Feature

Cruise closure, finally coming to an end

Since mid-March 2020, due to global COVID-19 pandemic, has shut down most of the cruise lines, yet ships are resuming from few areas of the world.

Single-nationality cruises mostly calling in at a limited number of ports, usually in the country of origin. With the exception of small ships that do not fall under Centres for Disease Control (CDC), nearly all are in Europe or Asia.

With strict new health and safety protocols, like temperature checking and social distancing here is a round-up of which lines have restarted cruising on what ships and where they are going and who can sail.

Norwegian Cruise Lines becoming the latest to announce its US ships will set sail starting in early August.After a year of crippling losses, Carnival and Royal Caribbean said recently that their first post-pandemic cruises will set sail in July, after the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) gave the green light to allow trips with passengers and crew who received Covid-19 vaccinations.

Cruise operations were suspended on March 14, 2020 when the CDC issued a “no sail order” to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus. Several ships already had deadly outbreaks on board. Some cruise ships resumed operations in Europe and elsewhere in 2020, but the ban remained in place in the US.

All three companies will offer trips from Seattle to Alaska as their inaugural cruises. Norwegian said “all crew and passengers must be fully vaccinated to embark.Carnival said its trips will be available to guests who received their final dose at least two weeks prior, and likewise Royal Caribbean will require vaccinations of all passengers over the age of 16 and after August 1 all those over the age of 12.

Norwegian will offer week-long voyages starting August 6, while Royal Caribbean will leave port first with a similar trip since July 19 and Carnival’s Holland American Line will start from July 24.Celebrity Cruises became the first major cruise line to operate a sailing in the Caribbean. Royal Caribbean, scheduled to start back up in the Caribbean soon.

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