A Royal Caribbean cruise ship. Photo credit Chester Robards.
NASSAU, The Bahamas--Royal Caribbean Group has now joined Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) in announcing that it will not begin sailing in this region before June of this year.
Royal Caribbean announced on Tuesday that it has pushed its conditional date back once again, to now begin sailing by June, explaining in a press statement that it is continuing to “focus on a healthy and safe return to cruising.”
By June 2021, parts of the Bahamian economy that rely heavily on the cruise sector will have been greatly disadvantaged for almost a year-and-a-half as a result of the pandemic’s effect on the cruise industry.
All cruise lines continue to work with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC to get their ships ready to receive passengers once again.
“As we work closely with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and government authorities around the world toward this shared goal, we are extending the suspension of certain sailings for our cruise lines,” Royal Caribbean revealed.
The CDC has had a conditional sailing order in place since October. That order lays out a laundry list of action plans that have to be taken by the cruise lines to ready their ships for sailing once again.
“As a prerequisite for requesting commercial travel, cruise lines must have a complete and accurate response plan that provides a safe environment for crew members to work and disembark during the initial phases of the framework for conditional sailing order,” the CDC stated.
“CDC has provided feedback regarding all the response plans that have been submitted and is working with the cruise lines to ensure they are implementing the safeguards outlined in their plans.”
The majority of ships on the CDC’s list have been given a green status.
Carnival’s Mardi Gras ship is the only one of its ships in “provisionally green” status, which means Carnival “has not submitted a signed attestation to CDC for crew to travel commercially.”
Royal Caribbean Group’s Celebrity Cruises has one ship in red status and Disney Cruise Line has one ship in red status.
According to the CDC, a ship in red status could have one or more cases of confirmed COVID-19 or COVID-like illness within the past 28 days; received a ship-to-ship transfer from a ship that had confirmed COVID-19 or COVID-like illness within 28 days; carried embarked crew who were not immediately quarantined for 14 days upon embarking the ship; or during the past 28 days, the ship missed one or more weekly submissions of the enhanced data collection form which is sent to the CDC. ~ The Nassau Guardian ~
