Recovering Cruise Industry Will Battle Temptation to Revert to Old Status Quos
Photo Credit: Royal Caribbean is leading the resumption of ocean cruising in the U.S., with a first sail scheduled late June out of Fort Lauderdale and its new Odyssey of the Seas ship in July. Courtesy of Royal Caribbean / Royal Caribbean Cruises
Skift Take
Big cruise is back, even as Florida and Texas turn cruising vaccination requirements into a political football. With industry giants eager to start making money again, it'll be a tough road ahead, from rebuilding consumer confidence to sailing to where vaccines are lagging. Is this restart premature?
The recovery of cruises is showing signs of life, 15 months into the Covid pandemic — the longest pause yet on North American cruising.
Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Millenium on June 5 sailed out of St. Maarten as the first ship to resume cruising in the region, while its Celebrity Edge ship will be the first to enjoy a revenue sail out of a U.S. port on June 26 for a seven-night Caribbean cruise from Fort Lauderdale. Carnival Corporation is scheduled for its first simulated sail out of Galveston on July 3 and there’s a second July departure planned out of Miami.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has also approved eight simulated voyages thus far, with more being added as the restart evolves. Test sails are for ships that will be accepting unvaccinated passengers on board with a series of yet to be finalized testing protocols.
“There's a lot of excitement, but the feeling of excitement is also accompanied with the feeling of, we have a long way to go on the ro
