One Step Closer!
Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas Test Cruise
Class is in session on the high seas and Royal Caribbean
is hoping for a passing grade.
After the 15 months pause caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Royal Caribbean International sailed from Miami this past Sunday with 600 employee volunteers. They are sailing a "Test Cruise" mandated by the CDC as a requirement to verify new health and safety protocols before revenue sailings could begin.
Freedom of the Seas departed from Miami, Florida on a two night voyage which will have one port stop at the lines' private island Perfect Day at Coco Cay. All of the test passengers are fully vaccinated. A CDC representative is also onboard in addition to the employee volunteers and staff.
Cruise lines had two choices in order to resume sailing from U.S. ports: have 95% of passengers and 98% of crew vaccinated or successfully complete test voyages as dictated by the CDC. Royal Caribbean opted for the test cruises while their sister line Celebrity Cruises opted for the fully vaccinated option. Celebrity Edge is scheduled to sail this coming weekend, June 26th.
Return to Sailing a Bumpy Ride
Things got interesting when Florida brought suit against the CDC for it's halt of the cruise industry. A Federal court in Tampa on Friday granted Florida a preliminary injunction against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) decision to prevent an immediate resumption of cruise operations. The order will prevent the agency from enforcing against a cruise ship arriving in, within, or departing from Florida.
The suit was brought by Florida's Attorney General Ashley Moody back in April. "The federal government does not, nor should it ever, have the authority to single out and lock down an entire industry indefinitely," Moody said. The injunction is stayed until July 18, after which time the CDC's sailing order will only persist as a non-binding "consideration", the order said.
Also, as discussed in Cruise Restart Saga Continues, Florida passed a law which prevents businesses from requiring vaccinations. Royal Caribbean is not requiring passengers to be vaccinated in Florida, guests sailing on upcoming cruises to Alaska out of Seattle will have a vaccination requirement.
Vaccines are strongly recommended for Florida sailings and "unvaccinated guests must undergo additional COVID-19 testing at their own expense," according to Royal Caribbean's latest update.
Editor note: Requirements are continually changing. We meet weekly with Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines to review their latest requirements and protocols. This is not the time to book travel on your own - please use a travel professional as they can best guide you through the process for a seamless experience.
We look forward to feedback from the employee volunteers, the CDC representative, and the cruise line following the trial cruise. Hopefully this will meet current CDC requirements to allow cruising out of Florida.
Royal Caribbean International has had a huge part in the cruise industry recovery by its participation in the Healthy Sail Panel of experts. We thank them and other participants for those efforts.
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