Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley is proud of his company's restart plans, and did not hold back in recognizing Royal Caribbean's victories, as well as challenges that still exist.

In a new social media post, Mr. Bayley posted an update on Royal Caribbean's restart plans, which read like a mile marker on the company's journey back to full operations.

While the process has had, "ups and downs and twists and turns", he was undeniably proud that by the end of August 13 cruise ships will be back in service, which represents half the fleet.

"All of our ships starting operating with reduced capacity either by government mandate," he shared on Facebook. 

Mr. Bayley added that all Royal Caribbean ships have limited capacity that range between 30 to 50 percent, and the company will increase capacity ship by ship over the course of each month.

Mr. Bayley also talked about the realities of cruising again, and that while there have been Covid-19 cases onboard the ship, they have been limited.

"As all guests are required to be tested before boarding regardless of vaccination status, we typically have 2 to 10 guests a week (out of thousands of guests boarding 12 ships) who do not board because they test positive."

"Do we have Covid positive guests onboard," Mr. Bayley shared. "Yes! How many guests are positive? Typically 1 or 2 of a thousand plus guests a week per ship."

Mr. Bayley attributes the the cases that do get caught onboard as a result of an incubation period for the virus, "Testing captures status at a point of time and if the guest is incubating infection then the test will miss it."

"Yes, vaccinated guests test positive for Covid and typically are asymptomatic."

If a case is found onboard, Mr. Bayley says those guests are quarantined and the crew members test immediate travel party, contact tracing and testing of all contacts and quarantine if positive.

"Repatriation home via private jet in the majority of cases."

Read more: Royal Caribbean is flying passengers home on a private jet if they have Covid-19

Mr. Bayley also said the crew members are fully vaccinated, and all crew members are tested now being tested every week, instead of every two weeks, due to the Delta variant.

He said there are sometimes positive Covid cases among the crew, primarily during quarantine as they join the ship and are vaccinated and tested or during regular testing.

A few other thoughts from Mr. Bayley:

• Guest satisfaction is "super high"
• Total onboard vaccinated community ranging from 90 to 97 percent.
• Mixed vaccines: "we continue to work with multiple authorities to find safe solutions."

Mr. Bayley ended by saying, "Please remember, we as a company, are trying our absolute best to protect our guests, employees and the communities we visit!"

After 15 months of no cruise ships sailing, Royal Caribbean has slowly restarted operations with dining onboard being one of the most visible changes to the experience.

Not only has there been tweaks to how food is served, such as crew members serving passengers at the Windjammer buffet, but Royal Caribbean has rolled out other changes to its ships that are in many cases the result of months of work behind the scenes.

While cruise ships may have been shutdown for most of 2020, Royal Caribbean's food and beverage team was not idle. Royal Caribbean Vice President Food & Beverage, Linken D'Souza, took the time while ships were out of service to work on a number of initiatives that guests are now seeing onboard.

At the onset of the shutdown, Royal Caribbean was primarily focused on getting crew members home and to ensure all the equipment and venues were locked down. But then, the food and beverage team started thinking about the projects they always wanted to do, but were simply too busy to tackle in addition to the day-to-day operations onboard.

"I said, this is an opportune moment. Let's go back and really think about the business and what needs to get better," Mr. D'Souza explained as he laid out his team's plans during the shutdown.

A lot of energy initially went into re-evaluating their supply chains, looking at ways to improve the Windjammer or dining rooms.

"We spent a lot of time looking at all the menus and all of the recipes and a lot of simplification. The most challenging part of our business is managing 26 ships spread across the world and figuring out how to build consistency."

One of the early changes to come out of this refocus was the Windjammer, where Mr. D'Souza says new dishware and a focus on quality of presentation was added.

"I think historically it was about mass volumes of food everywhere. This is really about making sure everything that's out there is well prepared, tastes exceptionally good, and makes folks want to come back."

Over in the main dining room, Royal Caribbean refocused their efforts on plating, entrees, and fine-tuned a lot of those experiences.

Another change was to re-vamp the fleetwide drink menu, which now includes cocktails, mocktails, and low/no alcohol drinks.

"The beverage team focused in on rebuilding the beverage menu, and we focused on the 'Taste of the Caribbean', which is really going to some of our favorite places that our ships sailed to and identifying drinks that are really signature drinks to those islands and bringing them on board the ship."

The hope for Mr. D'Souza was to infuse a piece of these quintessential Caribbean ports in the drink menu, "It's like bringing a port of call to your experience onboard the ship. And maybe you have the cocktail on board and you get off from the island and you say, hey, I got to get one of those here to see how close they are."

Some of the major changes Royal Caribbean has made to the dining experience to ensure a healthy experience for all includes:

• No self-service buffet option, including drink stations, ice cream stations and other locations
• Restaurant menus shown in the Royal Caribbean app
• Reservations recommended for meals at specialty restaurants, Main Dining Room, or Windjammer
• Scanning guest SeaPass cards upon entry and exit to Windjammer to ensure venue is not too crowded
• Designated areas for everyone in main dining room, including parents and unvaccinated children, and areas for vaccinated parties only. 
• Most bars and lounges are open to everyone, while some are designated for vaccinated guests.

Healthy return to service

Cruise ships restarting was much more than simply pulling into port and allowing passengers onboard. Royal Caribbean spent a great deal of time and energy on new protocols, and that includes dining.

Mr. D'Souza said a big part of his team's planning was focused on the return to service, "There was a lot of protocols, a lot of time spent focused on how do we come back to healthy, safe return service."

"We looked at the table designs in the dining room, how many guests could fit in every dining ship by ship."

"And so making sure that we had all the systems and protocols in place and a lot of my team stepped into roles that were not traditionally their roles. And I think that happened across our company."

D'Souza characterized this time as "very challenging" for everyone involved, but he felt there was a focused effort on doing what was needed for the business to return.

Another Royal Caribbean cruise ship has restarted sailings, and this one is sailing from Barcelona, Spain.

Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas resumed operations on Sunday, and is offering 7-night Western Mediterranean cruises from Barcelona, Spain.

While not the first Royal Caribbean cruise ship to restart in Europe, she is the biggest ship to restart in Europe, following on the successful restarts of Anthem of the Seas and Jewel of the Seas.

From August to October, Harmony of the Seas will offer visits to ports in Palma De Mallorca, Florence, Rome, and Naples.

All passengers and crew members onboard Harmony of the Seas 18 years of age and older must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Children younger than the eligible age can sail with a negative test result and must follow other health and safety protocols. 

Royal Caribbean's mask policy for sailings from Barcelona on Harmony indicate all guests 6 years and older must wear a mask in all indoor and outdoor public spaces, unless seated and actively eating or drinking or sitting beside the pool. Masks are not required in staterooms if you are with your own travel party. Masks are not permitted in the pool or for any activity where they could become wet.

Other protocols onboard include the ships’ robust ventilation systems, enhanced cleaning and sanitization, and cruising at reduced occupancy as ships initially return to sailing.

Health and safety measures will be evaluated as public health circumstances evolve, and guests and travel partners will be notified of updates.

At the ports Harmony of the Seas will visit, shore excursion options depend on the country's rules.

• Spain
  • Fully vaccinated parties have the choice of booking a shore excursion or visiting freely.
  • Parties that wish to go ashore and include any unvaccinated guests, must book a shore excursion through Royal Caribbean
• Italy
  • All travel parties that wish to go ashore must purchase a local tour through Royal Caribbean. 

Ben Bouldin, vice president for EMEA, Royal Caribbean International commented “We are delighted to welcome back another ship to our European lineup this summer with the return of the award-winning Harmony of the Seas. Harmony is an incredibly popular ship and one of the most revolutionary in our fleet, so families are in for a summer of adventure.”

Construction on Royal Caribbean's new cruise terminal in Galveston was celebrated with an official kickoff ceremony over the weekend.

On Saturday, Royal Caribbean and the Port of Galveston celebrated the start of construction of the Terminal 3 cruise terminal.

Attending the groundbreaking was U.S. Congressman Randy Weber, Texas Rep. Mayes Middleton, City of Galveston Mayor Dr. Craig Brown, and City Councilmember Marie Robb. Representatives from Royal Caribbean and the Port of Galveston were also in attendance.

Work on the new facility began two months ago, but the official groundbreaking ceremony was held to coincide with Independence of the Seas departing Galveston, becoming the first Royal Caribbean cruise ship to sail from Galveston since March 2020.

After completing her test cruise earlier this month, Independence of the Seas received her Conditional Sailing Certificate from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Terminal 3 will be built at Pier 10 for exclusive use by Royal Caribbean on a 10 acre parcel of land, which will eventually be the new homeport for Allure of the Seas.

The cruise terminal is estimated to cost $110 million and encompass 150,000 square feet of space.

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

Construction of the terminal should be completed by November 2022.

Once construction is complete, Allure of the Seas is scheduled to arrive on November 13, 2022.

Welcome to this week's edition of the Royal Caribbean post round-up, where we summarize all of the Royal Caribbean news and information from this week into one handy-dandy post! There is plenty of great content to enjoy, so sit back, relax, and enjoy this week's round-up!

The cruise industry took notice this week when a United States District Judge sided with Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) against the State of Florida in the question of can a company ask for proof of a Covid-19 vaccination.

NCLH was granted a preliminary injunction which would allow a cruise line to require passengers to prove they are vaccinated against Covid-19 if sailing from Florida.

Judge Kathleen M. Williams said in the docket that the combination of trying to restore consumer confidence and the Delta variant contributed to NCLH's win.

Royal Caribbean News

• CDC rule prohibits cruise ships based outside of United States from returning for 14 days
• Norwegian Cruise wins lawsuit against Florida over Covid-19 vaccine passport ban
• Royal Caribbean gets CDC approval for Independence of the Seas to sail
• Royal Caribbean now accepts CDC-approved at-home COVID-19 tests
• How to have the best experience for cheap on Royal Caribbean
• Royal Caribbean brings back WOW Sale with up to $300 onboard credit
• Spotted: Royal Caribbean cruise expected check-in date added to app

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 418th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, where Matt looks at new rules Royal Caribbean recently announced.

There has been plenty of rule changes lately, but this week, Matt breaks down the three biggest changes announced over the last few weeks.

Please subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can! 

Video: 10 Truths of going on a Royal Caribbean cruise right now

Have you subscribed to the Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube Channel? We share some great videos there regularly, all about taking a Royal Caribbean cruise! This week, we are sharing our latest video: 10 Truths of going on a Royal Caribbean cruise right now

What it's like on the Mariner of the Seas test cruise

What happens on a test cruise? 

Mariner of the Seas is the latest cruise ship to sail on a test cruise, and these simulated voyages are an opportunity to demonstrate new protocols to federal regulators, as well as give the crew a chance to prepare for the real thing.

Matt just sailed on Mariner of the Seas for her 2-night test cruise, and shared everything he did onboard.

Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas restarts cruises today after being shutdown due to the global health crisis.

Symphony may not be the first cruise ship to restart, but she is the largest cruise ship in the world, which is a significant milestone for the cruise industry.

Royal Caribbean has been slowly and methodically restarting its ships with a wealth of new health protocols and policies in place to protect guests, crew members, and the communities each of its ships visits.

All of the crew members will be fully vaccinated on Symphony of the Seas, and any unvaccinated guests (mainly children, according to the cruise line) will be subject to additional testing requirements and specific health protocols. 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved the ship to restart operations following a simulated voyage earlier this month, when the crew demonstrated the new protocols meet the agency's needs.

All passengers onboard, vaccinated or not, will need to take a Covid test before the cruise, and wear face masks in public areas onboard unless in a designated vaccinated-only zone.

While Symphony has a capacity of over 5,400 passengers, the ship will sail with significantly less guests while Royal Caribbean gets more ships back into service and evaluates its health protocols. While the exact number of passengers for the first sailing is not yet know, other Royal Caribbean ships have been sailing with just around 1,000 passengers at the most onboard.

Symphony of the Seas will depart today from PortMiami and embark on a 7-night Western Caribbean cruise that visits Cozumel, Costa Maya and Roatan.

Symphony is not the first Oasis Class cruise ship to restart. Sister ship Allure of the Seas was able to start up first earlier this month.  The two other Oasis Class ships will resume operations shortly as well.

Harmony of the Seas will depart Barcelona on Sunday, while Oasis of the Seas will resume operations from Cape Liberty in early September.

Some of the protocols for unvaccinated guests include being limited from accessing certain venues onboard, as well as being required to get travel insurance for sailings beginning in August.

Guests will have to wait a bit longer before Royal Caribbean can offer certain culinary classes on its ships again.

Royal Caribbean sent an email to guests who had select culinary events and classes reserved that these are now canceled.

According to the cruise line, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance does not allow the cruise line to offer certain group culinary events.

"As part of the guidance received from the Centers of Disease Control, we've had to adjust some of our special culinary events and classes," the cruise line said in an email sent to guests.

"We're sorry for the impact and inconvenience this may have on your time with us."

These group events allow guests to try their hand at making certain foods in a fun environment, with a crew member leading the guests in the techniques to create (and then eat) their creations.

This includes cancelling:

• Sprinkle Time Cupcake
• Sushi classes
• Guacamole classes

Guests who had these classes booked will receive a refund to the original form of payment within 30 days.

It is not clear when these classes will be offered again onboard.

The cruise line confirmed that Taste of Royal and Sushi and Saki Pairing will still be offered to guests.

Royal Caribbean has successfully received permission for Independence of the Seas to sail from the U.S. government.

After completing her test cruise earlier this month, Royal Caribbean announced the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has approved the ship for service with paying passengers.

Independence received her Conditional Sailing Certificate from the CDC, which means the ship is ready to sail with passengers on August 15.

Just last week, Royal Caribbean received a Conditional Sailing Certificate for Allure of the Seas.

This certificate is the final phase of the CDC's phased approach, known as the Conditional Sail Order (CSO), to allowing cruise ships to resume operations from the United States, and is yet another ship in the fleet to get approval by the U.S. government to sail.

Independence of the Seas completed her test cruise from Galveston on August 1st.

This is now the fifth ship to get approval from the CDC to restart cruises, following Freedom, Serenade, Ovation, and Odyssey of the Seas.

Independence will offer 7-night Western Caribbean sailings from Galveston, Texas.

Read more: 8 things to love about Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas

For cruises departing Galveston, Texas in August 2021 onboard Independence of the Seas, Royal Caribbean guests age 12 and older must present proof of Covid-19 vaccination with the final dose of their vaccine administered at least 14 days before sailing.

Update: Mariner of the Seas has completed its simulated cruise. And Independence of the Seas received its CDC Conditional Sailing Certificate in time for the first @RoyalCaribbean cruise from @PortofGalveston on Sunday, Aug. 15. ⚓️ | For media: https://t.co/YGwG1roz1P pic.twitter.com/jRsRKm7E1C

— Royal Caribbean PR (@RoyalCaribPR) August 13, 2021

All crew onboard Independence of the Seas will be fully vaccinated.

All unvaccinated guests ages 2 to 11 must undergo 2 more COVID-19 tests at the cruise terminal and prior to disembarking.

Guests under 2 years of age will not be tested.

Royal Caribbean has also outlined the mask rules for guests onboard Independence of the Seas in August that are age 2 and up:

Masks are NOT required to be worn:

• In open-air areas of the ship, unless you are in a crowded setting.
• In the pool or any activity where they may become wet.
• At venues designated for vaccinated guests only, such as select bars, lounges, restaurants and shows.
• In your stateroom when you are with your traveling party.
• While visiting our private destination, Perfect Day at CocoCay, unless you are in a crowded setting.
• By any guest under the age of 2.

Masks ARE required to be worn:

• While indoors onboard the ship, unless seated and actively eating or drinking.
• While visiting public ports of call, where local regulations may require them.

Dining & Lounges
In the Main Dining Room, which spans multiple decks, we will designate areas for everyone, including parents and unvaccinated children, and areas for vaccinated parties only. My Time Dining will not be available to parties that include unvaccinated guests.

Most specialty restaurants will be open to everyone, while a few will be for vaccinated parties only. If you prefer a buffet, Windjammer will be open to everyone for breakfast and lunch, and the food will be served by our crew.

Grab-and-go cafes will also be available for everyone.

Entertainment
Theaters and activity venues will offer spaced seating with options for everyone and for vaccinated guests only. 

Royal Caribbean rolls out new promotions all the time, but their signature offer is back with the WOW Sale.

The WOW Sale offers a combination of a few offers in one, and has traditionally been one of the more sought after cruise deals.

The WOW Sale is available for new bookings made between August 12-15, 2021 on sailings departing on or after September 12, 2021.

It includes:

• Up to $300 onboard credit per stateroom
  • Sailings 5 nights or less, $50 OBC for Interior and Ocean View, $75 for Balconies and $150 for Suites
  • Sailings 6 nights or longer, $75 OBC for Interior and Ocean View, $100 for Balconies and $300 for Suites
• 60% off second guest
• Up to $200 CAD off all sailings departing on January 1 – December 31, 2022.

Offer available to residents of United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and select countries in the Caribbean. 

Here is the fine print for the WOW Sale offer:

WOW Sale applies to new bookings made between August 12-15, 2021. WOW Sale offers up to $300 USD to spend at sea (“Onboard Credit” or “OBC”) per stateroom on select sailings departing on or after September 12, 2021. OBC amounts are per stateroom and determined by category booked and sailing length: On sailings 5 nights or less, $50 OBC for Interior and Ocean View, $75 for Balconies and $150 for Suites; on sailings 6 nights or longer, $75 OBC for Interior and Ocean View, $100 for Balconies and $300 for Suites. Onboard credit does not apply to China departures. The “Cruise with Confidence” program allows individual guests and guests in non-contracted groups who booked a cruise on or before August 31, 2021, for cruises sailing between June 12, 2020 and April 30, 2022, to opt-in for RCI’s “best price guarantee” on their current sailing, or cancel their cruise up to 48 hours prior to the vacation start date and have the option to receive a Future Cruise Credit (“FCC”) equal to the amount of the cruise fare the guest paid for their cruise. CWC FCC must be applied by April 30, 2022 towards the cruise fare due on an existing booking, on RCI, for a sailing departing on or before September 30, 2022. Visit www.royalcaribbean.com/cruisewithconfidence for complete details. All other Nonrefundable Deposit Bookings (“NRDB”) cancelled prior to final payment due date will receive a future cruise credit in the amount of the deposit minus a 100USD/CAD per person service fee. FCC is non-transferable and expires after 12-months from issue date. 100USD/CAD per person service fee applies to changes to NRDB ship or sail date. Deposits made toward Guarantees and Grand Suites and higher categories are non-refundable and are subject to NRD Booking Terms. Combinability: BOGO60 and 2022 Kicker are combinable with each other as well as promotional OBCs, Next Cruise offers, instant savings, restricted discounts (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military), Promo Code driven offers, Free Upgrades, Crown and Anchor discounts and Shareholder Benefits. WOW Sale is combinable with BOGO60 and 2022 Kicker as well as with promotional OBCs, Next Cruise offers, Instant Savings, restricted discounts (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military), Promo Code driven offers, Free Upgrades, and Shareholder Benefits, but not combinable with Crown and Anchor discounts. Resident rates apply to select states on select sailings; valid state of residence must be provided at time of booking. Offer is not combinable with any other offer or promotion, including, but not limited to, Standard Group, Interline, Travel Agent, Travel Agent Friends and Family, Weekly Sales Events, and Net Rates. Promo Code driven offers are based on select ships and sail dates and must be applied at time of booking; limit one promo code per booking. General Terms: All other charges, including, but not limited to, taxes, fees and port expenses, are additional and apply to all guests. Instant savings amount shown in USD and will be converted to currency used for cruise purchase. Savings applied to cruise fare at checkout. Instant savings will be reflected in checkout as “Dollars Off” or “Savings.” Onboard Credit will be reflected in checkout as “Ship Spend” or “Ship Credit.” Onboard credit and instant savings do not apply to China departures. OBC is in USD, has no cash value, is non-transferable, not redeemable for cash, and will expire if not used by 10:00 PM on the last evening of the cruise. After the offer period, the offer will be removed from the booking if the guest cancels and reinstates the booking or rebooks into a new booking on the same ship and sail date, applies a fare change, or changes the ship or sail date of the booking; certain other changes to the booking may also result in removal of the offer. Offer applies to new, individual and named group bookings confirmed at prevailing rates. Individual reservations may be transferred into an existing group, assuming required criteria are met; full deposit will be required at time of transfer. Failure to apply the required full deposit amount may result in the cancellation of the booking. Single occupancy guests paying 200% cruise fare are eligible for full amount of offer; single occupancy guests paying less than 200% cruise fare are eligible for a prorated amount of the offer. Offer available to residents of United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and select countries in the Caribbean. Prices and offers are subject to availability and change without notice, capacity controlled, and may be withdrawn at any time. Refer to www.RoyalCaribbean.com for complete terms and conditions. Royal Caribbean International reserves the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions and to change or update fares, fees and surcharges at any time without prior notice. ©2021 Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Ships’ registry: Bahamas.    

How to check for a price drop

While the WOW Sale can be an opportunity to book a new sailing, what if you already have a cruise booked?

New offers like this can be applied to existing reservations, provided there is a price drop.

The most common way to check for a price drop is to do a mock booking for the same sailing, ship, and stateroom category you are currently booked on via Royal Caribbean's website.

Be certain you are comparing the exact same room category code, as well as the deposit type (refundable or non-refundable deposit).

Read more: Will a Royal Caribbean sale actually save me any money?

Some travel agents (the great ones) will check for price drops on your behalf.  In our experience, travel agents that take the extra step to check for price drops on behalf of their clients tend to do this when new sales and promotions are announced. Here is one such recommended travel agency that specializes in Royal Caribbean. If you are not convinced using a free travel agency that is recommended by Royal Caribbean is right for you, read our post discussing the benefits they offer.

Royal Caribbean's best price guarantee allows guests to reprice their cruise at the lower cruise fare if the price for that cruise goes down at any time before final payment date. As long as the price drops for the same ship and sail date that has been booked previously, and it is before final payment date, guests can reprice their cruise as many times as they want.

If you are past final payment date for your sailing, you can still apply for a price drop thanks to the enhanced Cruise with Confidence program and get onboard credit for the difference in price, rather than a refund.