Royal Caribbean Blog

It has been almost a week since Canada banned cruise ships for one year, so why hasn't Royal Caribbean cancelled those sailings yet?

Many cruise fans have been asking this question, and the answer appears cruise lines are still exploring alternative options to allow these cruises to go.

Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, Vicki Freed, addressed this concern with travel agents during an online webinar.

She said she had a conversation with Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley about the topic, and he indicated they are looking for other ways to get around the ban.

"We don't have information and we don't have answers yet. But we're looking at maybe there's an opportunity for an exemption, maybe there's not."

"We are committed to sharing our plan with you once we've evaluated all options for the impacted itineraries to Alaska and also those departing from the northeast. So more details to come."

The exemption that Ms. Freed referred to is the idea that the Passenger Vessel Service Act (PVSA) of 1886 could be temporarily waived for cruise ships in 2021.

Sometimes erroneously called the Jones Act, the PVSA requires foreign flagged cruise ships to make a stop in a foreign country when operating closed-loop cruises from the United States.

In addition to cruise line's efforts to get a waiver, two U.S. Senators and one Congressman announced they are "exploring all potential avenues, including changing existing laws."

Moreover, Canada did leave open the possibility of rescinding the ban if the global health crisis improves before the ban is set to expire.

Royal Caribbean could be holding off canceling Alaska cruises because of optimism related to the distribution of vaccines in the United States and Canada. By summer, the situation could be vastly different than today, which could open the door for a limited cruise season.

In the meantime, Royal Caribbean has already pulled down the 2021 Alaska and New England sailings from their website.

While the 2021 cruises are not yet cancelled, you can no longer book the sailings either via the cruise line website.

There are still a few months before Royal Caribbean's cruise season in Alaska would begin, and the fallout of Canada's ban is starting to get attention.  So there is still a lot of runway left for cruise lines to determine if there are any options left for them to salvage the Alaska cruise season in 2021.

What should you do if you have a 2021 cruise booked?

At this point, if you have a 2021 cruise to Alaska or New England booked, my advice is to hold onto it.

It is far more lucrative to have Royal Caribbean cancel the cruise than for you to cancel it on your own. By waiting for Royal Caribbean to cancel, you will get the option for a full cash refund, 125% onboard credit, or even Lift and Shift.

If you cancel on your own, you are subject to the standard refund policies.  For those with non-refundable cruise deposits, this means a penalty for canceling the cruise.

The only Royal Caribbean cruise ship able to sail right now will continue calling Singapore home for a few months longer.

Royal Caribbean announced that Quantum of the Seas will remain in Singapore until June 2021 to continue offering cruises for three additional months between March 22, 2021 and June 21, 2021.

Quantum was deployed to Singapore in December 2020 to offer cruises exclusively to residents of Singapore.  

Just like the original sailings, these new sailings will be "cruises to nowhere" with no port stops. 

Now available for bookings, these 2-, 3- and 4-night Ocean Getaways will continue to operate with the same set of comprehensive health and safety measures in place, such as mandatory testing, reduced sailing capacity and strict physical distancing measures.

"We are thrilled to announce the extension of the sailing season and look forward to having guests experience first-hand our signature cruise vacation that has wowed local cruisers already, with many booking repeat visits," said Angie Stephen, Managing Director, Asia-Pacific, Royal Caribbean International. "Our close partnership with the Singapore Government has played an instrumental role in the success of these pilot cruises, and we remain committed to safeguarding the health and safety of our guests and crew during these additional sailings."

The additional sailings have been added following the cruise line's decision to cancel all of the scheduled sailings to Alaska for Quantum of the Seas so that the ship could remain in Singapore.

These new cruises are only available to residents of Singapore.

Success in Singapore

Quantum of the Seas has been able to restart cruises successfully in Singapore in a world where much of the cruise ship industry remains shutdown.

For two months now, Quantum of the Seas has been able to sail and avoided any outbreaks on the ship.  Despite a false positive scare, the ship has been able to operate under Singapore's pilot program, which allows cruise ships to sail with comprehensive protocols.

In order to offer cruises in a safe manner, Royal Caribbean came up with sweeping changes to its ship that would facilitate all the necessary new protocols.

These multilayered health and safety measures were created based on science, data driven and developed with expert guidance from the Healthy Sail Panel, Royal Caribbean Group’s Head of Public Health and Chief Medical Officer and the Singapore Ministry of Health. 

Quantum of the Seas has a reduced capacity onboard, and has implemented mandatory universal testing during embarkation and debarkation, and enforced mask wearing, physical distancing and enhanced cleaning practices across the ship, among other required practices.

New to the cruise experience is Royal Caribbean’s Tracelet, a custom wearable required for all guests and crew on board Quantum of the Seas. The technology helps monitor physical distancing and the cruise line’s contract tracing procedures.  

For a healthier and safer adventure for all, guests and crew must wear masks on board and during signature experiences.

Canada's decision to ban all cruise ships for a year is not sitting well with the state of Alaska.

Following Canada's Ministry of Transport decision to ban cruise ships from its waters until February 2022, lawmakers are looking for ways to salvage a critical piece of Alaska' tourism industry.

Without access to Canadian ports, cruise ships cannot legally sail to Alaska due to U.S. maritime law. 

In a joint statement, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Sen. Dan Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young, called the Canadian cruise ship ban, "unacceptable" and said they are looking for answers as to why the ban had to be so long.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan

The joint statement criticizes Canada's decision without first discussing the matter with the Alaska delegation, "Canada’s announcement to ban all cruise sailings carrying 100 people or more traveling through Canadian waters, without so much as a courtesy conversation with the Alaska Delegation, is not only unexpected—it is unacceptable—and was certainly not a decision made with any consideration for Alaskans or our economy."

"We expect more from our Canadian allies."

Since the ban was announced, the Senators and Congressman have reached out to American and Canadian authorities to get a better sense of why the ban had to be so long.

"We are exploring all potential avenues, including changing existing laws, to ensure the cruise industry in Alaska resumes operations as soon as it is safe. We will fight to find a path forward."

On Twitter, Senator Sullivan said he was "stunned" by Canada's ban.

"I was stunned by Canada's decision to ban cruise vessel crossings in Canadian waters for another full year—a decision made without consultation or notice of Alaskans. This is unacceptable, and not in keeping with the cooperative relationship we’ve had with our Canadian neighbors."

I was stunned by Canada's decision to ban cruise vessel crossings in Canadian waters for another full year—a decision made without consultation or notice of Alaskans. This is unacceptable, and not in keeping with the cooperative relationship we’ve had with our Canadian neighbors. https://t.co/9zCep5DomW

— Sen. Dan Sullivan (@SenDanSullivan) February 5, 2021

Why can't cruises sail without Canada?

Canada's ban will prevent Alaska sailings out of Seattle via Canada because of maritime law.

Most countries, including the United States, have cabotage laws designed to protect the U.S. maritime industry.  

The Passenger Vessel Service Act (PVSA) of 1886 requires foreign flagged cruise ships to call on a foreign port if sailing a closed-loop cruise form the United States.

This means, cruise ships cannot sail from Seattle and only visit Alaska ports.  It must make a stop outside the country, and Canada is the only place between Seattle and Alaska for that.

The justification for both the PVSA is to protect the U.S. Merchant Marine (the licensed (officers) and documented (trades) personnel on the ships) and to protect U.S. shipyards that both build and repair the ships .

The cruise industry has been shutdown for an entire year and losing billions of dollars each quarter. So why are cruise ships still being built?

If you read just a few articles about what is happening in the cruise industry, you would know the industry is facing its most dire circumstances, perhaps ever. With mounting loses, debt piling up, and very few ships actually sailing, you might be wondering why cruise ship orders are still being filled and new ships launching.

It's a good question given everything happening today, and the answer lies has less to do with today and more to do with tomorrow.

A number of new cruise ships were delivered in 2020, and more will be delivered in 2021.

Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Carnival, and many more lines took delivery of ships and even announced new ships that will be built in the next few years.

Royal Caribbean has plans for Odyssey of the Seas to join the fleet in Spring 2021 and Wonder of the Seas sometime in 2022. There are orders on file for other new ships in the coming years too.

On top of that, quite a few existing cruise ships were sold to be scrapped many years sooner than likely would have happened if there had not been a global health crisis.

Moreover, these ships were scrapped because of the lack of need for these ships right now, the high costs of maintaining them, and the lack of buyers to transfer the ship to their fleet.

It would seem given the mounting debts and financially motivated scrapping of existing ships that building new cruise ships would be the last thing cruise lines would want to do.

So why are cruise ships still being built?

First, cruise ships are ordered many years in advance and they get financed just as early.

As an example, Odyssey of the Seas, which was set to debut in 2020 but had to be pushed back to 2021 due to the global health crisis, was ordered back in November 2015.

Construction of Odyssey began in earnest on February 1, 2019.

Wonder of the Seas, the next Oasis Class cruise ship, was ordered on May 25, 2016 and construction began on April 24, 2019.

Basically, cruise ships we are seeing coming out of shipyards today were ordered many years ago.

Similar to when you buy a car and finance it, you place the order and agree to pay it off over the course of many months.

The second reason why ships are still being built is the cruise industry being shutdown and health crisis has lead to the ability to delay these new ship deliveries.

Ordinarily, a new cruise ship delivery is rarely delayed much, but the unprecedented situation that the entire cruise industry is under has opened up many more possibilities.

Between the cruise lines and shipyards, new ship orders have been delayed in order to space them out better and provide more time for cruise lines to secure additional funding, as well as become situated in a better position.

Odyssey of the Seas was delayed from an original delivery date in 2020, and Wonder of the Seas was similarly pushed back a year.

Read more: Top 5 things Royal Caribbean had planned for 2020 that got delayed

Thus far, orders for new ships have not been completely cancelled, but instead put off to a further date with the hope things will improve financially for cruise lines. Because of the long amount of time needed to build a ship, even a ship that begins construction today, will not be ready for at least a couple of years.

If all of that makes sense, then why are cruise lines building new ships at the same time they are scrapping and selling off many other ships?

The answer boils down to the economics of operating cruise ships.

New ships run more efficiently than older ships because of a combination of new design trends, more berths, and revenue opportunities onboard.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Chief Financial Officer Jason Liberty told investors that the company could break even with use of fewer, but newer cruise ships, in lieu of older ships.

"For our newer ships, you need about 30 percent load factors to kind of break even. And then they skew to about 50 percent load factor on onto our older ships."

In addition, selling older ships is something that always happened.  Granted, some ships that got scrapped in 2020 might have been sold to another operator if there had not been a global health emergency, but the fact is cruise lines sell ships when the time is right.

Mr. Liberty also said that Royal Caribbean typically sells one to two ships per year.

So the shutdown may have accelerated plans to sell off ships and in some cases, caused vessels to be scrapped instead of sold to another company.

Lastly, cruise ships are still being built because cruise lines are also looking at the big picture.

In the long term, a return to cruising means meeting the pent-up demand for travel that everyone will want to embark on once things start moving back in the direction of normal.

Prior to the shutdown, the cruise industry was extremely profitable, and new ships sell extremely well.

So new cruise ship orders are not being cancelled because there is still a great deal of optimism for what the future holds, while also coming at the expense of older and less efficient/profitable ships.

As the cruise industry reaches the one year mark of being shutdown, Cozumel has proposed it transition from port of call to homeport.

During a radio interview, the mayor of Cozumel proposed allowing cruise ships to sail from the island so that cruises could restart in the Caribbean more easily.

Riviera Maya News posted the transcript of a radio interview by Pedro Joaquín Delbouis, where he said he has reached out to at least one cruise with the proposal.

In his frustration that the cruise industry remains shutdown, Mayor Delbouis thinks cruises could sail from Cozumel to destinations in the Caribbean.

Read more: Things to do in Cozumel on your Royal Caribbean cruise

"There is constant communication with the United States authorities and the Caribbean Cruise Association and there is nothing scheduled for this first quarter, so together with the Secretary of Tourism, we propose that we be a home port."

"There is still no answer with the US lines, but we are in talks with the MSC, which managed an itinerary through the Caribbean without touching North American soil."

"If they cannot leave from the United States, let them make a route to the Caribbean sailing from Cozumel."

Cozumel has long been a destination for cruise ships to visit, but sailing from the island would present a series of challenges, including facilities for embarkation, supplies, and getting passengers easily to the island.

Mayor Delbouis added he thought sailings could include stops in places such as Havana, Cuba or Progreso, Mexico.

His idea is to have, "one or two weekly departures from here."

Read more: Best Cozumel beach resorts

The Mayor did concede that the plan would not be easy to get started, "We know that supply logistics is not easy at all, and more so from an island, but it can be done."

In a separate statement, Mayor Delbouis called on Mexico's federal government to provide support for the plan, "The cruise ships could sail from Cozumel, but we need the support of the federal government."

The key to having cruise ships sail from Cozumel is based on the construction of the fourth cruise ship dock in Cozumel, which began work in October 2020.

This infrastructure is among the 39 projects that make up the Agreement for the Economic Reactivation that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador signed with the Private Initiative (IP) in October 2020.

Mayor Delbouis said the dock could be the perfect facility for Cozumel to transition from port stop to embarking passengers.

On social media, Mayor Delbouis insisted this idea needs both federal and state government support so that the port could make cruise lines see Cozumel as their port of departure for Caribbean sailings.

Before the entire cruise industry shutdown, Royal Caribbean had lots of plans for the next few years, but those have since been curtailed for economic reasons.

Nonetheless, Royal Caribbean will push ahead with at least two projects based on comments from the Port of Galveston Port Director.

Rodger Rees talked at a webinar about the short term future of the Port of Galveston, and he said Royal Caribbean outlined the top two port project priorities for the cruise line.

Royal Caribbean was forced to delay construction of a brand new terminal by a year.  Despite the major setbacks financially, Royal Caribbean remains committed to the Port of Galveston cruise terminal project, as well as the Freeport, Bahamas port expansion.

Mr. Rees said he was told by "the President of Royal Caribbean" that the cruise line had about 20 projects on the drawing board prior to the global health crisis, and they have whittled it down to two projects.

"One of them is us, here in Galveston. And then the other one is actually a a development over Freeport, Bahamas."

The project in Freeport that Mr. Rees alluded to in his conversation is the presumed purchase of the Grand Lucayan resort and Freeport Harbour project.

"The one hundred million dollar contract with Royal Caribbean is still on the table. We're having conversations with them right now to start construction in April."

"April 1, we're slated for construction to begin on the new cruise terminal."

Mr. Rees' comments echo that of previous statements where Royal Caribbean has indicated to him that they are onboard to begin construction.

At a meeting in December 2020, Mr. Rees said Cruise Terminal 3 is still scheduled to begin construction in April 2021 so that it can be ready to open in October 2022. 

"They revealed to me that they had, in fact, set aside some equity on their balance sheet, encumbered some equity on their balance sheet for the cruise terminal, construction and other work."

The new Terminal 3 in Galveston will be built on 10 acres of land at Pier 10, and will be used exclusively by Royal Caribbean.

Vaccine is the key factor

Mr. Rees also talked about the role of the COVID-19 vaccine, and he believes it will be the major factor to move things forward.

"I think the biggest I think the biggest thing that's going to help the cruising start back up again is obviously going to be the vaccine."

"The cruise lines are starting to lean towards that as the as the key factor to starting up."

Mr. Rees said the cruise lines and the ports are working on a series of agreements to ensure medical care is adequate to meet the needs.

"Covid's here. vaccine's not going to eradicate it 100 percent."

"Every now and then you're probably going to get one or two, three cases on these cruise ships. The important thing is not to get 50 to 500 cases on them."

"They're doing the same thing on the cruise lines that we'll be doing here in airports and what we do in our daily life, distancing and masking."

The man who dropped his granddaughter from the window of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship has been sentenced three years’ probation.

Salvatore “Sam” Anello plead guilty to negligent manslaughter in October 2020, and accepted a settlement that would allow for a reduced sentence. His sentencing was delayed in December 2020 and rescheduled to February 2021.

Mr. Anello will serve his probation from his home state.

In July 2019, 18-month-old Chloe Wiegand fell to her death after her grandfather dropped her from an open window on Freedom of the Seas.

Initially Mr. Anello claimed he did not know the window was open and said he would not plead guilty after his granddaughter fell from a top deck of Freedom of the Seas.  He then changed his plea in order to avoid jail time and serve probation instead.

According to the maternal grandfather's testimony, Chloe asked be raised up by her grandfather. He put her on a rail by a window, thinking the glass would hold her. However, the window was open.

Royal Caribbean said that surveillance video shows Anello leaning out the window for about eight seconds before lifting the girl by and out of the open window for 34 seconds before he lost his grip. 

After the initial accident occurred, Royal Caribbean issued a statement that the company was "deeply saddened by the tragic incident."

"Our hearts go out to the family. We have made our team available to assist them with the resources they need. Out of respect for their privacy, we do not plan to comment further on the incident."

The parents of Chloe have an ongoing civil case against Royal Caribbean.

We have a new update to share of Royal Caribbean's next new cruise ship, Odyssey of the Seas.

The Meyer Werft shipyard released a new photo of Odyssey of the Seas at her outdoor dock, with plenty of snow seen around the ship.

Meyer Werft posts a new photo about once a week to give the public a look at the general progress being made.

In addition to a photo of the ship, we also have a look at progress inside.

The roboscreens were delivered and installed in Two70 aboard the ship.

Royal Caribbean International Vice President of Entertainment Nick Weir shared photos of the giant 36-axis robotic video screens on Twitter.

Mr. Weir indicated that the screens are installed and activated, and they are ready for the new shows planned for the venue.

Read more: New show announced for Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas

Roboscreens are what Royal Caribbean calls the six 100” video screens attached to six industrial robots, developed by ABB RoboScreens.

A RoboScreen is a graphical screen mounted to the arm of an ABB articulated arm robot, which creates a unique viewer experience by bringing virtually unlimited, 6-axis movement to the video media. Available in various sizes, the Two70° RoboScreens feature six ABB IRB 6620 robots, each holding a 100” diagonal Daktronics LED screen.

On Royal Caribbean's Quantum-class ships, the RoboScreens are stored in the ceiling when not in use but during shows in Two70, the RoboScreens extend down on the gantry to a position above the stage, displaying unique video and imagery while performing choreographed movements, all custom produced for the specific performance.  

On the Quantum-class, the RoboScreens will periodically assemble in various formations, such as six screens in a row to form one continuous, long screen; a three by two stack to form one big square screen; or a serpentine row, much like a ‘W’ and a ‘V’ strung together.

Once complete, Odyssey of the Seas will join Royal Caribbean's fleet as the second Quantum Ultra class cruise ship and split her time between Europe and North America.

Odyssey will feature a number of firsts onboard, including the first Quantum Class ship with Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen & Wine Bar, a Playmakers Bar location in the SeaPlex, a revamped Adventure Ocean and two-level pool deck.

About a day after Carnival Cruise Line posted its list of new health protocols for when cruises restart, they removed it from their website.  

Carnival posted on Friday their new rules that include wearing masks, social distancing, and restricting shore excursions. 

By Saturday, the protocols were taken down from their website and replaced with basic health requirements stipulated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  

In the limited time the rules were posted, it generated a lot of comments from cruise fans in support and in frustration with the rules. 

Read more: Why shore excursions are the big change to cruises you aren't thinking about

According to Cruise Radio, Carnival says the rules were posted early and are not complete. 

"In our haste to keep guests and travel agents informed, we posted some information that was not finalized. As we have said previously, guests should expect [mask-wearing], testing, distancing and other protocols. We intend to provide more details over the coming weeks as we work to resume operations."

The new rules were similar to many of the new health protocols utilized by the few cruise ships able to restart operations, including Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas in Singapore.

Avalanche of opinions of new rules

In the brief period of time the rules were posted on Carnival's site, there were plenty of opinions by cruise fans on what they thought of the protocols.

Hundreds of comments were posted on social media, including the RoyalCaribbeanBlog Facebook page.

A vocal group of comments came from those who flat out refuse to wear a mask on a cruise ship.  These cruisers have been largely upset masks are required in places like the pool deck, or even at all.

"I am NOT going on a cruise if I have to wear the mask," said Ben Breslin.

"As badly as we want to cruise, there is no way I’m wearing a mask or jumping through all these hoops to do it," added Dawn Thompson.

Read more: What is the best mask to wear on a cruise ship?

Many others were eager to get back onboard and willing to do what it takes to get cruises going again.

"I totally agree to all of these conditions," Christine Dale said.

"I’m ready for it all BRING IT ON!" said Tawny Simone Garcia-Berotte

Emerson Pratt thought the rules were what we should all expect, "I don’t think there is anything there we weren’t expecting. I think this is probably the standard all will adopt with additional protocols added depending on the cruise line/ship/country."

Still waiting on Royal Caribbean's rules

Whether or not Carnival's health protocols are going to include all of this or not, Royal Caribbean has yet to reveal their health protocols for cruises outside of Singapore.

The new protocols will be crafted by the Healthy Sail Panel, a joint venture between Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

Many expect Royal Caribbean's rules to be very similar to the protocols on Quantum of the Seas, with a few tweaks that are not specific to Singapore's laws.

In summer 2020, the Healthy Sail Panel came up with 74 recommendations for cruise ships to operate safely during the health crisis, and they have since become the cornerstone of the cruise industry's approach to a healthy return to sailing.  

The next step is to turn those recommendations into cruise line policies.

Read more: 5 things you've probably overlooked with the new cruise protocols

Happy weekend! We hope you are in the midst of a wonderful weekend full of things to do to pass the time between cruises.  We have a summary of all of this week's Royal Caribbean news in case you missed any of it!

The cruise world was surprised when Canada announced a year-long ban on cruise ships from its waters.

Canada's Minister of Transport announced all cruise vessels are banned from Canadian waters until February 28, 2022.

According to Canada's government, cruise ships, "pose a risk to our health care systems."

Not only does the ban affect Alaska cruises, but New England cruises in the fall visit Canadian ports as well during the popular leaf peeping season.

Just like Alaska cruises, New England cruises rely on a stop in Canada to make the visit legal under U.S. law.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean releases Spring 2022-2023 deployment schedule
• CDC hasn't provided technical instructions to cruises lines four months after lifting the No Sail Order
• Royal Caribbean removes 2021 Alaska and Canada cruises from website
• Carnival announced new health protocols including masks, social distancing, testing and more
• Florida Ports: Significant cruise ship numbers may take another year to return
• Mailbag: What's worth paying extra for on a cruise?
• Save up to 45% off pre-cruise add-ons with Royal Caribbean's new sale
• 10 ways to overcome common cruise ship mistakes
• Yes, it does sometimes snow on cruise ships
• What you need to know about visiting Barbados on a cruise ship
• What is the best mask to wear on a cruise ship?
• Odyssey of the Seas construction photo update

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 392nd episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available and this week, Matt talks about cruise ship rumors he hears all the time these days.

Having seen so many of these discussions on social media, there seems to be a few of these "predictions" that are passed around as the truth. Here is a list of some commonly shared cruise ship rumors that have not been verified or announced by Royal Caribbean.

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: Unwritten rules of going on a cruise ship

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 — Unwritten rules of going on a cruise ship — and don’t forget to subscribe here.

Royal Caribbean Group CEO admits he still doesn't know when cruises will resume

Not even the head of Royal Caribbean Group is sure when cruises will restart in great numbers.

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain provided a new video update where he talked about the current state of affairs related to the global health crisis, as well as addressing cruises resuming.

Towards the end of this new video update, he tackled the question he is most commonly asked: "when cruising will resume in strength?".