Royal Caribbean Blog

Royal Caribbean recently announced new tighter restrictions for cruises from Singapore due to a heightened alert in the country due to Covid-19.

The changes made to the onboard experience aboard Quantum of the Seas include less passengers onboard, as well as expanded social distancing and even changes to dining.

Many are curious what the experience is like, and if it still feels like a cruise vacation.

Our friends at the Singapore Cruise Society boarded Quantum of the Seas on Monday to share a sense of what things are like.

What changes have been made?

In a nutshell, Singapore has added stricter measures due to an increase in the spread of COVID-19.

The measures are in place between May 16 - June 13, and are meant to limit the spread of the virus.

On Quantum of the Seas, Royal Caribbean made changes to meet new government requirements:

• Quantum of the Seas is set to sail at 25% occupancy capacity
• Group sizes will be limited to two guests per cabin
• Guest occupancy in public venues will be reduced accordingly, allowing for at least 16 square meters per guest, while theaters will be limited to 50 attendees for each show
• Heightened limits will apply to all pools and hot tubs and also at SeaPlex
• New takeaway options at dining establishments, and guests will also enjoy a wide range of choices for room service

These restrictions are temporary and all will return to normal once the government lifts the heightened alert status.

A look at the changes

There are about 500 passengers on this sailing to reflect the lower capacity.

Your menu you can use to order dinner.

Grab and go menu items at Cafe@Two70.

Tables are not available to eat at while in Cafe@Two70. Instead, guests take the food elsewhere to eat.

No self service beverages.

Social distancing at Cafe Promenade and Sorrentos.

Tables are available to sit at with up to 2 people per table, but guests cannot eat food or drink at the table.

Harp and Horn remains open for take outs. All Beverage Package and Dining Package were cancelled and refunded to guests.

Guests can sit and wait for their drinks to be prepared, but cannot drink in the bar.

Other bars have been re-purposed since they cannot be used as a sit down bar at this time.

Tables have been set up outside of staterooms for guests to leave plates and food they are done with, as well as pick up room service delivery.

Dinner is served via room service, including beverages.

Guests must preorder their meals for the next day by 8pm.

Beverage ordering list.

In-room movies are available to watch for free.

Cruise Compass and entertainment for the first day onboard.

Singapore Cruise Society is the leading cruising blog and community in Southeast Asia.

First started in 2014, Singapore Cruise Society has documented significant cruise happenings in Singapore. Since then, we have grown to be one of Asia's largest cruise-
centric blog and community, providing everything from cruise vacation experiences to the latest development in the cruise travel industry. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Stay up-to-date with all the Royal Caribbean news from this week with our roundup of all this week's news.

Unfortunately, Royal Caribbean had to cancel its entire cruise season from Israel on the brand new Odyssey of the Seas.

Late on Saturday night, Royal Caribbean confirmed all sailings from Haifa, Israel were cancelled "due to the unrest in Israel and the region, Odyssey has not been able to complete the preparations required".

Instead, Odyssey will now head to Florida and await a new deployment.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean says passengers will not have to wear face masks on Perfect Day at CocoCay
• CDC updated some of its rules for cruise ships
• CDC added new rules for screening cruise ship passengers
• Bill passes U.S. Senate to allow cruise ships to sail to Alaska without stopping in Canada
• Cruise industry wants you to tell President Biden to let cruise ships sail again
• A look at the CDC's "preposterous" requirements for cruise ships test sailings
• Royal Caribbean adjusts cruise ship health protocols on Singapore cruises due to Covid-19 alert
• Carnival cancels some July 2021 cruises, but hopes to restart some ships from U.S. in July
• Florida Governor dismisses Norwegian Cruise Line threat to pull cruise ships from Florida
• My 2021 Royal Caribbean bucket list

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 406th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, which is all about what happens to a cruise ship during a dry dock.

Every so often we hear about a ship going in for a dry dock, but what happens and why are they so important? A retired Coast Guard Commander shares with us what happens during these scheduled breaks for cruise ships.

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.

5 cruise trends Royal Caribbean doesn't do (and 1 it jumped on)

Royal Caribbean is an industry leader, but they don't do everything their competitors offer.

Some new cruisers, as well as people new to Royal Caribbean, may be surprised by some of the things Royal Caribbean does not do, which are found on other cruise lines. 

Here are the top five cruise industry trends I have noticed Royal Caribbean does not do, as well as one that they recently changed their minds about.

Unfortunately, the first major cruise ship to be based out of Israel will not happen.

Royal Caribbean announced it has cancelled its scheduled cruise season from Haifa, Israel.

On Royal Caribbean's website, an update was added that said their plans to sail from Haifa cannot happen due to "unrest in Israel and the region".

Odyssey of the Seas was to resume operations beginning June 2nd, 2021 out of Haifa, Israel. However, due to the unrest in Israel and the region, we have not been able to complete the preparation required to operate and as a result, sailings out of Haifa will be cancelled.

In the last week, Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel have garnered a lot of concern.

Besides the unrest, it has been reported the cruise line has been unable to secure vaccinations for all of its crew members.

According to reports Royal Caribbean asked Israel's Ministry of Health to buy vaccines and replace them later when the line had other orders come in, but that was denied.  

Reports began to circulate that Royal Caribbean was going to pull the plug on its scheduled sailings since Friday, and the cruise line has since made it official on Saturday night.

An email has been sent to guests booked on Odyssey of the Seas confirming the change.

"Due to the unrest in Israel and the region, we have not been able to complete the preparation required to operate and as a result, your sailing will unfortunately be cancelled."

"We’re sorry for the impact to your holiday. We know this news is disappointing."

Guests booked on Odyssey of the Seas from Israel have the choice of a 125% future cruise credit to be used by April 30, 2022; or a 100% Refund.

Royal Caribbean will also give anyone who has a cancelled cruise on Odyssey a $400 onboard credit if they rebook for a Jewel of the Seas summer 2021 cruise from Limassol, Cyprus.

"If you re-book by June 13th, 2021 on a sailing departing from Limassol, Cyprus onboard Jewel of the Seas, we’ll give you an additional $400 OBC. You must rebook at prevailing rate to qualify for the $400 OBC"

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley posted on Facebook his dismay the sailings had to be cancelled, as well as what's next for the ship.

"Today we announce the re deployment of Odyssey of the Seas from Israel to Florida.  The conflict makes it unsafe for our crew and guests and there is too much uncertainty.  In the next day or so Odyssey will begin its voyage to Florida.   More announcements to follow."

There are reports from crew members on the ship that Odyssey of the Seas will now head to Port Canaveral, Florida to offload crew members to another ship while the ship waits for cruises to resume from the United States.

Both Odyssey and Anthem of the Seas are docked at Limassol, Cyprus right now.

Cruises from Israel were to begin in June, and offer 3 to 7-night round trip sailings from Haifa to Cyprus and Greece.

Snorama, the exclusive sales representative of Royal Caribbean in Israel, estimated that 50,000 Israelis were going to go on the 25-30 cruises. That would have amounted to about $50 million in sales.

This is the second time Odyssey's inaugural sailings have been cancelled.

Odyssey of the Seas originally was scheduled to sail out out of Civitavecchia, Italy in May 2021, but was redeployed to Israel due to the global health crisis.

With Odyssey of the Seas no longer sailing in June, that will make Adventure of the Seas the second Royal Caribbean International ship to restart sailings, following Quantum of the Seas in Singapore.

The cruise industry is asking cruise fans once again to voice their support for the industry.

The pace of progress by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is stifling a rapid return to service, and Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is now asking cruise fans and industry insiders to tell the White House how they feel.

In March 2021, CLIA implored cruise fans to contact their elected officials in the House and Senate and tell them to urge the Biden Administration to lift the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO). 

Now, CLIA wants everyone to contact President Joe Biden and tell him the same thing.

A new call to action has been sent out to those that used CLIA's Action Center previously to do it again, but this time send messages to the Biden Administration.

"Please take a moment to Email the White House and let the Biden Administration know that there is no reason cruising should not be able to resume in the United States in July!", the email says.

CLIA calls the current CDC requirements for vaccinated cruisers, "inconsistent" with rules the agency provides for the general public.

"By July, current trends indicate that at least 70% of the adult population will have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and many sectors will be operating at significantly increased, if not full, capacity. And yet, cruise ships are still subject to outdated guidance and restrictions."

In order to make it simple to contact President Biden (and your elected officials too), CLIA has updated their Action Center website with a new option that includes the President.

The hope is with enough pressure, the government will act to get cruise ships sailing this summer and salvage the season, including Alaska cruises.

Why should cruise ships be able to sail?

Cruise ships have been shutdown in the United States since March 2020, when the cruise industry volunteered to stop cruising in the early days of the global health crisis.  Since then, the CDC instituted a ban on cruise ships.

While restaurants, ballparks, music venues, convention centers, casinos, and countless other venues reopen or begin easing restrictions with little or no vaccine requirements, the cruise industry is still shut down despite enhanced public health measures, and even proposing to operate some voyages exclusively with vaccinated passengers and crew. 

The cruise industry has adopted sweeping new health protocols that are unparalleled in the travel industry. Lead by an independent group of scientists and public health experts, the Healthy Sail Panel has provided the industry with clear ways to offer cruises in a responsible and low risk manner during the current health crisis.

Cruise ships will employ testing for every passenger and crew member, new ways of circulating air and filtration, enhanced cleanliness onboard, and contact tracing.

No other form of leisure travel employs as sophisticated or extensive protocols, nor do any have to answer to the CDC for permission to operate.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has made another update to its rules for cruise ships wishing to restart cruises from the United States.

On Friday, the federal agency added new guidelines to its Operations Manual, which provide the cruise industry with requirements and recommendations for cruises to begin.

These directions apply to both test cruises, as well as revenue cruises while the Conditional Sail Order (CSO) is in effect.

Screening new cruise ship passengers

The CDC now requires cruise lines to look for symptoms or signs of COVID-19 and screen for a known close contact exposure to a person with COVID-19 within the past 14 days.

Passengers with signs or symptoms of COVID-19 could still go on the cruise if they are fully vaccinated, but denied boarding if not fully vaccinated and without documentation of recovery.

Passengers who have a known close contact exposure in the past 14 days will also be denied boarding if not fully vaccinated and without documentation of recovery. Fully vaccinated may board at the cruise line's discretion.

The CDC defines documentation of recovery from COVID-19 as:

• Paper or electronic copies of their previous positive viral test result (dated no more than 90 days ago), and
• A signed letter, on official letterhead that contains the name, address, and phone number of a licensed healthcare provider or public health official, stating that the traveler has been cleared to end isolation and therefore can travel. A letter that states that they have been cleared to end isolation to return to work or school is also acceptable. The letter does not have to specifically mention travel.

Passenger testing on test cruises and revenue cruises

The CDC outlined what type of tests are required for fully and unvaccinated passengers.

Fully vaccinated passengers do not need to be tested on embarkation day, disembarkation day, or even going on a back to back sailing. While embarkation testing is not required, international travelers arriving in the U.S. are recommended to be tested 3-5 days after arrival, including those who are fully vaccinated. Cruise operators may follow this recommendation at their discretion.

Those that are not vaccinated, will need to take a Viral (NAAT or antigen) test for embarkation day, disembarkation day, and if doing a back to back.

The CDC gives cruise lines choices in which tests cruise lines can administer, but the agency recommends Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) for use on cruise ships because it is less likely to miss cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection (i.e., higher sensitivity) when compared to antigen testing.

What is a NAAT test? There are a few of them, but the most well-known is the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.

The CDC also says self-tests are not accepted at this time.

Another round of changes by the CDC

The updates are the latest revision by the CDC, following months of inaction.

On Wednesday, the CDC issued new updates as well and relaxed a few rules related to mask wearing on a cruise ship.

Much of the cruise industry has called on the CDC to provide updated guidance that matches the science of today, as well as the realities of what is happening in society.

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley welcomed the updates as a "step" towards cruises returning, "Late last night we received multiple updates to the CSO from the CDC. All reflect the significant progress made with the vaccines."

"Reading the updates last night and this morning give me increased optimism. Today the light at the end of this long dark tunnel is bright. One step at a time !"

And the Operations Manual for cruise lines still retains a great deal of requirements that are either outdated, or things no other industry is compelled to do, such as designating certain stairwells as "up" and "down",or suggesting guests wear a proximity band to alert them if they are too close to someone else.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) CEO Frank Del Rio has been the most outspoken critic of the CDC, and told Fox News recently the CDC was "unfair" in its treatment of the cruise industry.

"Every other transportation venue, entertainment venue, hospitality venue is open around the country, and we're still shut down after 15 months," he told Cavuto. "It's unfair. It's un-American."

"If there was science-fact information, we would accept it," Del Rio said. "They never shared any data with us, any scientific data or any data, period, and so, look, it seems to me they make this stuff up as they go along."

Royal Caribbean is advising guests sailing on Quantum of the Seas from Singapore of new protocols following an increase in Covid-19 cases in Singapore.

Singapore raised its alert status to "Phase 2 - Heighten Alert", following "several clusters of infections" over the past two weeks.  A total of 46 total cases have been reported, primarily in health care areas and an airport terminal.

Our friends at Singapore Cruise Society shared an email Royal Caribbean sent to guests booked on Quantum of the Seas advising them of onboard changes as a result of the increased cases.

To be clear, these changes are not a result of any cases on the ship.

Royal Caribbean have made changes during the health situation.  

UPDATE: Royal Caribbean has revised the wording of the changes

• Quantum of the Seas is set to sail at 25% occupancy capacity
• Group sizes will be limited to two guests per cabin booking.
• Guest occupancy in public venues will be reduced accordingly, allowing for at least 16 sqm per guest, while theatres will be limited to 50 attendees for each show.
• Heightened limits will apply to all pools and hot tubs and also at SeaPlex.
• For dining, we have made adjustments to offer takeaway options, and guests will also enjoy a wide range of choices for room service. 

Refunds are being made available to any guest that wishes to not sail due to these the changes.

"The health and safety of our guests and crew are of utmost importance to us, and while we continue to monitor the situation closely, Quantum of the Seas continues sailing with a comprehensive, layered set of measures developed to protect and keep everyone onboard healthy. Our robust programme includes pre-departure screenings using the gold standard measure of PCR tests, contactless embarkation and debarkation processes, and enhanced ventilation and sanitation on the ship."

The changes are being made as a result of working with the Singaporean government.

Singapore has taken an aggressive stance at trying to detect and isolate new cases. Singapore's Ministry of Healthy outlined some of the things it is doing to curb the spread of these new cases, "To reduce the risk of any spread from undetected cases in the community, we have cast a wide net and taken swift action to detect, isolate, and ringfence any possible emerging transmissions to the community. "

"We need to act decisively to contain these risks as any one leak could result in an uncontrolled resurgence of cases. Hence we will move to impose targeted restrictions on higher risk settings such as those where there is a high density of people who are unmasked for prolonged periods."

Quantum of the Seas has been sailing from Singapore since December 2020 under special permission from the government.

The sailings have been so successful and popular that Royal Caribbean has extended her time there through October 2021, marking 11 months sailing from her homeport.

Quantum has had over 60,000 guests sail onboard with zero positive Covid-19 cases to date.

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley is extremely proud of how safe and successful these sailings have been, "Royal Caribbean’s 30-plus sailings in Singapore offer a real-life, validated model of how cruising can be a unique, safe vacation beyond what many other travel options can offer."

"I'm confident we'll continue to see how successful cruising can be through a combination of our proven, healthy and safe practices, which are informed by the Healthy Sail Panel’s 74 recommendations, and the rollout of vaccines around the world."

The layered approach to health of crew members and guests will continue, such as COVID-19 testing, reduced sailing capacity, physical distancing measures, enhanced cleaning and sanitizing processes, and industry-leading contact tracing.

A possible solution to Canada's cruise ship ban is one step closer.

The United States Senate unanimously passed a bill that allow foreign flagged cruise ships to sail to Alaska without having to stop in Canada.

The Alaska Tourism Recovery Act (H.R. 1318) passed the Senate in a vote on Thursday, and will now to go to the U.S House of Representatives for a vote.

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.

The Alaska Tourism Recovery Act is meant to alleviate the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) restrictions for cruise ships transporting passengers between the State of Washington and the State of Alaska.

Canada has banned cruise ships for at least a year, which means it prohibits cruise ships from navigating, mooring, anchoring or berthing in Canadian waters until February 28, 2022 or until the Canadian Government lifts the prohibition. 

Senator Murkowski celebrated the victory on Twitter, calling it a "huge victory".

Huge victory today in my effort to provide an opportunity for economic recovery for Alaskan communities who rely on cruise ship passengers -- the Senate just passed my bill w/ @SenDanSullivan, the Alaska Tourism Restoration Act.

— Sen. Lisa Murkowski (@lisamurkowski) May 13, 2021

The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) also celebrated the important step, citing the important economic impact cruise ships have for Alaska.

Congratulations to Senators @LisaMurkowski and @SenDanSullivan for passing PVSA waiver legislation in the U.S. Senate today, and for all their efforts to help save the Alaska cruise season. Our members hope to return this summer and to help put Alaskan communities back to work. pic.twitter.com/mnnX87sSLN

— Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) (@CLIAGlobal) May 13, 2021

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley was pleased with the bill passing as well, saying on Facebook, "one step at a time"

If the bill were to become law, it would apply to any sailing that begins on or before February 28, 2022.

Of course, even if the bill passes, Alaska cruises would still need to be permitted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has its own ban on cruise ships in place.

If you think perhaps this bill may be all for naught, Royal Caribbean does not think so.

Just a few weeks ago, Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain said there is still a chance for cruises to sail to Alaska this year.

On April 30, Mr. Fain said Royal Caribbean and "others" are working on resolving the issue with the CDC and Canada, "we're working on both and others are working on both, but we can't be certain where that will end up."

"I think given the momentum, there's reason for some hope, but that's a sufficiently complex and confusing situation that I don't think we're going to put odds on it one way or the other."

"But as to Alaska specifically, while we're optimistic and we're working to make that happen, there are these other factors."

"We do think that will be in time for the Alaskan season. And we're obviously hopeful that we'll be able to solve the issue with Canada in either one of these two ways."

Thus far, Royal Caribbean has not canceled its 2021 Alaska or New England cruises (except for Quantum of the Seas, which is staying in Singapore).

Instead, the cruise line is placing these sailings on hold while it hopes legal action, such as this bill, will provide a means for ships to sail this year.

In the meantime, guests booked on 2021 Alaska cruises have the option to leave their bookings as-is, or cancel them.

A week after Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) said it might have to pull its ships from Florida if due to the state’s new law against vaccine mandates, Florida's Governor did not seem phased.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday in Ormond Beach, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) did not seem concerned with the potential for NCL to move its ships away from the state.

NCL wants to restart cruises with 100% of its passengers and crew members fully vaccinated, but a new state law prohibits any company from asking for proof of a Covid-19 vaccine.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings CEO Frank Del Rio said last week that its three brands of ships would move their Florida-based vessels to home ports in other states or even to non-U.S. ports in the Caribbean if they were forced to comply with the new rule.

"At the end of the day, cruise ships have motors, propellors and rudders, and God forbid we can operate in the state of Florida for whatever reason, then there are other states that we do operate from."

"We can operate from the Caribbean for ships that otherwise would've gone to Florida. We certainly hope that doesn't come to that. Everyone wants to operate out of Florida, it's a very lucrative market, it's close drive market."

When reporters asked Governor DeSantis about Del Rio's comment, DeSantis was not concerned with NCL's actions, and even called NCL "not one of the bigger" cruise lines. NCL is the third-largest cruise line in the world by passengers.

"The major cruise lines, Norwegian's not one of the bigger ones, by the way. Cruise lines have been operating in other parts of the world where there's no access to vaccine, much less the passengers required. And in areas where covid is more prevalent than it is in the United States right now."

"Royal Caribbean, Carnival, they want to go, they're going to be able to do it."

"I can tell you this, if one of the smaller ones says they somehow don't want that niche will get filled in Florida."

Governor DeSantis also talked about the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) handling of the cruise industry during the global health crisis, and how he feels the federal agency has overreached with its policies.

Senate Bill (SB) 2006 specifies the new law prohibits "a business entity from requiring patrons or customers to provide documentation certifying vaccination against or recovery from COVID-19."

"We are challenging the CDC's authority to do what they're doing. They mothballed the industry for over a year. That was never the intent of anything Congress has ever enacted. That was them exceeding their authority."

He specifically called out same CDC cruise ship policies that even Norwegian Cruise Line had issues with, "if you're sunbathing, you have to make sure they're wearing a mask while they're sunbathing. Are you kidding me? That is an absolute farce."

Read more: A look at the CDC's "preposterous" requirements for cruise ships test sailings

In terms of the new law that prohibits a company from asking for proof of a vaccine, Governor DeSantis said he wants cruise lines to be able to operate as they see fit up until a point, "What we want is the cruise lines to be open. And we want them to be able to make decisions about how they're going to how they're going to handle a lot of this stuff. That obviously is within the context of a Florida policy that respects the medical privacy of all Floridians."

"I'll hear is most people don't like the idea that if they show up at a ballgame, they got to whip out vaccination records or some things like that. But some say, well, maybe on a cruise, maybe we could do that a little different. Trust me, it will not stop at that. The minute that they start doing this, they're going to continue to do it. It will expand."

Governor DeSantis also touched upon the injunction the state is seeking against the CDC to allow ships to sail immediately, and he seemed optimistic about the legal challenge, "We had a great hearing. I think, by and large, the reports I heard in federal court yesterday."

"We think we got our points across. We think the judge was receptive."

We have another positive sign the U.S. cruise industry is moving towards re-opening.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (R-MD) announced plans for many restrictions to be lifted from the global health crisis, and that includes re-opening its cruise terminal.

As a result of widespread vaccination efforts and subsequent declines in key health metrics, Governor Hogan believes the time is right for restrictions to be lifted.

Along with many other venues, Maryland is moving to removing capacity restrictions on venues such as outdoor entertainment, art and sports venues as well as indoor entertainment and convention venues.

On Saturday, the Port of Baltimore will reopen its cruise terminal.

“Here in Maryland, our plan is to get everything back to normal by Memorial Day,” said Governor Hogan. “We are making amazing progress toward that goal. But once again, the fastest way to get rid of our damn masks and to put this pandemic behind us once and for all is for every single eligible Marylander to get vaccinated as quickly as possible.”

Following the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) providing cruise lines with new test sailing requirements, Executive Director of the Maryland Port Administration (MPA) William Doyle said he will be working towards a restart of cruises, "the port is a good starting point for the cruise ship industry because the ships that visit Baltimore are a little smaller."

"The MPA will continue working closely with the CDC to get cruising restarted."

Maryland will still require people to wear masks indoors, as well as at outdoor venues. Hogan said he will lift the mask mandate once 70% of adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Right now, 65.4% of the state’s adult population has had at least one dose, per state data.

What about other U.S. ports?

Baltimore's re-opening is good news for anyone that cruises from the Mid-Atlantic region, but what is the status of cruise ports around the country?

Many cruise ports are already open again.  Florida's cruise ports have been open and allowing cruise ships to come in for resupply and crew embarkation.

The Port of Galveston has also been open for cruise ships to conduct logistical operations during the shutdown. Last week, two Carnival Cruise Line ships came into Galveston to a flurry of celebrations.

In addition, Florida and Texas cruise ports are allowing cruise ships to get their crew members vaccinated.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D-NJ) announced yesterday he will sign an executive order for the state to formally move forward with what he called New Jersey’s “most aggressive” steps yet to ease coronavirus restrictions next week.

Governor Murphy did not specify the Cape Liberty cruise port in Bayonne specifically in his announcement.

The Port of Los Angeles is ready for the return of cruises, especially the return of Royal Caribbean after more than a decade away.

"Our longtime partners Princess Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Lines will also be resuming their robust schedule," Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said recently.

"Here at the port, each time a cruise ship calls in Los Angeles, it brings more than $1 million to area restaurants, hotels and businesses," Seroka said. "With Royal Caribbean’s nearly 100 new ship calls, along with our other cruise partners, we expect to add more than $230 million into our local economy in 2022."

A week after releasing its requirements and recommendations for cruise ships to implement as part of its test cruises, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated a handful of the rules. 

While the cruise industry welcomed a significant update from the CDC, many of the requirements were seen as over bearing and lacking scientific merit, especially since many or all of the passengers will be fully vaccinated. 

In order to conduct test or revenue cruises, cruise lines must adhere to the CDC's requirements, and subsequently apply for permission to operate from the United States.

The CDC updated the cruise lines on Wednesday with new revisions to the Operations Manual.

The updates focus in a few key areas, and attempt to slightly loosen the previous guidance primarily for fully vaccinated passengers. 

In the CDC's email, they outlined a few key areas of change:

• Vaccinated passengers are no longer required to wear a mask outside (except in crowded spaces), but unvaccinated passengers still must, including while sunbathing on lounge chairs spaced 6 feet apart and in between bites and sips during outdoor meal service.  
• All passengers (vaccinated or not) must still wear a mask in between bites and sips while dining indoors.  
• The ban on independent shoreside exploration for all passengers (vaccinated and not) has been moved from a requirement to a recommendation 
• Buffets are still prohibited, even on fully vaccinated sailings.
• The new update continues to treat vaccinated sailings the exact same as sailings that include a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated passengers. It treats vaccinated and unvaccinated passengers differently in some scenarios, but continues to impose the same requirements for cruise ships that require 100% vaccination as compared to those that will allow a mix.

Rescinding the shore excursion rule to a recommendation is arguably the best of the changes announced, as it leaves the decision the cruise lines and what is happening at the time of travel. 

The CDC's guidance matches Norwegian Cruise Line's change in allowing guests to book independent tours.

Unfortunately, many of the other rewording and changes leave the requirements still with a lack of common sense considering the high levels of vaccinated passengers, as well as what is happening in society on land today.

As an example, the CDC calls for an elimination of all self-service buffets and salad bars. Supermarkets around the United States have brought back their buffets months ago, and the buffets in Las Vegas are reopening, with restaurants permitted to offer 80 percent capacity and three feet of social distancing.

The guidance still retains outdated recommendations, like designating certain stairwells as "up" and "down",or suggesting guests wear a proximity band to alert them if they are too close to someone else.

At its heart, the CDC's guidance remains outdated, and slow to respond to even basic changes.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings CEO Frank Del Rio called the CDC's guidelines "unfair" and "never consistent."

He specifically called out the rule requiring vaccinated patrons to put their masks back on between bites in a restaurant., "Even though everyone onboard would be vaccinated, in between bites of your meal and in between sips of your beverage, you have to put on your mask, take off your mask."

"Nobody should order soup because your mask might get sloppy. That to me is just preposterous."