Royal Caribbean International cancels sailings, pushes back restart on several ships over COVID
Royal Caribbean International announced Friday that it will pause operations on multiple ships because of COVID-19, canceling some sailings and pushing back one ship’s return to cruising.
“Despite stringent health and safety measures, including vaccination and testing requirements for guests and crew, and extensive contingency planning, we have had to move forward with this decision,” the cruise line said Friday in a statement shared by spokesperson Lyan Sierra-Caro.
Four ships have been impacted by the pause:
- Vision of the Seas, which is being used to quarantine coronavirus positive crew members, has had its return to cruising postponed until March 7.
- Serenade of the Seas sailings between Jan. 8 and March 5 have been canceled. The ship will return to service on April 26 after dry dock.
- Jewel of the Seas sailings will be canceled between Jan. 9 and Feb. 12 and it will return to service on Feb. 20.
- Symphony of the Seas sailings between Jan. 8 and Jan. 22 have been canceled, the ship will return to service on Jan. 29.
Passengers who booked sailings on those ships will have “compensation options” including a full refund.
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Royal Caribbean isn’t the only cruise line to cancel sailings because of the COVID-19 surge.
Norwegian Cruise Line canceled cruises on eight of its ships Wednesday as COVID-19 continues to surge with the emergence of the omicron variant.
“Our first priority is the health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we visit,” Norwegian said in a statement, noting that the cancellations and sailing modifications have been made “due to ongoing travel restrictions.”
The cruise line canceled sailings on eight ships including:
- Norwegian Getaway’s Jan. 5 cruise.
- Norwegian Pearl cruises embarking through Jan. 14.
- Norwegian Sky cruises embarking Feb. 25.
- Pride of America cruises embarking through Feb. 26.
- Norwegian Jade cruises embarking through March 3.
- Norwegian Star cruises embarking through March 19.
- Norwegian Sun cruises embarking through April 19.
- Norwegian Spirit cruises embarking through April 23.
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While most cruises still haven’t been canceled, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised against cruise travel last week.
The agency noted the decision was made as COVID-19 cases are increasing on ships, in the U.S. and around the globe.
Between Nov. 30 and Dec. 14, cruise ships operating in U.S. waters reported 162 cases of COVID-19 to the CDC. Between Dec. 15 and Dec. 29, cruise ships sailing in U.S. waters reported 5,013 COVID-19 cases to the CDC.
That’s nearly 31 times the number of cases reported in the first two weeks of December, the CDC said.
And Royal Caribbean International isn’t a stranger to those cases. Some of its ships, including Symphony of the Seas and Odyssey of the Seas, have faced clusters of COVID cases in recent weeks.