Seas, but expect more ships to get the go-ahead as well.

Slow approach to restart

Don't expect Royal Caribbean to announce all, most, or even half of its ships restarting immediately.  Or even over the next few months.

For many months, Royal Caribbean (and all cruise lines) have been emphatic that their restart will be slow and methodical.

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain said very early on in the shutdown restart will be structured, "We don't expect that... someday somebody blows a horn, and all the ships start operating right away. We think that it will be a gradual start, a little bit like society is opening up gradually."

"So we would imagine that we would start with fewer ships, and more likely to be more drive markets in the beginning, and then it would then evolve and grow from there."

As an example, Norwegian Cruise Line just announced restart plans for 8 ships, and many are not going to begin their first sailings until October or November 2021.

So far, Royal Caribbean has only announced Alaska cruises from Seattle as the confirmed sailings from the U.S. this summer.

As cruise fans, we are eager to get back onboard on our favorite ships from ports of call nearby, but keep expectations inline.

CDC still holds a lot of influence

Like it or not, the CDC is still mostly in charge.

The road to restart goes right through the CDC's jurisdiction, and the cruise lines seem to be past trying to shake them off and are now focused on getting approval to sail.

The tone of discussions with the CDC has radically improved lately, especially with the CDC rolling back burdensome rules and protocols.

Perhaps more surprising is cruises sailing from outside the United States still seem to be based on CDC guidance.

Royal Caribbean has not released its health protocols for Adventure of the Seas cruises from Nassau, Bahamas due to in part, the CDC.

An email update yesterday told guests, "As we’ve been working to finalize all the details, we’re taking a lot into consideration, including the CDC’s recommendations, Bahamian Health Authority’s guidance, and our own Healthy Sail Panel’s expertise – to find that sweet spot."

No matter where ships sail this summer, the CDC will be along for the ride for at least a while longer.

Florida

Celebrity Cruises referred to it as "the elephant in the room", and Florida has gone from chief enabler to major blocker of cruises restarting.

In short, Florida passed a law that prohibits any business from asking their customers for proof of vaccination.  While this may make sense in the case of restaurants or supermarkets, it creates an enormous problem for cruise lines who are battling a sensationalized media that counts any case onboard a ship as a modern day Pandora's Box.

The Governor's office has been adamant about enforcing the policy across the board, including the cruise lines. Meanwhile, cruise executives are talking about some kind of compromise that is in the works.

What ends up happening is anyone's guess, but Florida is the epicenter of the cruise world, and while ships could sail from other states, it is a market too large to ignore.

In the meantime, it is a story to keep an eye on as it relates to where and when cruise ships will be able to sail from first.