Royal Caribbean Blog

The CDC has relaxed a few rules for fully vaccinated cruise passengers.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued updates its Operations Manual for Simulated and Restricted Voyages that primarily talk about what cruise lines are required to do as it pertains to guests onboard.

The new update covers a few changes in policies that either relax protocols, or give the cruise lines the choice to be less stringent.

In this round of updates, many of the rules focus on face masks for fully vaccinated passengers.

The first change is a cruise line can allow all passengers and crew they do not have to wear a mask outdoors.

Cruise ship operators, at their discretion, may advise all passengers and crew that they do not have to wear a mask if outdoors. CDC still recommends that people wear a mask if they are not fully vaccinated and in a crowded area.

Second, the CDC has removed the suggestion to wear a mask outdoors in crowded settings.  Previously it said fully vaccinated passengers could gather outdoors or engage in outdoor activities, but would need to wear a mask if there was a "crowded situation".

Cruise ship operators, at their discretion, may advise crew who are fully vaccinated that they do not have to wear a mask or maintain physical distance in areas of the ship that are inaccessible to passengers.

Another new option for cruise lines is there can be areas of the ship reserved for fully vaccinated passengers and crew that have no social distancing requirements.

The CDC even would allow self-serve buffets in an area reserved only for fully vaccinated passengers.

Cruise ship operators, at their discretion, may designate areas as only accessible to fully vaccinated passengers and crew where masks and physical distancing are not required (e.g., casinos; bars; spas; entertainment venues; and dining areas, including self-serve buffets).

For ships with at least 95% of crew and 95% of passengers fully vaccinated, cruise ship operators, at their discretion, may advise passengers and crew that they do not have to wear a mask or maintain physical distance in any areas.

Another big change is if cruise ships can attain at least 95% fully vaccinated passengers and 98% fully vaccinated crew members, a number of rules will become suggestions instead.

This includes many of the onerous rules that added a great deal of friction to the cruise experience, including:

• 6-foot social distancing at restaurants and bars
• Limiting seating capacity 
• Eliminate self-service buffets
• Install sneeze guards

Royal Caribbean International currently has no plans to meet the 95/98 mandate due to the amount of families on their ships.

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain said earlier this week because Royal Caribbean is so family oriented and there are often large numbers of children, he does not think reaching 95% is possible.

The CDC also removed  the rule for fully vaccinated passengers on independent shore excursions have to wear a mask while indoors (unless local laws require it).

The changes are posted on the CDC's website.

This is the latest round of rule changes by the CDC over the last few weeks. Each time, the CDC has relaxed, adjusted, or otherwise removed rules. Many of the changes seem to be occurring following tight-knit conversations with the CDC.

Mr. Fain said the discussions between Royal Caribbean and the CDC has been fruitful as of late, "over the past weeks, that level of dialogue has improved one thousand percent and that dialogue has allowed us to understand their concerns. But in addition to that, dialogue has enabled the CDC to understand our concerns."

More Norwegian Cruise Line cruise ships are planned to restart cruises from the U.S. this year.

In addition to the recently announced Alaska restart, NCL posted new plans for eight cruise ships to sail from the United States later this year.

Like Royal Caribbean and Carnival, NCL is starting to get its plans set as it awaits approval for a seemingly inevitable restart process.

Here are the ships and deployment plans announced by NCL:

• Norwegian Joy will cruise from Miami beginning Oct. 19, 2021 with five to 11-day Caribbean voyages.
• Norwegian Breakaway will cruise seven-day itineraries to Bermuda from New York beginning Oct. 24, 2021.
• Pride of America will offer seven-day Hawaii interisland voyages from Honolulu beginning Nov. 6, 2021.
• Norwegian Bliss will cruise from Los Angeles for seven-day Mexican Riviera voyages beginning Nov. 7, 2021.
• Norwegian Encore will offer seven-night itineraries from Miami to the Caribbean beginning Nov. 14, 2021.
• Beginning Nov. 20, 2021, Norwegian Escape will cruise for the first time from Orlando (Port Canaveral), Fla., offering seven-day itineraries to the Caribbean.
• Norwegian Pearl will sail from Miami offering Panama Canal, Bahamas and Caribbean cruises beginning Dec. 23, 2021.
• Beginning Jan. 20, 2022, Norwegian Jewel will be the first ship in the fleet to offer roundtrip Panama Canal cruises from Panama City (Colón and Fuerte Amador).

NCL also announced restart plans in Asia and Australia.

• Norwegian Sun will sail for the first time in Asia beginning Jan. 28, 2022, offering a five-day Japan itinerary from Hong Kong, before sailing a variety of 11-day cruises from Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok.
• Norwegian Spirit will cruise 12-day Australia and New Zealand voyages from Sydney, and Auckland, New Zealand beginning Feb. 9, 2022.

Earlier this week, the cruise line said its restart plan is contingent on obtaining a Conditional Sailing Certificate from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Unlike Royal Caribbean, NCL's restart hinders on requiring every single passenger be fully vaccinated in order to sail, and that means children may not be able to sail initially.

These rules are in place through October 31, 2021. Norwegian will update guidance on requirements for future cruises closer to the fall.

NCL says it expects to be granted approval to sail by the CDC, "in the coming days".

NCL Bliss is currently the first scheduled Norwegian ship to restart operations from the United States, which will commence from Seattle beginning August 7, 2021.

Bliss will sail to Alaska.

More NCL cancellations

With this redeployment, NCL also cancelled a number of cruises.

NCL's summer sailings from Montego Bay, Jamaica on Norwegian Joy are cancelled so the ship can instead sail from Miami on the aforementioned Caribbean cruises. 

Just like Royal Caribbean canceling Vision of the Seas from Bermuda, the move was made to focus on U.S. sailings. Crew members on the Joy will be transferred to Alaska as NCL works to take advantage of what remains of the 2021 Alaska cruise season.

Other sailings have been cancelled to make the new deployment plans work:

• Pride of America through Oct. 30, 2021
• Norwegian Escape through Nov. 2, 2021
• Norwegian Jewel through Jan. 9, 2022
• Norwegian Pearl through Dec. 7, 2021
• Norwegian Spirit through Jan. 28, 2022
• Norwegian Sun through Jan. 18, 2022
• Norwegian Bliss Oct. 24, 2021 sailing 

Royal Caribbean will extend its flexible cancellation policy that allows more time to be able to change their mind about canceling a cruise at the last minute.

Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, Vicki Freed, told travel agents the Cruise with Confidence program will be officially extended on Thursday, when the expiration date gets pushed back to July 31, 2021.

The popular program allows guests to cancel a cruise for any reason up to 48 hours before a sailing is scheduled to depart in exchange for a future cruise credit. Today's announcement means an additional two months of flexibility for guests.

It was scheduled to end on May 31, 2020 prior to the extension.

The Cruise with Confidence program was introduced at the beginning of the health crisis, and provides significantly relaxed rules concerning canceling a cruise if the situation changes for a guest.

Ordinarily, guests would incur a penalty for canceling a sailing beyond the final payment date, which is typically 90 days before a sailing commences. Cruise with Confidence provides a great deal more flexibility to change minds with no penalty.

Instead, Cruise with Confidence gives passengers booked on-or-before July 31, 2021 the option to cancel Royal Caribbean sailings scheduled to depart through April 30, 2022.

In addition, the Best Price Guarantee program will be extended to the end of July.

The Best Price Guarantee means you can take advantage of better rates up to 48 hours prior to sail date. Usually guests in certain countries can reprice cruises only up until their final payment date to take advantage of a price drop.

How does Cruise with Confidence work?

Ever since Royal Caribbean shut down cruises in March 2020, it has offered guests increased flexibility in being able to change their minds due to the fluid nature of news and the global health crisis.

Essentially, Cruise with Confidence is the name of the program that allows guests to change or cancel a cruise up to 48 hours before their sail date with no penalty or change fees.

Guests can opt for a 100% Future Cruise Credit that is good for 12 months or more.

Today's change means Cruise with Confidence is applicable to guests booked on-or-before July 31, 2021 on sailings departing through April 2022. This encompasses essentially all Royal Caribbean sailings available to book currently.

The program includes refundable and non-refundable cruise fares, and only excludes chartered sailings.

It is important to note that if you elect to cancel a cruise on your own with this program, and later Royal Caribbean cancels the sailing, you waive any right to receive any refund oft he cruise fare paid.

Another Royal Caribbean cruise ship will be returning to service this summer.

Hong Kong has given Royal Caribbean approval to restart cruises aboard Spectrum of the Seas with short sailings with no port stops.

Spectrum of the Seas would be the first Royal Caribbean cruise ship to resume sailings in China, and there will be a series of cruises between July and November.

Similar to Quantum of the Seas in Singapore, Hong Kong has approved limited sailings with strict protocols onboard.

According to the Hong Kong Cruise Society, here are the sailing dates and itineraries:

• 2-night cruises: July 30 / Sep 05,17
• 3-night cruises: Aug 05,12,19,26 / Sep 02,07,10,23,30 / Oct 07,14,21,28 / Nov 04,11,18,25
• 4-night cruises: Aug 01,08,15,22,29 / Sep 13,19,26 / Oct 03,10,17,24,31 / Nov 07,14,21,28

The new sailings have not yet been released by Royal Caribbean.

Guests looking to book a sailing can only book oceanview or higher categories (no interior rooms). 

In addition, guests 16 years or older must be fully vaccinated and have received their second dose at least 14 days ago prior to boarding. 

Passengers must also provide a negative PCR test within 48 hours of boarding the ship.

Many of these protocols come from Hong Kong's government, which just approved "cruises to nowhere" on Wednesday.

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah confirmed Royal Caribbean was one of the lines with permission to sail from Hong Kong.

Spectrum of the Seas was one of the first cruise ships to have her cruises cancelled due to the global health crisis, with her season cut short in China and moved to Australia for a short period of time before the cruise industry shutdown completely in March.

With Spectrum of the Seas restarting cruises in July, this adds another ship to the list of Royal Caribbean ships that will be able to resume operations, including Adventure of the Seas from the Bahamas, Anthem of the Seas from Southampton, and Jewel of the Seas from Cyprus.

Royal Caribbean also received permission to start test cruises on Freedom of the Seas in June.

The last Royal Caribbean International cruise ship to sail before the cruise industry shutdown will be the first one to restart operations.

Royal Caribbean has received permission from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to start test cruises in preparation for regular revenue sailings.

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley shared the good news that Freedom of the Seas will sail her test cruises from PortMiami.

Royal Caribbean had teased over the weekend that it had submitted a proposal to the CDC in order to sail a test cruise, and just two business days later, they received permission.

According to the letter by the CDC shared by Mr. Bayley, the test cruise can commence on June 20-22, 2021.

The CDC also stipulated a few key requirements before the test cruises can begin:

• List how the maximum number of passengers on the first two restricted sailings.
  • There needs to be at least 10% of the maximum number of passengers on the first two restricted voyagers.
• Volunteers need to be advised of the CDC's Travel Health Notice for Covid-19 and Cruise Ship Travel prior to the cruise
• Freedom of the Seas must retain an approved color-coded status with the CDC leading up to the test cruise.
• CDC requirements related to testing and quarantine of crew and passengers
• Any deficiencies during the cruise must be documented
  • Essentially, a significant departure from the protocols that may occur onboard.

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

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.

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

Mr. Bayley celebrated being able to get its first ship back in the water for operations, "After 15 months and so much work by so many during very challenging times.  To all our colleagues, loyal guests and supporters all over the world I am proud and pleased to share some bright and wonderful news!"

"Onwards and upwards team!"

Royal Caribbean issued a statement, welcoming the opportunity to get back to cruising, "After 15 months of hard work and collaboration, today’s approval of our simulated cruises is the latest promising step in our path to return to sailing in the U.S.

"We look forward to welcoming our crew, loyal guests and supporters from around the world this summer. "

Freedom of the Seas was one of the last cruise ships to return to port once Royal Caribbean announced it would halt all cruises due to Covid-19.

The ship was actually denied entry to San Juan, Puerto Rico to finish its sailing, and had to tack on an extra few days to get to Miami instead.

CDC's test cruise requirements

If a test cruise sounds like a great vacation, you should be aware of all the important steps Royal Caribbean must follow and complete during a test sailing.

While the ship is indeed conducting a cruise as if it were a normal cruise, the CDC wants the cruise ship to test out procedures and ensure it can handle any health situation it could encounter.

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

For what it's worth, the CDC recommends a minimum voyage length of 3 days with 2 overnight stays.

Passengers and crew must meet standards during the simulated voyage for hand hygiene, use of face masks, and social distancing for passengers and crew, as well as ship sanitation.

Royal Caribbean must modify meal service and entertainment venues to facilitate social distancing during the simulated voyage.

And then there is a laundry list of activities that the CDC says the ship needs to test across one or many separate test cruises:

• Embarkation and disembarkation procedures, as approved by U.S. port and local health authorities as part the cruise ship operator’s Phase 2A agreements, including procedures for terminal check-in.
• Onboard activities, including seating and meal service at dining and entertainment venues.
• Medical evacuation procedures.
• Transfer of symptomatic passengers or crew, or those who test positive for SARS-CoV-2, from cabins to isolation rooms.
• Onboard and shoreside isolation and quarantine, as per the terms of the cruise ship operator’s Phase 2A agreements, of at least 5% of all passengers and non-essential crew.
• Recreational activities that the cruise ship operator intends to offer as part of any restricted passenger voyages, e.g., casinos, spa services, fitness classes, gymnasiums.
• Private-island shore excursions if any are planned during restricted passenger voyages. The following measures must be observed on the private island:
  • Only one ship can port at the island at any one time.
  • A routine screening testing protocol must be implemented for island staff who are expected to interact with volunteer passengers or crew.
  • Mask use and social distancing must be observed on the island.
• Port of call shore excursions if any are planned during restricted passenger voyages. The following measures must be observed on port of call shore excursions:
  • Self-guided or independent exploration by passengers during port stops must be prohibited.
  • Shore excursions must only include passengers and crew from the same ship.
  • Cruise ship operator must ensure all shore excursion tour companies facilitate social distancing, mask wearing, and other COVID-19 public health measures throughout the tour.
  • Cruise ship operators must have a protocol for managing persons with COVID-19 and close contacts at all foreign ports of call. At a minimum, the protocol must include the following:
    • Disembarkation and housing of persons with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 needing shore-based hospital care and their travel companion(s) for the duration of their isolation or quarantine period.
    • Commercial repatriation of U.S.-based persons with COVID-19 and close contacts only after meeting criteria to end isolation and quarantine per CDC guidance. For commercial repatriation of foreign-based persons with COVID-19 and close contacts, cruise ship operators must consult with all relevant public health authorities.

Carnival Cruise Line appears to be ready to start the first of its test cruises in a matter of weeks.

During a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Galveston Wharves, the Port of Galveston said Carnival plans to run its test cruises from the port, although no exact date was set.

The Galveston County Daily News reports Carnival has informed the port of its plans.

According to the report, the Port of Galveston and local health officials say they are close to signing a port agreement with the State of Texas.  Royal Caribbean recently signed similar agreements with Port Canaveral and Port Everglades.

It also appears that Carnival will follow Royal Caribbean's plan to not make the optional 95% vaccinated cruise ship passenger mandate in order to skip test cruises.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gave cruise lines the choice of going through the test cruise option outlined in the Conditional Sail Order (CSO), or skip them if they can reach 98% of crew and 95% of passengers fully vaccinated.

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain said yesterday in a video update that Royal Caribbean International cannot meet that goal of 95% vaccinated passengers because of all the families with young children who go on a cruise. 

Carnival plans to run simulated cruises out of Galveston in coming weeks, port officials just announced at Wharves Board of Trustees meeting. No exact date set. #GalvNews https://t.co/WmJIb7EinP

— John Wayne Ferguson (@JohnWFerguson) May 25, 2021

The Port of Galveston was told by Carnival's President that standard would be difficult, since vaccinations aren't yet available for children under 12 . That's a significant portion of their normal customer base.

Royal Caribbean is also planning to start test cruises soon, although the location nor the ship to be used has been shared publicly. 

Royal Caribbean applied to be able to start at least one test cruise last week, and the cruise line expects that authorization to be granted "shortly".

The simulated voyages are the test sailings mandated by the CDC in order to receive permission for a cruise ship to sail from the United States.

Under the CDC's Framework for Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO), cruise lines must first get an agreement with each port for the health and safety of crew, passengers and port personnel.

Test cruises are when cruise lines can operate ships with volunteer passengers in order to prove their new protocols work.

There are only a few days left before Royal Caribbean's flexible cancellation policy is no longer available to book.

UPDATE: Royal Caribbean has extended Cruise with Confidence through July 31, 2021.

The Cruise with Confidence program was introduced right as the cruise industry was shutting down for an indeterminate amount of time due to the global health crisis, and with cruises on the precipice of returning, this program may no longer be offered.

Cruise with Confidence officially ends after May 31st, 2021, which means if you want to have your sailing qualify for its benefits, you need to book on or before May 31, 2021.

A cruise that was booked on or before May 31, 2021 is entitled to a 100% future cruise credit if you decide to cancel any cruise that sets sail from now through April 30th, 2022.

The policy covers any cruise reservation made on or before May 31, but if Royal Caribbean does not extend the program again, guests will no longer be able to take advantage of it on sailings booked beyond May.

As long as you cancel at least 48 hours before your sail date, Royal Caribbean will provide you with a 100% future cruise credit. Future Cruise Credits are valid to book by April 30th, 2022 and sail by September 30th, 2022.

It is possible Royal Caribbean may extend Cruise with Confidence again, but as of right now, it is set to end as an included benefit for new cruises booked at the end of May.

Royal Caribbean has already sunset one of its popular cancellation program, Lift & Shift, which allowed guests to defer their cruise by a year.  Lift & Shift ended on February 1, 2021.

The chief benefit of Cruise with Confidence is someone can cancel their cruise up to 48 hours before their cruise with no penalty or fees. 

Once the program ends and you were to book a cruise without Cruise with Confidence, you would be subject to the standard cancellation terms, which include penalties for canceling beyond the final payment date as well possible additional penalties if you booked a non-refundable cruise fare.

In addition to Cruise with Confidence, the enhanced Best Price Guarantee program is set to expire on May 31, 2021.

The Best Price Guarantee program allows guests to take advantage of better rates up to 48 hours prior to sail date. Usually guests in certain countries can reprice cruises only up until their final payment date to take advantage of a price drop.

Just like Cruise with Confidence, guests must be booked on or before May 31st, 2021 for sailings that depart on or before April 30th, 2022 and they can request the difference of their booked rates versus any rate reduction.

The difference in pricing will be added to the booking as an onboard credit, inside final payment, and it’ll be applied within 14 business days, and a new confirmation will be generated with the Onboard Credit value.

What you should do before Cruise with Confidence ends?

If you are thinking of booking any cruise between now and April 2022, it may make a lot of sense to at least put a deposit down now to not only lock in the price of your cruise, but also ensure you can cancel it under Cruise with Confidence up to 48 hours before the sailing.

The flexibility this program provides is a great "safety net" for anyone with a cruise booked who is unsure what the cruise world may look like closer to your sail date. In short, there is very little risk when your booking is protected with Cruise with Confidence since you can change your mind at any time.

Of course, there are still some other means to retain some level of flexibility to change your mind later even without the program. 

• Book refundable cruise fare so you can cancel before final payment date for a 100% refund.
• Consider a "Cancel for any reason" travel insurance plan

Ultimately,if you were thinking about booking a cruise for 2021 or 2022, you might consider booking it before Cruise with Confidence ends to have access to the flexibility it provides.

Construction of Royal Caribbean's next new class of cruise ships reached a milestone recently.

The Icon Class will be the a new class of cruise ship, and Unimedien shared photos of the first blocks of the vessel to be shipped by the Neptun Werft shipyard in Rostock, Germany.

The giant blocks will eventually be joined together to form the hull of the Icon Class cruise ship.

The Icon Class ships will be constructed at Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland, which is the same shipyard that built a number of Royal Caribbean ship, including Allure and Oasis of the Seas.

It appears the first Icon Class cruise ship is scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of 2023.

Each ship will be powered by a combination of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and fuel cell technology.

Modern shipbuilding is a modular process, where engineers break down the ship into smaller pieces that they later assemble.

Each of these blocks is pre-assembled elsewhere, and there can be as many as 80 blocks per ship.  They are then joined and welded together and wired at the dry docks. 

This process alows differerent engineers and specialists work at the same time on one ship to significantly decrease construction time.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is envisioned as the primary fuel for the new vessels, which would dramatically reduce or even eliminate emission of nitrogen oxide (NOX), sulphur oxide (SOX) and particulates, as well as cutting carbon dioxide (CO2). The ICON Class will also introduce fuel cell technology, which in combination with hull air lubrication means that the ships could potentially be some of the most fuel efficient cruise vessels ever constructed. 

According to Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley, the Icon Class ships will be "a real game changer" and the next generation of cruise ship to follow up on the Oasis Class.

Not much else is known about the Icon Class, but according to Royal Caribbean Group SEC filings in April 2021, the unnamed Icon Class ships will have a capacity of approximately 5,600 passengers.

This would make the Icon class ships larger than the Quantum Class ships, but slightly smaller than the Oasis Class ships.

There are three Icon Class ships on order:

• Unnamed first Icon class ship delivery in 3rd Quarter 2023
• Unnamed second Icon class ship delivery in 2nd Quarter 2025
• Unnamed third Icon class ship delivery in 2nd Quarter 2026

In addition, Royal Caribbean filed a trademark for Icon of the Seas, which could be the name of the first ship.

After a few weeks absence, Royal Caribbean Group Richard Fain is back with a new update with his most optimistic outlook yet for cruises to restart.

Mr. Fain started off his video update to travel agents by stating how good things are looking, "we can now state with a high level of confidence that ships from the Royal Caribbean group will be operating out of US ports as early as next month."

Cruises restarting as early as next month follows up on the news that Royal Caribbean applied to the CDC for test cruises to begin, which Mr. Fain repeated again, "Last week, we formally submitted our request for sailing authorization to the CDC."

"We're hopeful that they will issue that permission shortly."

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.

While the cruise industry's relationship with the CDC was tenuous after some early requirements, things have changed, "over the past weeks, that level of dialogue has improved one thousand percent and that dialogue has allowed us to understand their concerns. But in addition to that, dialogue has enabled the CDC to understand our concerns."

"It has also enabled the CDC to review so much helpful data that we have acquired from our sailing's abroad."

Vaccines

Mr. Fain talked about how vaccines will work, and he said Celebrity Cruises and Silversea will follow the CDC's option to have 95% passengers vaccinated and 98% of crew members vaccinated, but Royal Caribbean International will go a different route.

Mr. Fain echoed a new policy posted on its website that says everyone who is eligible to get a vaccine will be expected to get one. However, since Royal Caribbean is so family oriented and there are often large numbers of children, he does not think reaching 95% is possible.

"On these cruises[with many children], we may not reach the ninety five percent threshold, but even here the vast majority will be vaccinated."

Health protocols and changes onboard

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.

Mr. Fain talked about what to expect, and here are some key takeaways.

• Buffets will be full service
• No masks for fully vaccinated, "We're optimistic that masks won't be required anywhere if you're vaccinated and since most people will be."
• Some ares where social distancing required, but with lower capacity onboard initially, it should not be an issue.
• Upgraded air conditioning
• Guests will have choice of going on their own shore excursions, "In most cases, our guests can also arrange their own excursions and these will be regulated by by local rules."

These updates are exactly what Celebrity Cruises announced last week for what guests could expect, and a good sense that those rules are going to be the reality.

As expected, President Joe Biden signed a new bill into law that will allow cruise ships to sail to Alaska this year.

Late on Monday, President Joe Biden signed H.R. 1318, the "Alaska Tourism Restoration Act".

The Alaska Tourism Restoration Act  passed the House of Representatives in a vote last Thursday, and is awaiting the President's signature to become a law.

Now that it is law, cruise ships will be able to sail from State of Washington to Alaska without needing to stop in Canada.

Per the @washingtonpost YouTube feed, here's White House @PressSec Jen Psaki announcing that @POTUS will be signing the Alaska Tourism Restoration Act today alongside @lisamurkowski @SenDanSullivan and @repdonyoung! #News #CruiseNews #TravelNews #Alaska pic.twitter.com/xDfsQ2hi3h

— Porthole Cruise and Travel (@PortholeCruise) May 24, 2021

Ms. Psaki said in a press conference on Monday, "This law will allow large cruise ships to visit Alaska this year, a critical step toward returning to normal in a state where one in 10 jobs is in the tourism industry."

Canada banned cruise ships from its waters due to the global health crisis, so if cruise ship travel in the United States were able to occur, cruises to Alaska would not have been legally possible unless this bill becomes law.

The Alaska Tourism Restoration Act essentially provides a way to circumvent the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) restrictions for cruise ships transporting passengers between the State of Washington and the State of Alaska.

The bill was introduced by Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) in February 2021 as a way for cruise ships to be able to sail to Alaska in 2021.

Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and NCL have all announced cruise restart plans for Alaska this summer, with Serenade of the Seas leading the pack with cruises beginning in July 2021.

Serenade of the Seas will begin sailing on July 19, 2021, and Ovation of the Seas will begin sailing on August 13, 2021.

Both ships will sail 7-night roundtrip cruises from Seattle, Washington, and sailings are available now to book.

Unless something changes, these Alaska cruises in summer 2021 could be the first Royal Caribbean cruises to sail from the United States since March 2020.

Cruise ships will still need approval to sail from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) due to the Framework for Conditional Sail Order, which remains in effect until November 2021.

Despite the major cruise lines announcing sailings to Alaska this summer, there has not been any announcement or confirmation the CDC will allow ships to sail.

In Carnival's announcement, they mentioned deciding to offer cruises again, "based on recent guidance from the CDC and close collaboration with Alaskan officials."

NCL said its plans were contingent on obtaining a Conditional Sailing Certificate, which it expected to be granted "in the coming days".

Royal Caribbean made no mention of its negotiations with the CDC during its announcement.