Royal Caribbean Blog

Happy Mothers Day! All the moms out there deserve a big hug, thank you, and hopefully a new cruise booking too.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has given cruise lines new instructions for test cruises and even sailings from the United States.

The CDC released the next two phases of its Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) that will allow for the "eventual resumption of U.S. cruise industry operations."

The new instructions cover the test cruises that cruise ships would need to conduct in order to start sailing passenger sailings under a COVID-19 Conditional Sailing Certificate.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean begins vaccinating crew members in Miami
• Royal Caribbean says kids may be able to cruise under CDC's 95% vaccinated restart plan
• Norwegian Cruise Line CEO says July cruises from U.S. "not possible"
• Royal Caribbean releases new Enchantment of the Seas 2022-2023 sailings from Baltimore
• Norwegian Cruise Line warns it could move cruise ships from Florida due to vaccine passport ban
• Royal Caribbean will begin hiring crew members from India again later this month
• New renderings released of Royal Caribbean's new cruise terminal in Galveston
• Florida Governor signs bill banning vaccine passports possibly affecting cruise ship restart
• Florida Governor thinks cruise lines don't need ability to require vaccine proof from passengers
• Texas joins lawsuit against CDC to get cruises restarted
• What’s New & Coming to Royal Caribbean in 2021, 2022 & 2023
• What it was like to go on a Royal Caribbean cruise in the 1970s
• What is the difference between Royal Caribbean's Voom Surf and Voom Surf and Stream?

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 405th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available,which takes a look at the big cruise news outside of Royal Caribbean.

This week, Ashley and Matt look at all the cruise news happening with other cruise lines.

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: 10 Cruise ship mistakes travel agents see people doing all the time!

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 — 10 Cruise ship mistakes travel agents see people doing all the time! — and don’t forget to subscribe here.

Royal Caribbean Summer 2021 Cruise Planning Guide

This summer there were will be at least a few ships sailing from ports in the Caribbean and Europe, and I have important tips and things to know about reserving and planning for these summer sailings.

One thing is certain for these summer 2021 cruises, and that is there will be changes and new protocols in place that are new to any cruiser.

With that in mind, our Summer 2021 Cruise Planning Guide shares advice, tips, and news you should be aware of for cruises in summer 2021.

Royal Caribbean will once again start hiring crew members from India.

Less than two weeks after announcing the cruise line would temporarily halt hiring crew members from India, later this month the policy will revert back.

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley posted on Facebook that the hirings will once again commence, beginning on May 21st.

"We are starting crewing from India on May 21st," Mr. Bayley announced in his post, and said "enhanced protocols" will be used for these crew members.

Crew coming from India will undergo a rigorous set of testing and quarantine procedures to ensure they can safely join a ship:

1. PCR Test
2. 14 day quarantine
3. PCR Test
4. Charter flight
5. PCR Test
6. Given a Covid-19 vaccine
7. Quarantine
8. PCR Test

Mr. Bayley said these protocols will be in place at least for a "short time", although these sort of enhanced protocols will be used for crew members coming from other countries where new Covid-19 case counts are surging.

Since the additional quarantine requirements will take up more time than the usual onboarding process, crew contracts will be extended by 2 months.

Large scale vaccinations for crew

In addition to vaccinating crew members coming from India, Royal Caribbean has been systematically bringing ships to PortMiami to get crew members vaccinated there.

In less than a week, crew members from Explorer, Liberty, Navigator, Freedom, Independence and Mariner of the Seas have all received their first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Reports are more ships are to arrive soon as well for their jabs.

Mr. Bayley also celebrated the World Health Organization approving Sinopharm vaccine, which is China's vaccine option that is more easily available in China and other nearby countries.

A WHO emergency listing is a signal to national regulators that a product is safe and effective. It also allows it to be included in COVAX, a global program to provide vaccines mainly for poor countries, which has hit supply problems.

The WHO had already given emergency approval to COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and, last week, Moderna.

We have a new idea of what Royal Caribbean's new cruise terminal in Galveston will look like once completed.

The Terminal 3 cruise terminal is under construction, and a new artist concept rendering of the building and surround area has been released.

Construction of the terminal was delayed due to the global health crisis, but work began in April 2021 on the 10 acre parcel of land that will soon be home to Allure of the Seas.

Terminal 3 will be built at Pier 10 for exclusive use by Royal Caribbean, and it appears Bermello Ajamil & Partners Inc.are the architects chosen to work on the project.

If the firm's name does not sound familiar, their work certainly speaks for itself, as they have worked on a variety of terminals and cruise projects.

Their work includes:

• Terminal A in PortMiami
• Port Everglades Terminal 25 & 18
• MSC Ocean Cay Marine Reserve Private Island
• Cape Liberty Cruise Terminal
• Disney's Castaway Cay Private Island

The main building has the Royal Caribbean logo prominently featured against many shades of blue around a circular design.

The cruise terminal is estimated to cost $100 million and encompass 150,000 square feet of space.

When the project was announced, Royal Caribbean said the new terminal would be large enough to handle Royal Caribbean's largest cruise ships, including an Oasis Class ship or one of the new Icon Class ships.

The facility will feature state-of-the-art technology, including mobile check-in and facial recognition to expedite guest arrival. The terminal will be designed and developed sustainably to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental) certification standards.

The contract maintains a target completion date of September 1, 2022 to complete the terminal, which is well ahead of the planned arrival of Allure of the Seas on November 13, 2022.

Royal Caribbean did ask the Port of Galveston for some extra buffer time to complete the terminal in case the cruise industry remains shutdown longer than anticipated.

Royal Caribbean had asked for a 6-month extension but negotiations resulted in only a 3-month extension. The cruise line is obligated to begin paying rent when the first ship docks at the new terminal, but not later than September 30, 2023.  

Original Concept Art for the Galveston Cruise Terminal 3

The plan for now is for Allure of the Seas to arrive on November 13, 2022.

The Port of Galveston has been working on their portion of the project throughout global health crisis and remains on track to support the project with utilities, parking lots, road and traffic improvements, landscaping, dredging, and other work.

Will Florida's new law that prevents a company from asking for proof of a Covid-19 vaccine create a problem for cruise lines trying to restart cruises?

While Florida's Governor does not think there is an issue with the new law, at least one cruise line has said it is indeed an issue.

During the Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH) earnings call with investors, CEO Frank Del Rio described the new law as "an issue".

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed a new law that prohibits businesses from being able to ask for proof of a vaccine from their customers.

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."

Mr. Del Rio believes this may come down a legal issue between state and federal jurisdiction, but he also said there is a possibility their cruise ships would have to sail from another state.

"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."

Mr. Del Rio indicated NCLH is having discussions with the Governor's office, but thinks this is "a classic state versus Federal Government issue".

Governor DeSantis doesn't think cruise ships need to ask passengers for proof of a vaccine, because of how well cruise operations are doing overseas.

On Tuesday, Governor DeSantis dismissed the notion cruise ships need the ability to require a vaccine, "These cruise ships are sailing in other parts of the world where they don't even have vaccines available and they're doing it safely and people are having a good time on it. So so they can do it."

It was not clear if he was talking in general terms, or in reference to the federal guidelines.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) presented its instructions for cruise lines this week on how to apply for test sailings and restart cruises, which include a few possibilities of requiring a Covid-19 vaccine to sail.

The CDC will allow cruise lines to skip a test sailing if they can ensure 95% of the passengers are fully vaccinated against Covid-19. 

Even if cruise ships engage in test sailings, volunteer cruisers onboard these simulated voyages need to be vaccinated as well.

Norwegian Cruise Line has already committed itself to requiring 100% of its passengers and crew members to be vaccinated, and submitted a plan to the CDC about a month ago.

Thus far, NCLH has not heard back from the CDC.

"We want clearance for 100%," said Del Rio after being asked about Florida's law. "And as of today, which is a little over a month since we submitted our proposal to the CDC, we've not yet heard back from them. And that is very disappointing."

The chances of cruises from the U.S. this July seem unlikely, given recent comments from Norwegian Cruise Line.

Speaking at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. quarterly earnings call, CEO Frank Del Rio told Wall Street analysts a July restart in the United States is "just not possible".

"The July U.S. launch, at least for our company, is just not possible,” Del Rio confessed.

"It was possible back in early April when we proposed to the CDC 100 percent vaccination, so from April 5, 90 days would be early July so that was possible."

"But today we're in early May, and we're looking past that."

While he did not say exactly which dates would be practical, he did indicate they need about 90 days to get a ship ready to restart.

"Our team is working through the new guidance, but at first glance, however, it appears the path forward is a bit rockier and a bit steeper than originally expected."

Royal Caribbean has not commented on the fate of July cruises from the United States.

Mr. Del Rio also said he was disappointed in the new CDC rules for test sailings in the United States “at first read” and found them onerous and in part “preposterous."

"I'm disappointed, at first read. I'm going to give the CDC the opportunity to explain and clarify, and we have a call with them this afternoon."

The new guidelines from the CDC were released on Wednesday and include requirements such as mask wearing, vaccines for volunteers, social distancing, and more.

According to Del Rio, Norwegian plans to start off with a 100% vaccination mandate for cruise ship passengers.

In response to a question about how the CDC has treated the cruise industry, Mr. Del Rio responded, "We're perplexed. We're flabbergasted. We're outraged."

"We're willing to vaccinate every single person onboard a cruise ship. There isn't another venue on earth -- not a school, a factory, your office -- that can make that claim."

Royal Caribbean has released new sailings to book on Enchantment of the Seas.

The new sailings are part of the 2022-2023 Northeast United States deployment, and begin on November 3, 2022.

Enchantment of the Seas will return to Baltimore, offering a variety of longer sailings that range in duration between 7 and 12 nights.

Enchantment of the Seas will remain in Baltimore, having replaced Grandeur of the Seas after it looked like Grandeur would be sold to Pullmantur Cruises.  That plan was cancelled following the global health crisis shutting down the cruise industry and subsequent financial difficulties for Pullmantur.

There are a great variety of ports you can visit during your Enchantment of the Seas cruise, including Charleston, South Carolina; Perfect Day at CocoCay; St Kitts; Antigua and more.

Read more: Must Do Royal Caribbean: Enchantment of the Seas

The new sailings are available to book immediately.

You can view the full list of sailings available to book here.

The release of the the Enchantment sailings follows the release other deployments, including 7-night Caribbean, Long Caribbean Winter 2022-2023, Short Caribbean, Northeast and China & Hawaii sailings a few weeks ago.

Read more: 3 surprising facts about Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas

The remaining piece of the 2022-2023 deployment schedule is Fall 2022 - Winter 2023 Singapore sailings, which will be released the week of July 19, 2021.

Planning on booking a 2022 or 2023 cruise? These stories will help:

• Eight Southern Caribbean Cruise Tips & Secrets
• The differences between Royal Caribbean's ships
• How to choose the right Caribbean cruise sailing

Another state has joined the lawsuit to get cruise ships sailing again.

The State of Texas has joined the lawsuit against the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that was started by Florida.

Texas is the second state to join the lawsuit, following Alaska last week.

DisneyCruiseLineBlog discovered the filing, which was filed on May 5.

In the lawsuit, Texas says it is suing the CDC because the "CDC’s outdated and unlawful regulation harms the State of Texas, its economy, and its citizens."

Specifically, Texas believes the Conditional Sail Order (CSO) is unlawful and has a great effect on the local economy.

This litigation concerns the lawfulness of a CDC regulatory order with a profound effect on the Texas public fisc, including tax revenues to the state and the well-being of multiple industries vital to the State’s economy. The CDC order also raises constitutional concerns bearing on the lawfulness and reach of the CDC’s authority.

The first hearing in the lawsuit is scheduled for May 12.

The lawsuit comes just days after a rally was held in Galveston when the Carnival Breeze and Carnival Vista arrived at the port to begin crew vaccinations.

Carnival Cruise Line joined members of the Federal Maritime Commission, Galveston city and port officials and local businesses at the Port of Galveston to highlight the economic impact of cruising in Galveston and throughout Texas.

In the lawsuit, Texas believes the Port of Galveston is uniquely situated to address local Covid-19 concerns. The port is located just one mile from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston UTMB is one of the largest academic medical hospitals in the country, and its facilities include a National Biosafety Level 4 Laboratory.

The Port of Galveston has also already held a table-top exercise preparing for possible COVID-19 outbreaks on-ship.

Texas also states the shutdown has cost the state $1.2 billion in direct spending. The cruise shutdown has also cost 23,000 jobs, and $1.6 billion in lost wages across the State of Texas.

What the lawsuit aims to do

The purpose of the lawsuit is to get the CSO dropped immediately, so that cruise lines can pursue restart plans.

While the CDC has recently updated its guidance and provided instructions for cruise lines to restart operations, the lawsuit wants the cruise lines to be unencumbered by the regulations.  

Texas wants the cruise lines to adhere to "reasonable restrictions within its statutory authority" instead of the CDC's order.

How does the new CDC update factor in?

One major change that the lawsuit does not cover is the recent announcement by the CDC to provide the test sailing steps for cruise lines to restart sailings.

Cruise lines received final technical guidelines on Wednesday from the CDC for the trial runs. When Florida filed its lawsuit last month, much of the impetus behind it was a lack of progress by the CDC.

Test cruises will be between two and seven nights and must have enough passengers to meet at least 10% of the ship's capacity. Volunteers must be 18 or older and either fully vaccinated or free of medical conditions that would put them at high risk for severe Covid-19.

Restrictions on board will include face masks and social distancing.

Alternatively, cruise ships could skip the test sailings if they can ensure 98% of crew and 95% of passengers are vaccinated.

Cruise lines now have what they need to resume cruises from the United States.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the next two phases of its Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) that will allow for the "eventual resumption of U.S. cruise industry operations."

According to the CDC, cruise line now have all necessary requirements needed "to start simulated voyages before resuming restricted passenger voyages and apply for a COVID-19 conditional sailing certificate to begin sailing with restricted passenger voyages." 

The new instructions cover the test cruises that cruise ships would need to conduct in order to start sailing passenger sailings under a COVID-19 Conditional Sailing Certificate. 

CDC may adjust these requirements and recommendations based on public health considerations and other factors.

Phase 2B - Test cruises

Cruise lines can apply to the CDC at least 30 calendar days prior to when a test cruise is scheduled to sail.

The documentation included in the application will specify the dates and location of the test sailing, include verification that it adheres to the various agreements and requirements of the CSO, and other documentation.

Also included in the application will be the list of protocols or practices to be simulated, which must, at a minimum, incorporate the requirements for conducting simulated voyages under these technical instructions.

Test cruises can be skipped at a cruise line's discretion if 98 percent of crew are fully vaccinated and submit to CDC a clear and specific vaccination plan and timeline to limit cruise ship sailings to 95 percent of passengers who have been verified by the cruise ship operator as fully vaccinated prior to sailing.

After applying, the CDC will respond "in a timely manner".  The CDC can oversee and inspect the test cruise, including through in-person or remote means allowing for visual observation.

Volunteers for test cruises

Cruise lines will need volunteers to help test out the ships during these simulated voyages. and has outlined new requirements for volunteers:

• The minimum number of required volunteer passengers for each simulated voyage must be at least 10% of the maximum number of passengers permitted onboard for restricted voyages.
• All volunteers must show proof of being fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
• Volunteers must be made aware of the CDC's health notice regarding Covid-19 and cruise ship travel.
• All volunteer passengers must be informed in writing that they are participating in a simulation of health and safety protocols that are unproven and untested in the United States for purposes of simulating a cruise ship voyage and that sailing during a pandemic is an inherently risky activity. 
• All volunteer passengers must be at least eighteen years old or older on the day of the simulation and at the time that their consent to participate is obtained.
• Volunteers cannot be paid, and cannot go on a sailing in exchange for consideration or future reward.
• All volunteer passengers must agree in writing to post-disembarkation specimen collection for COVID-19 testing at 3 to 5 days after completion of the simulated voyage. 
• To facilitate contact tracing, the cruise ship operator must advise all volunteer passengers to notify the cruise ship operator if they develop symptoms of COVID-19 or are diagnosed with COVID-19 with any SARS-CoV-2 viral test within 14 days after the voyage. Passengers who develop symptoms within 14 days should be advised to be tested. The cruise ship operator must in turn report aggregate results to CDC in the after-action report or through an amended after-action report.

Test cruise requirements

Here is a list of what cruise lines need to do during a test sailing.

• At least one simulation must be conducted for each ship for which the cruise ship operator intends to commence restricted passenger voyages. 
• Simulated voyages must be between 2-7 days in length with a least one overnight stay to test the efficacy of the cruise ship operator’s ability to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 onboard the cruise ship, including through embarkation, disembarkation, and post-disembarkation testing.
  • CDC recommends a minimum voyage length of 3 days with 2 overnight stays.
• The cruise ship operator 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, as required by CDC technical instructions or orders.
• The cruise ship’s color-coding status must be Green or Orange at the time of the simulated voyage.
• Activities conducted on voyages that occurred outside of U.S. waters during the period of the No Sail Order (NSO) and the CSO that were not conducted as part of a CDC-approved simulated voyage, do not count towards the activities that must be simulated on a simulated voyage. 
• The cruise ship operator must modify meal service and entertainment venues to facilitate social distancing during the simulated voyage.
• These activities must be conducted on one, or over the course of many, test sailings:
  • 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.

A test cruise can be ended if a threshold of COVID-19 cases is met or exceeded during the sailing.

The CDC lists the threshold at 1.5% of COVID-19 cases is detected in passengers or 1.0% of COVID-19 cases is detected in crew. This threshold can be changed later by the CDC for a variety of factors.

As an example,  if there were 1,000 passengers on a test sailing, 15 positive cases among the guests would end the cruise.

Major step forward

The new instructions provided by the CDC are the best sign yet that cruises may restart from the United States sooner, rather than later.

The test cruise instructions also put into writing the CDC's letter to the cruise lines sent last week, which provides an option to restart sailings sooner if cruise lines adhere to a 98% vaccinated rate for crew members and 95% rate for passengers.

The new instructions are a long time coming, having been promised back in October 2020 when the CSO replaced the No Sail Order.

Moreover, they follow up on the disappointing instructions the CDC provided in early April that made it seem like nothing had really changed.  With these new instructions, there appears to be a path forward.

The cruise industry has arguably never been more optimistic about its chances to restart cruises from the United States, and kids may not be necessarily excluded.

There was speculation that the restart plans may require kids to be left out of the equation, but Royal Caribbean told travel agents today that kids are still part of the plan.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told cruise lines last week that cruises could start as soon as mid-July if they committed to sailing with 98% of crew and 95% of passengers vaccinated for COVID-19.

By requesting 95% of passengers be vaccinated instead of 100%, Royal Caribbean believes this is to allow children to sail.

 Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, Vicki Freed, told travel agents in a webinar that the CDC's plan was purposefully left short of requiring 100% vaccinated passengers so that kids could sail.

"The reason for that is because children do not have to be vaccinated if they are under 18," Ms. Freed explained after getting asked why not require everyone to be vaccinated. "And so at this point, that is where the difference between the ninety five and one hundred percent."

"All adults will need to be vaccinated, but children under 18 do not need to be vaccinated, but they still have to take a Covid test prior to boarding."

With Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine very likely getting approval for children as young as 12 years old, that essentially leaves the 11 and under age bracket as the demographic that would not be able to be included in the 95% guideline by the CDC.

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley said during last week's earnings call with investors that the amount of children under 12 years old is not a significant number, "Obviously, we carry a lot of kids 11 and under. But, relatively speaking, as a percentage of our total guest count, it’s quite a small number. So we’re not overly concerned with that."

Read more: Everything we know about if Royal Caribbean will require a vaccine

Ms. Freed also told travel agents that additional updates from Royal Caribbean and the CDC should be coming soon, "we are working daily with the CDC, and things are moving in a very fast and positive direction."

"Stay tuned to your emails from us, because we will be communicating on a daily basis as things are changing. And we do suspect within a very short period of time we will have announcements ready to go."

"Travel partners, I really feel positive about this one."

Prior to the CDC's update, Norwegian Cruise Line announced a restart plan it submitted to the CDC that would require 100% vaccinated guests onboard, which did not leave an option for unvaccinated children to sail.

If approved, 100% vaccinated guests and crew and reduced capacity initially will be part of a phased-in launch.

Florida's Governor believes cruise lines can operate without requiring proof of a vaccine from passengers safely based on what is happening around the world.

Speaking at a press conference in Miami on Tuesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) touched on the subject of requiring proof of a vaccine for cruise ships following his ban of Covid-19 vaccine passports in the state.

Earlier this week, Governor DeSantis signed a bill that prohibits businesses from being able to ask for proof of a vaccine from their customers.

In Senate Bill (SB) 2006, it specifically states, "prohibiting a business entity from requiring patrons or customers to provide documentation certifying vaccination against or recovery from COVID-19."

A business entity, as defined in s. 768.38 to include any business operating in this state, may not require patrons or customers to provide any documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination or post-infection recovery to gain access to, entry upon, or service from the business operations in this state.

This subsection does not otherwise restrict businesses from instituting screening protocols consistent with authoritative or controlling government-issued guidance to protect public health.

During his press conference on Tuesday, Governor DeSantis said he did not think cruise lines needed the ability to require proof of a vaccine, "Some people say, oh, well, the cruise ships need it.

"These cruise ships are sailing in other parts of the world where they don't even have vaccines available and they're doing it safely and people are having a good time on it. So so they can do it."

Governor DeSantis appears to be referring to cruise ships sailing currently from Asia and Europe, such as Quantum of the Seas from Singapore.

Quantum of the Seas has been operating from Singapore since December 2020, although Singapore is a country with less than 400 active cases of Covid-19 at the moment.

The new Florida law potentially puts it at odds with the new opportunity from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), which would allow cruise ships to restart sailings sooner if they have at least 95% vaccinated cruise passengers.

If cruise lines were to require 95% vaccinated passengers, they could skip test sailings and other regulartory hurdles and return to service much faster.

Royal Caribbean has not officially decided if it will require its cruise ship passengers to get a vaccine as a matter of fleet wide policy, although it is requiring the vaccine for select ships that will be restarting cruises outside the United States this summer.

DeSantis defended the vaccine passport ban by saying he is concerned it could be used by companies to restrict people from even basic functions, "you don't want a society in which just to do basic things, restaurant, movie, you know, go on an airplane that you have to be producing proof of this."

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley indicated it would be possible for some ships to start cruising under the vaccinated approach, while others could pursue restart under the Conditional Sail Order rules without a vaccine requirement.

Last week, Mr. Bayley spoke about these options, "There'll be really two pathways, one pathway for vaccinated crew and largely vaccinated guests that meet the threshold that they've defined. And that would mean that there wouldn't be a requirement for a simulated voyage etc, and there would be a different expectation on protocols and planning. So it's a faster route."

"And then for ships that wouldn't wouldn't meet that threshold for whatever reason, there would be a different timeline and a different set of protocols and requirements."

"So fundamentally that there's two pathways. It's not that simple, but that's a way of simplifying."

Cruise lines have not talked publicly yet about how the new bill might affect their restart plans.  The new bill goes into effect July 1st.

If a cruise line were to not pursue the 95% vaccinated option by the CDC, it appears they could still restart cruises under the conditions set out in the CDC's Conditional Sail Order, which requires significantly more time and milestones to hit that involve test cruises before revenue sailings could begin.