Royal Caribbean launched a new app for kids based on a game kids could play onboard its cruise ships in Adventure Ocean.

The Treasure of Barnacle Briggs is a new game available on Apple's App Store that offers kids an interactive quest and is free to download.

The concept was originally created for Adventure Ocean on Royal Caribbean's cruise ships by a company named Firstborn, and it launched as part of the Royal Amplifications of Oasis of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas.

The game is an adaptation of what kids would find on the ships, and gives kids the choice of four mysterious islands that together present immersive, imaginative stories and adventures that your family can play through together. 

Firstborn technical director, Drew Dahlman, describes the game, "The benefit of the narrative is we’re building a whole universe that really brings players in."

Each of the mystical islands features its own set of challenges that takes the user on a journey to retrieve coveted keys that will unlock Barnacle Briggs’ hidden treasure. 

The game features stunning visuals, this interactive quest brings players a mind-bending maze, a formidable foe, tricky turns on tracks that test reaction time and a wild ride down slippery slopes.

Whether kids, parents or Diamond Plus guests play the game, they will find a game inspired by classic video games that put your reaction time and precision to the test.

• On Maze Island, players must dodge boulders in a twisting labyrinth
• On Gold Mine Island you must leap across gaps in the track
• On Blizzard Island you can maneuver a toboggan through every peak and valley in a race down the slopes

On top of it all, Royal Caribbean included a mischievous animal adversary based on feedback from kids.  On Octopus Island, you will find an eight-legged foe who throws barrels, crates and sticky starfish that players must avoid by tapping their quick reflexes.

The interactive digital experience was first a success at sea. “When we saw how well the games were received on board Oasis of the Seas—people were congregating around the large screens at Adventure Ocean to check it out—we knew we needed to introduce Barnacle Briggs to the world in some way,” said Lauren Berman, senior manager for product development at Royal Caribbean.

You can download the game from Apple's App Store.

Royal Caribbean Chairman and CEO Richard Fain posted a new video update on the 4 month anniversary of when the cruise line suspended sailing due to the current global health crisis.

Mr. Fain began the video update with a look at the current impact of COVID-19 in the United States, citing a growing trend of new cases and consequently, new restrictions aimed at curbing the spread.

He then contrasted this trend with what is happening in Europe and Asia, where things are trending in a very positive manner, and cases are dropping and flare ups are quickly identified.

"As an American, this is incredibly embarrassing. There's simply no excuse for the United States to do worse than almost all the other developed countries in the world. And yet chart after chart shows that's just what's happening."

"In America, we pride ourselves on our individualism. But taken too far, individualism can begin to look a lot like selfishness. We should be angry that so many people are ignoring the simple fact that by exposing themselves to others, they are helping the spread of the disease."

Mr. Fain discussed how much progress scientists have made in better understanding the virus, and identified two key areas that stand out.

The first fact is that the main source of becoming infected is by breathing in air droplets from someone else's air. 

The other is that it takes more than a trivial amount of contact to spread it from person to person. Namely, you have to be closer than 6 feet apart for more than 15 minutes.

Mr. Fain feels these two facts are key to understanding the problem, and identifying a solution.

"If we all do what they tell us, if we all take the steps to wear a face covering and to keep separated by at least six feet, it won't take long to bring this disease under control."

"Frustrated, but optimistic"

While Mr. Fain spent the first half of the video lamenting the lack of progress in the United States addressing the root causes of the spread of the virus, he remains optimistic that it is still easy to fix things.

"It's clear that we don't have to go into hibernation to constrain the spread. We just need to follow a few simple practical restrictions for a short period of time to bring the numbers low enough that we can all feel comfortable again."

Healthy Sail Panel Update

The Healthy Sail Panel, which is tasked with creating new policies for Royal Caribbean to keep crew and guests safe once they resume sailings, has been at work as a team for over a month now.

Mr. Fain professed pride in the work this panel is doing to come up with practical rules and suggestions on how to make cruising safer.

"They're really going into depth on every topic, whether it is the air conditioning system or the practicalities of social distancing, or even the utensils used in a buffet setting."

"Our objective is not only to meet the minimum safety requirements, but to actually make the ship safer than the communities where our guests come from."

Mr. Fain reiterated that Royal Caribbean will not resume sailings until the cruise line and government authorities, "are satisfied that we can do so with all of the appropriate protocols in place."

In Germany, TUI Cruises will restart cruising on Friday because of the incredibly low rate of the virus there combined with extremely effective protocols, which Mr. Fain feels is a good sign that cruising has a future.

"Just as daffodils that are important sign of spring, I hope this small start in Germany bodes well for our future resumption. It won't be immediate, but it is coming."

In short, Mr. Fain concluded that these bad times will pass, and when it does, Royal Caribbean will be ready.

Following up on Royal Caribbean's commitment to process guest refunds for cancelled cruises significantly faster, they announced today they have not only cut down the amount of time guests must wait for a refund, but the super long waits are also nearly gone.

Vicki Freed, Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, proudly informed travel agents on her weekly webinar that there are just 100 reservations left that are waiting more than 30 days for a refund.

"We're pretty much caught up to date. We have about a hundred bookings that are still over the 30 day mark that we have not refunded," Ms Freed said. 

Just last week, Ms. Freed said there were about 1,000 bookings that are still over 30 days waiting for a refund. While she said they aimed to process them all by this past Sunday, they have been able to process nearly every single one.

Currently, Royal Caribbean is averaging about 23 days to process a new refund request

If any travel agent has a client who is waiting more than 30 days for a refund at this point, she asked the agent to personally contact her via email to get a resolution immediately.

Moreover, Ms. Freed added that phone call wait times are significantly down, which means no more crazy long phone hold times.

"And by the way, with the exception of groups and service, the phone lines are pretty much under control and even groups of service, maybe the wait time is 15 to 20 minutes."

Getting refunds processed quicker has been a high priority for Royal Caribbean, which was inundated with refund requests following wave after wave of cruise cancellations due to the global health crisis.

The growing pool of refunds waiting to be processed became a black eye for the company, and they quickly made knocking those numbers down a top priority.

A combination of introducing new self-service tools, along with hiring back laid off workers, have contributed to greatly reducing the processing times.

Royal Caribbean informed travel partners on Wednesday they have extended its popular Cruise with Confidence policy by another two months.

Cruise with Confidence now allows cancellations up to 48-hours prior to sailing, in exchange for a 100% Future Cruise Credit (FCC) on sailings through April 2022 for bookings made on or before September 30, 2020.

There is no change to the policy parameters, which was originally announced on March 6, 2020 in an effort to give consumer a higher level of trust that they could change their mind later if they do not want to cruise.

Under the program, should you change your mind about a booked sailing, Cruise with Confidence offers the flexibility to cancel up to 48-hours prior to the sail date in exchange for a 100% Future Cruise Credit.

Cruise with Confidence is applicable to guests booked on-or-before September 30, 2020 on sailings departing through April 2022 (all open deployment as of July 22, 2020).

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

In addition to Cruise with Confidence, guests can still take advantage of "Best Price Guarantee" and "Lift and Shift."

• Best Price Guarantee: Guests can choose to change the price and promotional offer on their reservation up to 48 hours before their cruise.
• Lift and Shift: This option is ideal for those guests wishing to move their vacation plans to next year. Eligible between now and September 30, 2020, guests can protect their original cruise fare and promotional offering by shifting to a future sailing on the same itinerary type, sailing length, stateroom category, and within the same 4-week period of their original cruise date same-time-next-year.

“Guests are reacting positively to our Cruise with Confidence policy,” says Royal Caribbean Group chairman and CEO Richard Fain, “because it enables them to make informed decisions and to better manage complicated travel plans during this unprecedented time of uncertainty.”

Currently, Royal Caribbean has cancelled all of its sailings through September 30th, 2020.

Helpful resources:

• Royal Caribbean Cancellations
• Royal Caribbean Future Cruise Credit: What you need to know
• Top 10 Royal Caribbean Lift and Shift questions
• How Royal Caribbean will let you take advantage of a price drop up until 48 hours before your cruise

Social media has spotted that Royal Caribbean's first mega ship, Sovereign of the Seas, is about to be broken down and scrapped in Turkey.

For some, saying goodbye to this ship (and her sister Monarch of the Seas, which is also facing the maritime guillotine) evoke a great deal of memories from past sailings.

Dreaming a giant

It is difficult to understand in today's terms how impactful Sovereign of the Seas was for her time. She revolutionized an industry, and her debut instantly made every other main stream cruise line ship obsolete.

In 1984, Royal Caribbean had 11% of the cruise market share, compared to NCL at 14% and Carnival at 15%. Royal Caribbean wanted to recapture the leadership edge it had achieved in the early 1970s.

Miami management felt that if anything, they should proceed cautiously, producing a slightly larger Song of America with a 1,600-passenger load. But the committee argued for even greater expansion, constructing a larger ship altogether.

Royal Caribbean had never built a cruise ship with either an indoor café, a casino, a champagne bar or a health club; and having made the decision to include those options inside a suitably large hull, the scale of an inevitable new prototype emerged. Thus, Sovereign of the Seas, the world's largest purpose-built cruise ship at the time, was conceived.

The theoretical phase began with three questions: how many passengers, how fast and how luxurious?

All had to be answered before the vessel's dimensions could be considered. The first answer was awesome: The passenger count, which started at about 1,800, would be 2,673 total occupancy, more than half again Song of America's capacity. Speed would remain at sixteen knots for cruising with a top speed of twenty-one. And, a decisive spatial augmentation, passengers would be accommodated in slightly larger (three percent was the exact increment) cabins than those on board existing Royal Caribbean tonnage.  

Building Sovereign

To build the world's largest cruise ship was not something any shipyard could handle. 

Until that point, all of Royal Caribbean's ships had been built at Wärtsilä in Finland, but Royal Caribbean found a better match with Chantiers de l'Atlantique in France with a $190,000,000 contract price and guaranteed delivery for December 1987, which beat the Finns.

Within weeks of the July 1985 contract signing, steel was ordered and subsequently cut at St.-Nazaire.

In the old days, in every shipyard, the first element of the hull, the keel, would be laid on keel blocks. But modern newbuilding involves the assembly of enormous chunks of ship (called sections) that have been prefabricated hundreds of yards from the ways.

Sovereign's first two keel sections were put into place on June 10, 1986. It was at this time the ship's name was announced, which had been a guarded secret.  It was only referred to up until this point by its pedestrian yard number, A-29.

Sovereign also has the distinction of introducing the now well-known naming convention for every Royal Caribbean ship.

The name of the vessel was suggest and vehemently argued by Mortis Skaugen. "He literally shook the name into me," Richard Fain observes. There have been two prior ships called Sovereign of the Seas. The first, the price of King Charles I, was a towering, intricately carved Royal Navy warship of 1637. The second Sovereign was launched 200 years later from an American yard, a swift clipper ship built by Donald McKay. A handsome model of each vessel decorates the current ship's Schooner Bar.

Although on first hearing the name seemed overlong, it imparted exactly the right sense of royal occasion. Of course, the vessel's workaday generic would, predictably, be abbreviated to Sovereign; "___ of the Seas" would serve as an invaluable class-identifying suffix integrated into the names of both successors.

Sovereign of the Seas was handed over to Royal Caribbean four days earlier than scheduled on December 19, 1987. Richard Fain, Royal Caribbean's CEO accepted the handover from Alain Grill, managing director of Chantiers de l'Atlantique.  Mr. Fain then handed over the completed vessel to Captain Tor Stangeland.

Game changing debut

The first sea trials took place on September 5, 1987, which was a weekend.  

Sovereign of the Seas' naming ceremony was held in Miami on Friday, January 15. 

Taittinger had created a huge new champagne bottle - the largest ever blown - specifically called a sovereign in honor of the ship - the largest of its kind ever built.

President and Mrs. Carter were onboard the ship, as the crowd, serenaded by a large orchestra, took their seats on the pier. It was a festive throng, caparisoned with hats, flowers, company ties, and always, multitudes of cameras.

Led by Chairman Eigil Abrahmsen, Mrs. Carter and the President emerged from the crew gangway and trod a red-carpeted path to the dignitaries' platform. The former First Lady had chosen a yellow suit, prettily matched by a chrysanthemum alee lining her right of way.

Of the many Carters on hand, one of the youngest had shared with Chairman Abrahmsen the ultimate grandmother's accolade. "This young man told me that he knew wat RCCL stands for," the chairman informed his audience. "It stands for Rosalynn Carter's Cruise Line!"

After the speeches and a solemn blessing, Mrs. Carter and the chairman climbed atop the launch platform.  The music stopped. A hush fell over the spectators.  In a clear voice, Rosalynn Carter offered the traditional benison, named the vessel and cut the launch cord.

Sovereign of the Seas demonstrated that it is possible for a modern cruise ship to offer a balance of beauty and function and be something more than a container carrier or a ferry.

She sailed with paying customers for the first time on Saturday, January 16, 1988. 

Sovereign of the Seas sailed year-round and offered seven-day cruises from Miami to the Caribbean, proving the viability of a megaship. Her success launched two sister ships (Monarch and Majesty of the Seas), and forced the hand of other competitors to build their own megaships.

In 2008, Royal Caribbean transferred Sovereign to Pullmantur Cruises to help catapult that Spanish cruise line and grow her operations.

Share your fondest Sovereign of the Seas memories in our comments!

Everyone wants to know when cruises will truly restart again, especially in North America or Europe.

While the answer is nobody knows when it may happen, there are some important steps that need to occur first in order for Royal Caribbean and other lines to start up again.

The general public is not privy to every single step that may need to occur, but there are some big tasks remaining in the way of cruise ships welcoming guests back onboard.

New policies submitted and approved by CDC

By all accounts, the first step for cruise lines to resume service is to come up with a plan on how they will keep guests safe.

When the CDC instituted the first "No Sail" Order in March, they required each cruise line to submit a plan for protecting people on their cruise ships.

Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line are addressing this by the formation of the Healthy Sail Panel, which is actively working on creating new procedures to institute aboard cruise ships. Thus far, it sounds like the first set of recommendations by the panel will be shared by the end of August, with further revisions and additional recommendations coming later.

Once the full plan is in place, Royal Caribbean will submit it to the CDC for approval. 

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain recently said, "We won't come back until we're absolutely sure that we've done everything we can to work to protect the safety of our guests and crew."

End of the No Sail Order

The next biggest hurdle for the cruise industry is the end of the "No Sail" order that formally prohibits cruise lines from operating with passengers onboard.

The CDC has extended the order two times already, and it is currently slated to end September 30, 2020. Of course, that could be extended again.

There is no clear indication of when the CDC will loosen the reigns on the cruise industry, but it stands to reason that two things need to likely occur:

• The public health emergency needs to subside
• The cruise line needs to have approval for a safe return to cruising with their submitted plan

There very well could be additional steps required for the prohibition to be rescinded, but as long as it stands, there will be no cruises regardless of anything else.

Outside the United States

The "No Sail" order is applied by a U.S. agency, and that mandate does not apply outside the United States. Therefore, cruises could return sooner in other parts of the world.

Currently, China cruises are only cancelled through the end of July. European cruises have been cancelled at the same time as North American cruises, but perhaps that would change going forward.

Ports need to reopen

Some countries have started to re-open their borders to international travel, and a few have already closed back down. Regardless, cruise ships need somewhere to go for cruises to start back up.

More than likely, if the CDC were to allow cruises to start back up again, there would be a few ports of call that would be open by that point, but it is still anyone's guess as to which would open when.

Cruises to Canada are a foregone conclusion that were will be nothing offered there, and other countries that have traditionally seen cruise traffic area also shut down.

These countries rely heavily on tourism, and re-opening the ports are as important to them as the cruise lines, but the safety of their people is what is driving the current policies.

Start-up plan announced

One of the last major steps to look for is a plan of action of which cruise ships will begin sailing and when.

While the cruise line's plans are not completely certain, Royal Caribbean executives have commented they believe cruises will resume with just a handful of ships at first, with a phased approach to bringing the entire fleet back.

When will this happen?

The steps outlined in this post are merely the basics, and while you might be wondering how soon these could occur, it truly is anyone's guess.

What we know about the virus is changing on a near-daily basis, advances on a vaccine are moving long swiftly, and new announcements by the cruise lines and various governments provide a new outlook almost as quickly as the old ones they replaced.

While no one has a crystal ball that can predict when these steps will take place, these changes are a good way to measure progress towards getting back to life at sea.

The answer of when cruises will resume may be better determined by looking out your window and seeing when life begins to return to some kind of normalcy. The sooner daily life starts back up, the less impediments the cruise lines will have to face in starting up again.

The cruise line trade group thinks the best approach to get cruise ships sailing again faster is more unified approach from the industry.

The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) held a phone conference with members of the media on Tuesday to go over their approach for resuming cruises.

CLIA Global Chair (and former Royal Caribbean International CEO) Adam Goldstein believes the cruise industry needs to keep its "eye on the prize" in terms of getting back to service.

Goldstein indicated he expects new policies related to the current global health crisis to be added to CLIA’s Compendium of Policies, which would help in streamlining the industry's handling of health and safety onboard its ships.

"We have tried to work with member cruise lines and be as supportive as we possibly can. In some cases, members are very keen for CLIA to take the lead while in other cases individual lines have felt compelled to take the lead themselves."

"Our goal remains to emerge from this with a unified approach policy-wide, across the association, that all member lines will sign up for."

There were no specifics given on a timeline for releasing new policies or protocols, just that CLIA is actively working with the CDC.

Cruises held to a double standard

While the cruise lines have been shut down since March, other aspects of travel have re-opened without any oversight from the CDC, including theme parks, hotels and airlines.

When asked if the cruise industry was being treated unfairly compared to other aspects of the travel industry, Mr. Goldstein believes cruising already adheres to many more regulations that makes them unique.  Moreover, Mr. Goldstein feels complaining about it things being unfair will not achieve anything.

"Cruise ships live under a unique and different reporting regime because they are constantly crisscrossing international boundaries. So what people, including our regulator, believe about our environment is much greater than what they could possibly know about any of these other sister environments in the travel and tourism industry."

"Is it unfair? It’s not a question of fairness but one of preparation and execution. We need to keep our eye on the prize, lamenting on things is not going to get us there. Engagement, dialogue, preparation and execution are what’s going to get us there."

Many exasperated cruise fans have openly wondered why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has the authority to allow cruise ships to operate in the United States.

Since March 2020, the CDC has instituted a "No Sail" order and later a Conditional Sail Order that prevents cruise ships with customers onboard from operating in U.S. waters. Why does the CDC do this, and under what authority do they operate?

Public Health Service Act of 1944

The origin of the CDC working with the cruise lines begins in 1944 with the passage of the Public Health Service Act into U.S. Federal Law.

This law gives the federal government the authority to quarantine for the first time, and it gave the United States Public Health Service responsibility for preventing the introduction, transmission and spread of communicable diseases from foreign countries into the United States.

The United States Public Health Service is comprised of a number of divisions within the Department of Health and Human Services, including the CDC.

Under section 361 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S. Code § 264), the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized to take measures to prevent the entry and spread of communicable diseases from foreign countries into the United States and between states.

The authority for carrying out these functions on a daily basis has been delegated to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Vessel Sanitation Program

Fast-forward to the 1970s, when the CDC established the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) as "a cooperative activity with the cruise ship industry."

The VSP was created to develop and implement a comprehensive sanitation program in order to minimize the risk of gastrointestinal diseases. This goes back to the mission of the United States Public Health Service, which is to prevent the transmission and spread of communicable diseases from foreign countries. Cruise ships visit foreign countries, thus, the CDC acts on this.

The VSP operated continuously at all major U.S. ports from the early 1970's through 1986, when CDC terminated portions of the program. 

Pressure from the public and cruise industry resulted in the Congress compelling the CDC to resume the VSP. As a result, the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) at CDC became responsible for the VSP in 1986. 

Since then, the CDC has played a key role in cruise ships being approved to sail in the United States, as it pertains to the health of passengers onboard its ships.

The No Sail Order

The "No Sail" Order was instituted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the CDC under sections 361 and 365 of the Public Health Service Act.

These sections refer to the ability of HHS/CDC to create policies that "are necessary to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases from foreign countries into the States".

Initially, the "No Sail" Order was created following the Diamond Princess and Grand Princess cruise ships experienced outbreaks onboard those vessels in January 2020.

Since then, the CDC has spent an estimated 38,000 person-hours on cruise ship COVID-19 response since March 14, 2020.

There are plenty of choices to make in a cruise vacation that will cost you extra, but there are a few that stand out as being worth the extra cost because of the benefits they provide.

Any upgrade or splurge will mean more money you will have to shell out, so it is always important to determine which ones are nice to have versus which ones are smart choices.

Here is a list of my favorite extras that I do not mind (as much) paying out of pocket because I think it is worth it.

Renting a cabana

Whether your cruise will visit Perfect Day at CocoCay or Labadee, if you want to spend money on an upgrade, I always book a cabana for my family when we visit either of these private destinations.

Renting a cabana gets you extra privacy and comfort for your day at the beach, and I love the flexibility they provide.

Personalized service from the cabana attendants, shade and a fan to keep everyone cool, comfortable accommodations and floating mats are just a few of the many perks they provide.

For families, it is so nice to have a "home base" where the kids can easily go to and from, take a break, and hang out during the day.

Cabana rental prices will vary, and they are not the cheapest excursion you can buy, but I find it offers some intangible benefits that make for a more enjoyable day at the beach.

Upgrading to a balcony cabin

When you decide which stateroom to get, certainly an inside cabin will be fine and save you some money along the way, but I think it is worth it to look to spend a bit more for a balcony.

The private balcony space you get and on-demand views of the ocean make the cruise experience so much better, because it is always available when you want it.

It is so rewarding to be able to go out on your balcony any time of day or night to enjoy the view, have a sip of your coffee, or simply enjoy the passing sea breeze.

In addition, moving up to a balcony room means more living space. The cabin itself will be larger, and of course the balcony provides additional room to move around compared to less expensive stateroom options.

Stay an extra day before/after your cruise

One of my top tips for anyone who is flying to their cruise is to ensure they come in at least a day before the cruise departs in order to prevent a travel delay impacting their ability to get to the cruise ship.

Travel delays occur with great frequency, and the last thing you want to do is put your cruise vacation in jeopardy because of a flight delay or traffic.

Coming in a day early, as well as staying an extra day or two after your cruise, is not only a smart travel decision, but it also extends your vacation.

Dine at a specialty restaurant

While I think the complimentary food in Royal Caribbean's complimentary restaurants are fantastic, I think mixing it up and having a dinner at one specialty restaurant on a cruise is well-worth it.

Specialty restaurants have gone from something else to try, to a major focus of the cruise line. It is more than just somewhere to get different food, the cruise line has placed a great deal of effort into delivering some very impressive meals.

Everyone has different tastes, but my favorite specialty restaurants to dine at each and every time are as follows:

• Izumi Hibachi: Always a satisfying meal, my family loves to dine here for the combination of great food and great entertainment.
• Portside BBQ: Only available on Oasis of the Seas currently, the quality of food is simply impressive. I am not even a "bbq guy", but it is really good.
• Wonderland: For something truly different, I recommend a meal at Wonderland. It is departure from the usual specialty dining, and still delivers great food and experience.

Whether you are looking to celebrate a special occasion or just a special night out, these three choices are perfect and will leave you satisfied with the experience (and the cost).

Escape Rooms

In just a few short years, Royal Caribbean has added a number of escape rooms to its cruise ships and they are really a lot of fun.

Escape rooms are timed challenges, where you and a group of other guests try to solve a series of puzzles and clues that "unlocks" a sequence before time runs out.

Each escape room added to a Royal Caribbean ship is a brand new challenge, so even if you did an escape room on one ship, it does not mean you cannot find an all new puzzle to tackle on another.

These are great sea day activities, and win or lose, it is a fun brain teaser.

What are your favorite extras?

What do you think is worth the extra cost on a Royal Caribbean cruise? Share your list with us in the comments!

The Bahamas is one of the most popular Caribbean countries for cruise lines, and it announced they will not welcome cruise ships to their countries due to the global health pandemic.

The Bahamas had reopened their borders earlier this month, but announced ocean-going vessels with commercial passengers will not be permitted to enter the Bahamas starting Wednesday.

Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis made the announcement on Sunday, citing a spike in cases in the United States, "Regrettably, the situation here at home has already deteriorated since we began the reopening of our domestic economy. It has deteriorated at an exponential rate since we reopened our international borders."

The Bahamas added any cruise ships that allow passengers to board without a required mask or health visa will face a fine of $500 per passenger in violation.

The Prime Minister's address did not include when the new prohibition would expire.

The announcement by the Bahamas to prevent travel by air or sea to their country follows the CDC's extension of the "No Sail" order through the end of September.

The Bahamas is one of the busiest countries in the Caribbean for cruise ship traffic, and home to one of Royal Caribbean's private destinations in Perfect Day at CocoCay.

In addition, Royal Caribbean had recently invested quite a lot of resources into two new projects in the Bahamas. In March, Royal Caribbean announced it would build a new Royal Beach Club property at the western end of Paradise Island in The Bahamas.

Royal Caribbean also has plans for a $300 million investment in Freeport, Grand Bahama that will redevelop the Freeport cruise ship terminal to bring a new world-class destination with a one-of-a-kind hotel, convention center, water adventure park and more.

The current health crisis sidelined both projects for the time being, but they appear to be still planned for the future.