Royal Caribbean announced it has cancelled its Australia and New Zealand cruises on or before January 31, 2021.

Guests on affected sailings in January have begun receiving emails to inform them of the change.

The new set of cancellations applies only to sailings out of Australia and New Zealand through January 31, 2020.

Royal Caribbean had planned to resume cruises on January 1, but announced it had to cancel the cruises to prepare for its new health protocols.

"We want to ensure we have ample time to focus on our healthy return to service initiatives and to let you make alternative holiday plans."

"Royal Caribbean International will be extending our suspension of sailings, beyond that of the Australian government’s, to include sailings departing Australia and New Zealand on or before 31 January 2021. This is to allow guests booked on January sailings to make alternative holiday arrangements."

Guests who were booked on affected sailings will receive emails with compensation offers and choices of what to do.

The email to guests also thanked them for their understanding.

"We appreciate your patience, understanding, and continued loyalty. We will all come out of this stronger than ever. Stay healthy and safe. We miss our guests, and we’ll be ready to welcome you back soon."

Guests on the now cancelled cruises have the choice of three compensation offers:

125% Future Cruise Credit

125% Future Cruise Credit to book a new cruise by December 31, 2021 for sailings on or before April 30, 2022.

The FCCs will be sent via email by by December 18, 2020.

Lift & Shift

Select next year’s sailing with the same itinerary type, sailing length, stateroom category, and within the same 4-week window of the original cruise date, and you can take your existing reservation and move it to next year.

You must decide to move to a new sailing by November 25, 2020. If not, we will automatically issue you a 125% Future Cruise Credit.

Refund

If you prefer a cash refund, you can do so by requesting this option on-or-before March 31, 2020.

You can expect their refund to the original form of payment within 45 days from the cancellation date. 

FCC Used to Purchase: If you purchased your January cruise using a Future Cruise Credit and opt for a refund, the FCC will be reinstated for future use, under its original terms.

If you own Royal Caribbean stock, today is a great start to your portfolio for the week.

Royal Caribbean, and the entire travel sector, saw enormous gains in pre-market trading that has continued through the day thanks to positive news about COVID-19 vaccine trials.

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said early data from its coronavirus vaccine shows it is more than 90% effective, which is better than expected results.

Royal Caribbean's stock was trading at around 25% higher than its opening price, and thee momentum started with pre-market trading nearly as soon as Pfizer made its announcement.

Not only did the news buoy Royal Caribbean's stock, but other cruise lines saw similar gains as well.  In fact, travel industry stocks across the board have seen large gains on Monday.

Vaccine test results

Pfizer says the interim analysis looked at the first 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the more than 43,000 volunteers who got either two doses of the vaccine or a placebo.

It found that fewer than 10% of infections were in participants who had been given the vaccine. More than 90% of the cases were in people who had been given a placebo.

The vaccine is being developed with German partner BioNTech had an efficacy rate higher than 90% at seven days after the second dose, which means protection is achieved 28 days after a person begins vaccination. 

The vaccine requires two doses. 

The reason why the 90% mark is such good news is because the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it expected at least 50% efficacy from any coronavirus vaccine.

In a press release, Pfizer said it plans to seek emergency use authorization from the FDA soon after volunteers have been monitored for two months after getting their second dose of vaccine, as requested by the FDA.

Pfizer said it anticipated reaching that marker by the third week of November.

Next steps for the vaccine

Phase 3 of Pfizer's vaccine trial has 43,538 people enrolled since July 27.  As of Sunday, 38,955 of the volunteers have received a second dose of the vaccine.

42% of international trial sites and 30% of US trial sites involve volunteers of racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds.

The final goal of the trial is to reach 164 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection.

Pfizer's approach relies on a new technology called messenger RNA, or mRNA, to produce an immune response in the vaccine.

The mRNA vaccine approach uses genetic material called mRNA to trick cells into producing bits of protein that look like pieces of the virus. The immune system learns to recognize and attack those bits and, in theory, would react fast to any actual infection.

It is not clear yet if this vaccine will become a yearly or season shot, as it is not clear if the vaccine will provide long-term protection.

Royal Caribbean not counting on vaccine yet

While the vaccine may prove to be a major weapon in the arsenal for combating COVID-19, Royal Caribbean's plans to restart cruises do not hinge on the vaccine quite yet.

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain expects tests to have a greater impact on cruises than the vaccine in the short term.

"The advances are so significant that I believe in the near term we will see more benefit from testing than we will from vaccines in the near term."

Fain thinks the impact of a vaccine will take time, and in the meantime, new and better testing will make a quicker difference.

"Vaccines are the ultimate weapon against this virus and their development has been nothing short of amazing. But I do think it's likely that a vaccine will be available before the end of the year. But getting enough for widespread distribution is going to take probably until sometime in the spring."

"On the other hand, faster, cheaper and widespread testing will be much more impactful, much sooner. Widespread testing enables contact tracing, and it's the one two punch of testing and contact tracing that is so effective in limiting the community spread of the disease."

Royal Caribbean announced it has cancelled its December 2020 cruises in North America, and the entire cruise industry will be doing the same thing.

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), which is the industry group representing 95% of cruise lines (including Royal Caribbean), announced on Tuesday it is extended its Voluntarily Extend Suspension of U.S. Operations through December 31, 2020.

In a statement to the media, CLIA indicated the extension was needed for cruise lines to prepare to meet the rigorous health standards needed to restart cruises.

CLIA members will use the remainder of the year to prepare for the implementation of extensive measures to address COVID-19 safety with the guidance of outside public health experts and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"As we continue to plan for a gradual and highly-controlled return of cruise operations in the U.S., CLIA members are committed to implementing stringent measures to address COVID-19 safety, including 100% testing of passengers and crew, expanded onboard medical capabilities, and trial sailings, among many others." 

"We share a common goal with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to protect public health, which has been affirmed and reaffirmed consistently throughout the industry’s response to the global pandemic.  As we work to operationalize a path forward, our members have agreed to extend our existing suspension of U.S. operations through December 31.  This action will provide additional time to align the industry’s extensive preparation of health protocols with the implementation requirements under the CDC’s Framework for Conditional Sailing and Initial Phase COVID-19 Testing Requirements for Protection of Crew."

"We recognize the devastating impact that the pandemic continues to have on the 421,000 Americans whose livelihoods are connected directly to cruise operations. We will work with urgency to advance a responsible return to cruising while maintaining a focus on effective, science-based measures to protect public health."

CLIA also noted the significant economic impact cruises have on the American economy.

"The cruise industry is a vital economic artery in the United States, generating over $53 billion in annual economic activity and supporting 421,000 American jobs spanning almost every sector. Each day without cruise operations in the U.S. results in nearly 1,000 American jobs lost."

"From mid-March through today, it is estimated that the suspension of cruise operations has resulted in a loss of more than $25 billion in economic activity and over 164,000 American jobs."

Yesterday, Royal Caribbean Group, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Carnival Corporation and MSC Cruises all announced independently that they would cancel their December cruises in the United States. 

Preparing to cruise again

While the CDC has opened the door for cruises to start again, there are many requirements imposed on the cruise industry to demonstrate it can be achieved safely.

Following a months-long planning process with the support and guidance of leading public health experts, Royal Caribbean and all cruise lines are taking this extra time to prepare to operationalize enhanced public health procedures.

Before cruises can fully resume, the CDC has outlined a series of steps that need to occur before cruise ships can begin taking passengers onboard.

The Framework for Conditional Sailing requires cruise lines to establish safety and testing protocols for crew members, conduct a series of test sailings, and then request approval to sail with paying passengers.

The CDC believes these new regulations and check points are needed to "prevent the further introduction, transmission, or spread of COVID-19 via cruise ships globally and into U.S. communities."

Bittersweet news

Most cruise fans understand the need by the cruise lines to prepare for all of these new rules, but many believe the CDC has created extremely difficult goals to attain.

On the RoyalCaribbeanBlog message boards, the topic has been discussed at great lengths and whether or not the new Conditional Sail Order is fair.

Tanner believes the new rules are simply too ambiguous, "The biggest lack of clarity is in terms of what will be considered cruising safely. Will the CDC view one case of Covid-19, a statistical outbreak, or failure to adhere to meet the standards as the end all be all. Clearly, not following rules will result in one line being shut down but will it shut down the industry."

Twangster shared he believes the new order is simply a stop-gap measure, "I think the CDC is buying time hoping for a new administration that will accept their findings without interference."

Worst yet, many readers seem to think the first sailings may still be many months away, such as jaullram, "I unfortunately, don't see how sailings will begin until February or March at the earliest."

Royal Caribbean announced on Monday it would cancel its December 2020 cruises (excluding Quantum of the Seas in Singapore) while the cruise line prepares to restart cruise operations.

While the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) lifted the No Sail order, the new regulations and requirements imposed on the cruise industry to be able to restart simply means Royal Caribbean needs more time to meet the new requirements.

In a statement to travel agents, Royal Caribbean said the cancellations were necessary to prepare for restarting cruises, "We are eager to welcome our guests back onboard while keeping their safety, as well as that of our crew members, our number one priority. We’re committed to taking the time needed to do things right"

"We plan to utilize this time to thoroughly train our staff and crew on our new health and safety protocols, while also conducting a number of trial sailings to stress-test these measures in real-world conditions."

"We will continue to work closely with the CDC and the Healthy Sail Panel as we take this next step and solidify our action plan."

Cruise operations had been suspended through the end of November, but will now be extended an additional month.

Read more: What you should do now that Royal Caribbean cancelled your cruise

Compensation

Guests affected by the cancelled cruises between December 1 - 31, 2020 have three options for compensation.

Lift & Shift: Select next year’s sailing with the same itinerary type, sailing length, stateroom category, and within the same 4-week window of the original cruise date, and you can take your existing reservation and move it to next year.Option expires on November 13, 2020.

125% Future Cruise Credit: To account for the inconvenience this has caused, guests are eligible for a 125% Future Cruise Credit (FCC) that is based on the total cruise fare paid at the guest-level if neither of the other options is selected.

Taxes and fees, as well as any pre-purchased amenities or onboard packages will be automatically refunded to the original form of payment within 45 days from the cancellation date. 

If you previously opted to take advantage of our Cruise with Confidence policy, the 100% FCC will stand, and this new option is ineligible.

Additionally, if you redeemed your Cruise with Confidence Future Cruise Credit on a sailing that is now cancelled, their original FCC will be reinstated, plus 125% of any amount paid by the guest on the cancelled reservation.

Refund: If you prefer a cash refund, you can do so by requesting this option on-or-before December 31, 2020.

You can expect their refund to the original form of payment within 45 days from the cancellation date. 

If you redeemed a Cruise with Confidence Future Cruise Credit on an impacted sailing and would now prefer a refund instead, Royal Caribbean will process this request in the amount of any new funds paid above the original certificate and, in turn, will reinstate the Cruise with Confidence FCC for future use.

Cruise Planner Purchases: If you had purchased any cruise add-ons, such as shore excursions, drink packages, wifi and more, you could opt to convert your Cruise Planner purchases  to an Onboard Credit valued at 125% of the total amount paid. This offer expires on November 13, 2020.

Time needed to be able to restart

Unlike all of the other cancellations Royal Caribbean has made up until this point, this new round of cancelled cruises is for a different reason.

Rather than being prohibited by the CDC from sailing at all, the pathway for cruises to restart as opened, and Royal Caribbean is working on satisfying the CDC's stringent rules.

Before cruises can fully resume, the CDC has outlined a series of steps that need to occur before cruise ships can begin taking passengers onboard.

The framework for conditional sailing is meant to potentially allow cruise ships to sail again while not putting the public health at risk.

There are three key phases to Royal Caribbean being able to restart cruises:

1. Testing crew members
2. Simulated cruises to test out new protocols
3. Apply for a Conditional Sailing Certificate

In order to meet the needs of the CDC, Royal Caribbean has adopted the recommendations of the Healthy Sail Panel's 74 recommendations.

Royal Caribbean has expressed it can operate in a safe manner, and is eager to prove the Healthy Sail Panel recommendations can work effectively.

The framework for sailing again is not simple, and the CDC admits the rules can change in terms of what is needed to get cruise ships operating again from the United States.

It is not clear yet how long it will take before Royal Caribbean (or any cruise line) can receive permission to offer cruises, but clearly Royal Caribbean feels more time is needed to get it right.

While many cruise fans are very eager for cruises to resume, Royal Caribbean Group executives were insistent that they while they are equally eager to resume operations, they will only do so when it is safe to do so.

"But it's fair to say that there is still a lot of uncertainty against this backdrop, " Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain said during a conference call with investors in August. "We will not rush to return to service until we are confident that we have figured out the changes that we must make to offer our guests and crew strong health and safety protocols with the enjoyable experience that they rightly expect."

"We believe that our health is healthy. Return to service program will help get us there."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced on Friday it will begin allowing cruise ships to restart cruises.

The CDC announced following the expiration of the No Sail order on October 31, the agency will take a "phased approach to resuming cruise ship operations in U.S. waters."

The Conditional Sailing Order for Cruise Ships will encompass a few phases:

1. Testing and additional safeguards for crew members
2. Simulated voyages to test cruise line ability to mitigate virus spread onboard
3. Phased return to cruise ship passenger voyages

These phases are subject to change based on public health considerations and cruise ship operator's demonstrated ability to mitigate COVID-19 risk.

In addition, the Conditional Sailing Order announced new requirements for initial phases relating to crew testing.

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announces this framework for a phased resumption of cruise ship passenger operations. Considering the continued spread of COVID-19 worldwide and increased risk of COVID-19 on cruise ships, a careful approach is needed to safely resume cruise ship passenger operations. CDC is establishing requirements to mitigate the COVID-19 risk to passengers and crew, prevent the further spread of COVID-19 from cruise ships into U.S. communities, and protect public health and safety. After expiration of CDC’s No Sail Order (NSO) on October 31, 2020, CDC will take a phased approach to resuming cruise ship passenger operations in U.S. waters."

While the No Sail order expires on October 31, Royal Caribbean has already cancelled all of its sailings through November 30.

Ending the cruise ship ban

The announcement that the CDC will lift the cruise ship ban comes after 7 months of the No Sail order prohibiting cruise lines from operating in U.S. waters.

Royal Caribbean has been shutdown since mid-March, and the No Sail order has been a major obstacle to any restart plan in North America.

Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings teamed up over the summer to come up with a comprehensive and multi-layered approach to allow cruise ships to operate safely, through the efforts of a blue ribbon panel of scientists.

The Healthy Sail Panel has developed its own set of 74 detailed steps to safeguard the health of guests, crew and communities.

Recommendations include testing, the use of face coverings, and enhanced sanitation procedures on ships and in terminals. 

Healthy Panel co-chair Governor Mike Leavitt, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, specified exactly how in-depth their recommendations go.

"This Panel undertook an ambitious, cross-disciplinary, public health examination to develop standards and guidelines that create the highest level of safety in the complex environment of a cruise ship. We studied the industry’s experiences combating the pandemic – and we then incorporated the many lessons learned and advances made by medicine and science over the past six months. The Panel’s recommendations are grounded in the best scientific and medical information available and are intended to meaningfully mitigate public health risks to those who sail."

When will Royal Caribbean restart cruises?

Royal Caribbean has not announced any firm restart plan yet, but it is clear based on comments from executives what to expect.

Just yesterday, Royal Caribbean Chairman and CEO Richard Fain shared details of the cruise line's general approach to restarting cruises during a call with investors.

1. Training crew
2. A series of non-revenue sailings to rehearse and validate the new protocols
   1. This process will be carefully evaluated by independent outside observers
3. Restart of cruises with a ship or two at first, the more ships later in a "gradual and methodical way".

The first sailings will be short cruises at first, with limited destinations and controlled shore excursions.

Apart from cruises in the United States, Quantum of the Seas will begin cruises in December from Singapore and offer short cruises with no port stops.

Royal Caribbean Group Chief Financial Officer Jason Liberty also gave investors a preview of what it expects for cruises in Spring 2021 that largely mirror what Mr. Fain shared.

Mr. Liberty expects "a very limited initial return and a gradual ramp up during the first half of 2021."

Royal Caribbean anticipates short sailings the be the cornerstone of their return, and to offer these cruises from key drive markets in both the U.S. and Asia-Pacific regions.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) updated its warning last week to travelers to defer all cruise travel worldwide.

The Level 3 warning was updated on October 21st due to, "widespread ongoing spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been reported in some countries. Other countries have reported sustained community spread."

The warning comes just days before the CDC will announce if the No Sail order that bans cruise ships from operating in North America will be lifted or extended.

The warning itself is not new, but rather an update to an existing warning the agency issued in the spring.

Thanks to CruiseHive for discovering this announcement.

Details on the warning

The CDC noted it typically does not post advisories for forms of transportation (trains, ships or airplanes), but because of the unprecedented nature of the novel coronavirus pandemic, and the increased risk of transmission of COVID-19 on cruise ships, the U.S. government is advising U.S. travelers to defer all cruise travel.

In addition to the CDC's warning, the agency recommends anyone with a cruise booked reschedule for a future date.

The rationale for the elevated warning is rooted in an increased risk of infection to passengers and crew members.

"As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, there remains a risk of infected passengers and crew on board cruise ships."

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the United States reported more than 83,000 new infections on both Friday and Saturday after outbreaks in Sun Belt states, surpassing a previous record of roughly 77,300 cases set in July.

No update yet on No Sail order

The fate of the cruise industry remains hinged on what will happen to the cruise ship ban that has been in place since March.

Last month, the CDC took until just hours before the No Sail order was set to expire before extending it another 30 days.

A report that came out just days earlier indicated the CDC and the White House are fighting over how much longer the No Sail order should be extended.

Just like last month, there is no advanced warning when the CDC might announce anything and the cruise lines have not commented on possibilities either.

Healthy cruise plan

Over the last few months, Royal Caribbean and the entire cruise industry has been focused on coming up with a plan to keep passengers and crew safe, while operating crew ships.

The industry as a whole adopted a broad new set of health protocols that exceed the rules and regulations imposed by other sectors of travel, such as calling for 100% testing.

The Healthy Sail Panel that created these new rules is chaired by Governor Mike Leavitt, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Recommendations include testing, the use of face coverings, and enhanced sanitation procedures on ships and in terminals. 

The Healthy Sail Panel identified five areas of focus every cruise operator should address to improve health and safety for guests and crew, and reduce the risk of infection and spread of COVID-19 on cruise ships:

• Testing, Screening and Exposure Reduction
• Sanitation and Ventilation
• Response, Contingency Planning and Execution
• Destination and Excursion Planning
• Mitigating Risks for Crew Members

In each category, the Healthy Sail Panel created practical and actionable recommendations to address specific safety concerns. Among the recommendations are key strategies such as:

• Taking aggressive measures to prevent SARS-CoV-2 from entering a ship through robust education, screening and testing of both crew and guests prior to embarkation
• Reducing transmission via air management strategies and enhanced sanitation practices
• Implementing detailed plans to address positive infection on board, including contingencies for onboard treatment, isolation and rapid evacuation and repatriation
• Closely controlling shore excursions
• Enhanced protection for crew members

Furthermore, the CDC has been made aware of the panel and even invited to observe the planning and creation of procedures.

Some are wondering how Royal Caribbean closely will enforce new health protocols, and rival Carnival Corporation showed they mean business.

One passenger on Carnival brand cruise ship AIDA was not allowed to come back on their cruise ship after breaking one of the new rules.

AIDA Cruises’ AIDAblu prohibited a guest from returning from a shore excursion while in Catania, Italy because he left the organized tour group.

Like other cruise lines that have restarted sailings, AIDA requires guests to only book cruise line approved shore excursions, and guests are made very aware of this rule prior to the cruise, and before the shore excursion begins. This is meant as a way of limiting potential exposures in the destinations ships visit.

An AIDA Cruises spokesperson said, "Our highest responsibility and top priorities are compliance, environmental protection and the health, safety and well-being of our guests, crew, shoreside employees and the people and communities our ships visit."

The guest was not able to re-board the ship, and AIDA assisted him in arranging travel home. A Carnival spokesperson said this was the first case of a passenger being blocked from returning to one of its ships for breaking coronavirus protocols. 

AIDA is one of two Carnival Corporation cruise lines that restarted limited operations in Europe.

This is not the first time a cruise ship passenger has attempted to deviate from a tour. In August, a family on a MSC Cruises shore excursion tried to do the same thing and was not allowed back on the cruise ship.

Royal Caribbean shore excursions

Just like AIDA, Costa and MSC, Royal Caribbean will also have a rule requiring guests to only book tours through the cruise line, and guests will only be permitted to disembark at ports if they are taking cruise line sponsored excursions.

Specifically, it calls to only permit shore excursions according to the cruise operators’ prescribed protocols, with strict adherence required of all passengers and denial of re-boarding for any passengers that do not comply.

The rule is one of many recommendations by the Healthy Sail Panel, which encompasses 74 key steps.  The entire cruise industry has committed to adopting these protocols as a means of restarting cruises safely.

The panel does recommend Royal Caribbean "potentially reconsidering the cost of curated experiences" to make these more appealing.

In addition, indoor excursions should only be offered if  if physical distancing, use of masks, and other recommended protective measures can be implemented.

The current health crisis has lead Royal Caribbean to file a new trademark for something that sounds like a contact tracing bracelet concept.

Royal Caribbean has filed a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for "Tracelet".

The trademark lists the description of the trademark simply as:

A tracelet seems to be made of rubber or silicone, which is exactly the same material as the cruise line's WOWBands, which debuted in 2014 as RFID wristbands.

The exact purpose of a tracelet was not explained in the trademark, and it is not clear if it will be used for contact tracing at all.  The name seems to indicate it could be used for that purpose.

The trademark was filed on October 19, 2020, and is intended for cruise ship services. The trademark lists it as jewelry, as well as"Receptacles" and  "Horological Instruments".

Trademark applications usually quite vague in regard to their intended use, so it remains to be seen precisely how it will be used, if at all.

Royal Caribbean registed a trademark for its own brand of face mask, but ended up deciding not to do anything with it.

Wearable devices for all guests

While the trademark is vague, Royal Caribbean's new rules clearly indicate that a wearable device will be provided to all guests.

"Contact tracing is an important part of our enhanced protocols to keep all our guests and crew safe. Each guest will be provided with a wearable device that allows rapid tracing in the event it is necessary."

Based on the description provided by Royal Caribbean, the device may work with the TraceTogether app. 

"The TraceTogether App installed on their smartphones or keep their TraceTogether token with them for the duration of their sailing"

Contact tracing part of new cruise protocols

Contact tracing is a major component to the cruise industry's plan to restart cruising, as outlined in the Healthy Sail Panel's 74 recommendations.

The blue ribbon panel of health experts recommended Royal Caribbean "identify all potential cases on board using robust contact tracing". Part of mitigating the spread of an infection onboard is to determine who else might have been exposed. Contact tracing is one of the critical methods of identifying who these individuals might be.

The Panel also made a recommendation to employ different methods of collecting contact tracing data, including "collecting potential exposure data from cruise line-provided wearable devices."

"Potential contact tracing methodologies include, but are not limited to: identifying guest location/exposure by pulling transaction data, collecting information about potential exposure from applications utilizing Bluetooth technology, collecting potential exposure data from cruise line-provided wearable devices, using video analytics and facial recognition to determine exposure risk, and conducting interviews with suspected cases."

It remains to be seen if tracelets will be those wearable devices, and how they will function, but the trademark indicates a potential direction for the cruise line in developing an overall strategy.

When Royal Caribbean restarts sailings, its ships feature a variety of enhancements meant to contain, treat, and isolate any possible Covid-19 threats.

Royal Caribbean has introduced a wide array of new health protocols, which also include upgrades and enhancements to its cruise ships.

These improved facilities mean their cruise ships have never been safer for guests and crew to be treated while onboard.

Medical Centers

Part of Royal Caribbean's overall plan to mitigate the threat of COVID-19 is to enahnce its onboard medical facilties.

The onboard medical care offers guests and crew members daily temperature checks, fast and free SARS-CoV-2 testing capabilities onboard, and complimentary in-stateroom medical evaluations.

Royal Caribbean has also added more doctors and nurses in their shipboard Medical Centers and enhanced our state-of-the-art equipment to provide high quality care.

The medical center itself has been redesigned  into two separate zones, including a dedicated Controlled Care Unit for the management of infectious diseases. Each zone is equipped with its own entrance, critical care beds, restrooms, and lab collection.

Some of the upgrades include: 

Upgraded Medical Equipment

• Hospital grade ventilators
• Cardiac monitor
• Central oxygen system
• Nebulizers
• Defibrillators and external pacemakers
• EKGs

Therapeutic Treatments

• Antibiotics including IV medications
• Antiretroviral
• Oxygen therapy

Comprehensive Laboratory

• Large range of tests
• Results provided onboard
• Includes RT-PCR rapid testing for COVID-19

The staff onboard its ships are also highly specialized medical professionals. 

Each ship’s Medical Center is staffed by, at minimum:

2 Doctors

Specialized physicians with training in acute and intensive medical care, plus experience in Maritime Medicine.

4 Registered Nurses

One of these is the new Infection Control Officer, who ensures all applicable public health and disease control standards are met.

Additional support

If needed, your ship has access to supplementary medical personnel through Aspen Medical and our own internal pool of doctors.

Filtered and fresh air

Another major upgrade is the air filtration onboard that promises to deliver fresh air and filter the air onboard to avoid any possible pathogens circulating around the ship.

Every Royal Caribbean shipboard HVAC system continuously flows 100% fresh air from outdoors to your stateroom and public areas.

Upgraded MERV 13 filters capture aerosols 0.3 to 1 micron in size — fine enough to filter coronavirus, colds and flu.

Due to the nature of how COVID-19 is spread, many cruisers want to know what Royal Caribbean will do to protect passengers from the airborne spread of the virus.

Specifically, they want to know how the air will be circulated and filtered onboard so that it is safe on their cruise ship.

Fresh ocean air

Royal Caribbean says its HVAC system continuously supplies 100% fresh, filtered air from outdoors to all indoor spaces.

The air is drawn from one side of the ship for cooling and ventilation, then removed via exhaust on the opposite side of the ship.

This continual intake of fresh air replaces the air in any space, with a total air change up to 12 times an hour in staterooms, and about 15 changes an hour in large public spaces.

In local spaces, like public venues and your stateroom, fan coil units provide an extra layer of protection, continuously scrubbing the air of pathogens, using a high-grade MERV 13 filter that captures aerosols 1.0 – 3.0 microns in size with 90% efficacy— fine enough to filter colds, flu germs, and coronavirus.

How they tested this approach

If you are wondering how Royal Caribbean could know this solution would keep guests safe, they had an independent assessment conducted by the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

A bioaerosol assessment was done on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas.

This study involved releasing billions of 1µ aerosol-sized microspheres, each containing uniquely DNA barcoded inert virus surrogate, throughout the ship at certain pre-selected spaces (i.e., crew cabins, guest staterooms, and adjacent public spaces including the casino, Studio-B & Disco/Lounge) to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of the vessel’s indoor air management strategies, as well as to understand the spread of the aerosols through the HVAC system and in between the adjacent private and public spaces.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center study found that to clear the virus droplets from the air in about an hour, they needed to use an HVAC system that changed the air in the room at least 6 times or more and used a filter with a MERV rating of 13.

The MERV rating of a filter refers to how much it can filter particles in the air, with a higher number meaning a higher level of filtration.  The MERV ratings range between 1 and 20. A MERV rating of 13-16 is considered hospital level air quality.

This study confirmed that cross-contamination of air between adjacent public spaces is extremely low, and undetectable in most test cases, thanks to this powerful system.

Keeping air inside the ship safe

In addition to the study conducted, as well as the new policies announced by the cruise line, the Healthy Sail Panel came up with 7 important things Royal Caribbean can do to manage indoor air and keep it clean.

1. Enhance filtration – The Panel recommends that HVAC filters be upgraded to the highest level possible for each ship given the constraints of ship age and ventilation type (e.g., MERV 8 to MERV 13)
2. Optimize airflow patterns – For example, the Panel recommends that cruise operators optimize airflow so that air is not recirculated; should air recirculation exist, given the HVAC system design, then the recirculated air must be filtered through a high-grade filter (i.e., MERV 13 or higher).
3. Use negative pressurization – The Panel recommends that cruise operators ensure that SARSCoV-2 isolation rooms are consistently at negative pressure. This means that cruise operators should ensure that there is sufficient negative pressure that will not be affected by doors opening and closing or people walking by. This should be optimized given the constraints of ship age and ventilation type.
4. Minimize unfiltered, recirculated air – Cruise operators should provide air exhausted to the outside and maximize air changes per hour and filtration of air in staterooms, crew rooms, and public areas.
5. Increase number of air changes per hour in certain areas – The Panel recommends that cruise operators pay special attention to areas where individuals would be most vulnerable to airborne transmission, and that they should prioritize increasing the number of air changes per hour in those areas. More specifically, isolation rooms in medical facilities on board should have 6-12 air changes per hour, be at a negative pressure to the adjacent area, and have 100% air exhausted to the outside.
6. Use portable HEPA filters (or other proven air cleaning systems) in congregate areas, as needed – Portable HEPA units have been shown to help reduce the level of airborne particles. This technology or other technologies that reduce the risk of airborne infection transmission may be used to augment other air management strategies.
7. Maximize outdoor functions and physical distancing – The Panel recommends an overall emphasis on reducing indoor functions whenever possible, given that dilution is most achievable in outdoor settings. Further, cruise operators should ensure that guests understand that air management strategies do not negate the importance of following physical distancing protocols.

As you can see from these recommendations, many of the recommendations are incorporated in Royal Caribbean's robust system.

The cruise line believes its air circulation plan makes the transmission of aerosol particles between spaces (like those from a cough) "extremely low to virtually impossible".