Royal Caribbean Blog

Happy Sunday! November has arrived, and we hope you had a great week with friends, family, and plenty of food.  Each week we summarize all of this week's Royal Caribbean news, just in case you missed any of it.

There is big news, and then there is BIG news, and this week's news was seven months in the making: the CDC has lifted the No Sail order and opened a pathway for cruises to restart.

The CDC announced following the expiration of the No Sail order on October 31, the agency will take a "phased approach to resuming cruise ship operations in U.S. waters."

The Conditional Sailing Order will establish a series of phases and requirements for cruise lines to test out its new protocols and demonstrate they can operate cruises in a safe manner.

More on the Conditional Sailing Order:

• What does the Conditional Sailing Order mean for cruises to restart?
• Royal Caribbean responds to No Sail Order being lifted
• Royal Caribbean shares prediction for early 2021 cruises

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean Group reports $1.3 billion loss in third quarter.
• Royal Caribbean makes using future cruise credits easier with rule change.
• Royal Caribbean released Spring 2022-2023 opening schedule.
• Canada extended its cruise ship ban through February 2021.
• Royal Caribbean CEO says pent-up demand still exists for cruises.
• Royal Caribbean has not ruled out selling any cruise ships.
• New Odyssey of the Seas construction photo update.
• Royal Caribbean trademarked names for possible venues on new cruise ships.
• Here are your options if you want to cancel or defer your booked cruise.
• 8 things Royal Caribbean trademarked but never did anything with.
• A new sale on pre-cruise purchases is still available.
• CDC updated its warning against worldwide travel on cruise ships.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

Have you ever taken your whole family on a cruise?

In this week's podcast episode, Chris shares his experience having a family reunion on Adventure of the Seas.

Please feel free to subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can! We’d appreciate it.

New RCB Video: 5 times Royal Caribbean completely changed their mind after announcing something

Have you subscribed to the Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube Channel? We share some great videos there regularly, all about taking a Royal Caribbean cruise! This week, we are sharing our latest video — 5 times Royal Caribbean completely changed their mind after announcing something — and don’t forget to subscribe here.

45 ways to save money on a Royal Caribbean cruise

Want to save money on your cruise vacation? Sure, everyone does, and so I have 45 ways to save money on your Royal Caribbean cruise.

From saving money on your cruise fare, spending less on excursions, or maximizing the value from what you buy, there a lot of ways to spend less.

While you might not be able to utilize all 45 tips for one cruise, a great many of these can be combined to help bring down the overall cost.

With the big news that the CDC will lift the No Sail order and conditionally allow cruises to restart, you might be wondering what this means and how soon cruises can actually begin.

Before cruises can fully resume, the CDC has outlined a series of steps that need to occur before cruise ships can begin taking passengers onboard. Even then, there are other restrictions.

The framework for conditional sailing is meant to potentially allow cruise ships to sail again while not putting the public health at risk.

Testing crew members

The first step is for cruise ships to have all ships run tests of the crew onboard, and to add more safeguards for them.

Before anyone else can get onboard the ship, the CDC wants cruise lines to ensure there are adequate health and safety protections for crew members.

This time will also be used to build the laboratory capacity needed to test future passengers.

In fact, the cruise lines need to meet certain testing requirements before they receive permission to conduct a simulated cruise or apply for a Conditional Sailing Certificate.

Test sailing rules

The cruise lines need to test out their policies through a series of test sailings. 

These test cruises are designed to clearly demonstrate that Royal Caribbean can "mitigate the risks of COVID-19 onboard its cruise ship".

A simulated voyage must meet the following requirements:

• Volunteer passengers are to be told in writing of the "inherently risky activity" of their test sailing with untested health and safety protocols.
• All volunteer passengers must be at least eighteen years old or older.
• All volunteer passengers must have a written certification from a healthcare provider that they have no pre-existing medical conditions .
• Royal Caribbean must conduct any simulation on a consensual basis and not as a condition of employment or in exchange for consideration or future reward. 
• Royal Caribbean must embark additional crew members beyond safe minimum manning levels only as determined through CDC technical instructions or orders.
•  The cruise ship operator must design and conduct a simulated voyage insofar as practicable to test the efficacy of the cruise ship operator’s ability to mitigate the risks  of COVID-19 onboard its cruise ship.
• The cruise ship operator must conduct a monitored observation period and laboratory  testing of volunteer passengers, as directed in CDC technical instructions or orders, prior to embarking volunteer passengers on a simulated voyage.

During the test cruise, the following activities must be simulated:

• embarkation and disembarkation procedures, including terminal check-in, 
• on board activities, including at dining and entertainment venues,
• private island shore excursions (if a port is visited)
• evacuation procedures,
• transfer of symptomatic passengers or crew, or those who test positive for SARSCoV-2, from cabins to isolation rooms,
• quarantine of all remaining passengers and non-essential crew, and
• other activities as may be listed in CDC technical instructions and orders.

In addition, Royal Caribbean must meet standards for hand hygiene, face coverings, and social distancing for passengers and crew, as well as ship sanitation, as may be required by CDC technical instructions or orders.

Royal Caribbean must modify meal service and entertainment venues to facilitate social distancing during the simulated voyage.

After each sailing, any issues in the health and safety protocols must be noted in an “after-action” report and address how these intend to address those deficiencies prior to applying for a COVID-19 Conditional Sailing Certificate. 

Applying for permission to cruise

If all goes well with the simulated cruises, the next step is for Royal Caribbean to request a Conditional Sailing Certificate (CSO).

Applying for a CSO entails a lot of paperwork to indicate the responsible officials from the cruise line, as well as shoreside.

Each ship will need to apply and include the ship name, carrying capacity for passengers and crew, itinerary, ports of call, length of voyage, and expected onboard or shoreside activities, for the cruise ship that the cruise ship operator intends to have certified for restricted passenger operations.

Basically, the application ensures the ship has met, and will continue to meet, the rigorous standards for safe cruising.

The CDC may limit passenger or crew capacity, itinerary, ports of call, length of voyage, onboard or shoreside activities.

These materials should be submitted at least 60 calendar days prior to the date on which the cruise ship operator proposes to commence restricted passenger operations.

Initial sailings

Once cruises are able to resume, there will be limitations on what is allowed during the "Restricted Passenger Voyages".

• Notify prospective passengers prior to accepting a reservation of any CDC travel advisory, warning, or recommendation relating to cruise travel.
• Royal Caribbean cannot sail or offer to sail on an itinerary longer than 7 days.
• Royal Caribbean must screen passengers and crew and deny boarding if anyone tests positive.
• Royal Caribbean must conduct laboratory testing of all passengers and crew on the day of embarkation and the day of disembarkation.
• Conduct laboratory testing of any passengers and crew who report illness consistent with COVID-19 during the voyage with rapid point of care results.
• Report syndromic surveillance and all laboratory test results using CDC’s Enhanced Data Collection form as required by CDC technical instructions or orders.
• Meet standards for hand hygiene, face coverings, and social distancing for passengers and crew, as well as ship sanitation.
• Modify meal service and entertainment venues to facilitate social distancing.

The CDC reserves the right to revoke a Conditional Sailing Certificate if rules are not being followed onboard.

Royal Caribbean: CDC announcement is a positive step

If all of this sounds like a lot of work, well, it is, and Royal Caribbean is ready for it.

In a statement to the media, Royal Caribbean Group reiterated its commitment to doing whatever it takes to be able to sail again.

"While we are eager to welcome our guests back on board, we have a lot to do between now and then, and we’re committed to taking the time to do things right. This includes training our crew in new health and safety protocols and conducting a number of trial sailings to stress-test those protocols in real-world conditions."

Moreover, Royal Caribbean has never been shy about saying they always planned a slow return to service.

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain has emphasized a slow and methodical approach to cruises restarting, "We will not rush to return to service until we are confident that we have figured out the changes that we must make to offer our guests and crew strong health and safety protocols with the enjoyable experience that they rightly expect."

Hours after the CDC announced it would end its ban on cruise ships, Royal Caribbean said it is "eager to welcome guests back onboard".

In a statement shared on social media, Royal Caribbean shared a brief message that it is ready to begin working on new protocols and trial sailings in order to be able to sail again.

"Today’s CDC announcement establishes a pathway for our ships to return to service. We’re eager to welcome guests back on board & will continue to work closely with both CDC & the Healthy Sail Panel to protect the health of our guests, our crew, & the communities where we sail."

"While we are eager to welcome our guests back on board, we have a lot to do between now and then, and we're committed to taking the time to do things right. This includes training our crew in new health and safety protocols and conducting a number of trial sailings to stress-test those protocols in real-world conditions."

"We will continue to work closely with both CDC and the Healthy Sail Panel as we make our plans, and we are confident in our ability to mitigate the risks of the pandemic and protect the health of our guests, our crew, and the communities where we sail."

Royal Caribbean has not announced any restart plans yet, nor which ships will sail first.

Work needed before cruises can restart

While the No Sail order may be gone, it will not be a free-for-all to restart sailings.

The CDC has added a great deal of restrictions on when and how cruises can restart, stipulating many new hurdles cruise lines must overcome in order for a cruise ship to be certified to sail again.

The terms of the Conditional Sailing Order are many, and include provisions for testing crew members and rigorous simulated cruises.

Test sailings will require the ship to test the efficacy of Royal Caribbean’s ability to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 onboard its cruise ship.

During the test cruise, the following activities must be simulated:

• embarkation and disembarkation procedures, including terminal check-in, 
• on board activities, including at dining and entertainment venues,
• private island shore excursions (if a port is visited)
• evacuation procedures,
• transfer of symptomatic passengers or crew, or those who test positive for SARSCoV-2, from cabins to isolation rooms,
• quarantine of all remaining passengers and non-essential crew, and
• other activities as may be listed in CDC technical instructions and orders.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced on Friday it will begin allowing cruise ships to restart cruises.

The CDC announced following the expiration of the No Sail order on October 31, the agency will take a "phased approach to resuming cruise ship operations in U.S. waters."

The Conditional Sailing Order for Cruise Ships will encompass a few phases:

1. Testing and additional safeguards for crew members
2. Simulated voyages to test cruise line ability to mitigate virus spread onboard
3. Phased return to cruise ship passenger voyages

These phases are subject to change based on public health considerations and cruise ship operator's demonstrated ability to mitigate COVID-19 risk.

In addition, the Conditional Sailing Order announced new requirements for initial phases relating to crew testing.

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announces this framework for a phased resumption of cruise ship passenger operations. Considering the continued spread of COVID-19 worldwide and increased risk of COVID-19 on cruise ships, a careful approach is needed to safely resume cruise ship passenger operations. CDC is establishing requirements to mitigate the COVID-19 risk to passengers and crew, prevent the further spread of COVID-19 from cruise ships into U.S. communities, and protect public health and safety. After expiration of CDC’s No Sail Order (NSO) on October 31, 2020, CDC will take a phased approach to resuming cruise ship passenger operations in U.S. waters."

While the No Sail order expires on October 31, Royal Caribbean has already cancelled all of its sailings through November 30.

Ending the cruise ship ban

The announcement that the CDC will lift the cruise ship ban comes after 7 months of the No Sail order prohibiting cruise lines from operating in U.S. waters.

Royal Caribbean has been shutdown since mid-March, and the No Sail order has been a major obstacle to any restart plan in North America.

Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings teamed up over the summer to come up with a comprehensive and multi-layered approach to allow cruise ships to operate safely, through the efforts of a blue ribbon panel of scientists.

The Healthy Sail Panel has developed its own set of 74 detailed steps to safeguard the health of guests, crew and communities.

Recommendations include testing, the use of face coverings, and enhanced sanitation procedures on ships and in terminals. 

Healthy Panel co-chair Governor Mike Leavitt, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, specified exactly how in-depth their recommendations go.

"This Panel undertook an ambitious, cross-disciplinary, public health examination to develop standards and guidelines that create the highest level of safety in the complex environment of a cruise ship. We studied the industry’s experiences combating the pandemic – and we then incorporated the many lessons learned and advances made by medicine and science over the past six months. The Panel’s recommendations are grounded in the best scientific and medical information available and are intended to meaningfully mitigate public health risks to those who sail."

When will Royal Caribbean restart cruises?

Royal Caribbean has not announced any firm restart plan yet, but it is clear based on comments from executives what to expect.

Just yesterday, Royal Caribbean Chairman and CEO Richard Fain shared details of the cruise line's general approach to restarting cruises during a call with investors.

1. Training crew
2. A series of non-revenue sailings to rehearse and validate the new protocols
   1. This process will be carefully evaluated by independent outside observers
3. Restart of cruises with a ship or two at first, the more ships later in a "gradual and methodical way".

The first sailings will be short cruises at first, with limited destinations and controlled shore excursions.

Apart from cruises in the United States, Quantum of the Seas will begin cruises in December from Singapore and offer short cruises with no port stops.

Royal Caribbean Group Chief Financial Officer Jason Liberty also gave investors a preview of what it expects for cruises in Spring 2021 that largely mirror what Mr. Fain shared.

Mr. Liberty expects "a very limited initial return and a gradual ramp up during the first half of 2021."

Royal Caribbean anticipates short sailings the be the cornerstone of their return, and to offer these cruises from key drive markets in both the U.S. and Asia-Pacific regions.

Royal Caribbean has changed a rule about how guests can use their future cruise credits (FCC) to make it much easier if you have leftover credit.

If a guest uses their FCC for a sailing and has a leftover balance, they do not have to wait for the first sailing to complete before applying the remainder.

Prior to the change made this week by Royal Caribbean, guests had to wait until the first sailing was over before they could use any remainder credits from that voucher.

With this new change, Royal Caribbean allows guests to redeem a FCC on two active bookings.

Royal Caribbean alerted travel agents to this change this week:

"Enhancements have been made to the existing FCC process where any balance remaining on an FCC no longer has to await the return of the existing cruise vacation before applying the balance to a future/new reservation. That means the same FCC can now be redeemed on 2 active bookings! Once a portion of the FCC is applied to a reservation, the remaining balance FCC will be generated and, in turn, sent to your client for use as they wish. Please note that any FCC with a pending balance from the past few months will now be run through this process, with an anticipated completion date for all by end-of-October."

The old policy for only allowing an FCC to be used on one sailing at a time was a policy that originated well-before the current global cruise shutdown.

In fact, future cruise credits were fairly rare for guests to have before this year, but so many guests now have at least one FCC to use due to all the cancelled cruises in 2020.

Royal Caribbean has slowly changed some of the FCC rules because of all the cancelled cruises, including being able to use a FCC towards a deposit and even allowing guests to combine FCCs.

Future Cruise Credits are an option for guests who either choose to cancel their cruise up to 48 hours before the sail date via the Cruise with Confidence program, or have their cruise cancelled by Royal Caribbean. In either case, a voucher code is provided that can be redeemed for the value of the sailing.

When Royal Caribbean cancels the sailing, the Future Cruise Credit is worth 125% the value of the cruise fare that the guest paid.

Have more questions about a FCC? These stories will help:

• Royal Caribbean Future Cruise Credit: What you need to know
• Top ways you cannot use your Royal Caribbean future cruise credits
• What happens if I want to cancel my Royal Caribbean cruise?

Here is one last Odyssey of the Seas construction photo to share before the month of October ends.

Royal Caribbean's next new cruise ship is under construction in Hall 6 of Meyer Werft shipyard.

The photo was released by the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.

Odyssey of the Seas is scheduled to sail in Spring 2021, with newly added sailings in April from Southampton and Barcelona.

Once Odyssey completes these new sailings, she will spend her summer in Rome offering sailing Eastern Mediterranean cruises.

Finally, Odyssey will head to the United States for her North American debut in November 2021. There she will continue her inaugural year in Fort Lauderdale, FL with 8- and 6-night Caribbean itineraries.

Delivery still on schedule

Over the last few weeks, Royal Caribbean has confirmed that Odyssey of the Seas is on schedule for her 2021 delivery.

She was originally to debut in November 2020, but delays at the shipyard due to the global health crisis changed plans.

Nonetheless, her current delivery date appears to be accurate, as Royal Caribbean Group confirmed this week in its third quarter earnings report that Royal Caribbean Group has allocated funds for delivery of Odyssey of the Seas during the first quarter of 2021.

Some cruise fans have also noted the fact Royal Caribbean added earlier sailings from Southampton and Barcelona to be a positive sign that the ship is going to be delivered on time.

The Canadian Government has extended its cruise ship ban until February 28, 2021.

Canada's Minister of Transport, Marc Garneau, made the announcement it will continue banning cruise ships carrying more than 100 people from sailing in Canadian waters.

"As Canadians are doing their part to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, the Government of Canada is working hard to ensure Canada’s transportation system remains safe. The extension of these temporary measures for cruise ships and other passenger vessels in Canada reflects our ongoing work with all levels of government, transportation industry stakeholders, and Indigenous peoples to help ensure appropriate measures are in place."

Prior to today's announcement, Canada had closed off its borders to all cruise ships until October 31, 2020.

Royal Caribbean had no cruises visiting Canada between October and February, due to a combination of already cancelled cruises and the fact ships do not sail to Canada in the winter months.

Canada's ban on cruise ships was initially announced on March 19, 2020, and extended on May 30, 2020.

Will there be Alaska cruises in 2021?

While the extension of the ban has no short-term effect on Royal Caribbean cruises, the bigger question is will Canada allow cruise ships to visit in summer 2021.

The ban of cruise ships in Canadian waters makes operating cruises to Alaska or New England effectively impossible because U.S. cabotage laws require foreign-flagged vessels leaving from a U.S. port of call to first call on a "distant foreign port" before returning to the United States.

Along with the No Sail order in the United States, Royal Caribbean was unable to offer cruises to Alaska in 2020, but a ban from Canada would prevent any Alaska cruises from operating.

Those who do not comply with the prohibition could be subject to penalties: $5,000 per day for individuals and $25,000 per day for corporations.

There are two primary ports Royal Caribbean relies on for its Canadian cruises: Vancouver and Victoria.

Vancouver is where Radiance of the Seas and Serenade of the Seas homeport during the season, while Victoria is a port of call for cruises out of Seattle.

Without access to Canadian ports, it is impossible for Royal Caribbean to operate any cruises, since even sailings beginning in the United States require a foreign port stop at some point in order to be in compliance with U.S. laws.

Royal Caribbean could still sell a cruise ship during its shutdown, assuming it makes financial sense.

During an earnings call with Wall Street analysts on Thursday, Royal Caribbean Group executive vice president and Chief Financial Officer Jason Liberty spoke on the topic of supply growth, and what Royal Caribbean might do with existing and new vessels.

Mr. Liberty noted that Royal Caribbean Group would sell about one to two ships in a typical year, but with everything changing this year, anything is possible.

"We're being very opportunistic about the situation," Mr. Liberty said on the topic of selling or scrapping ships. 

In terms of when it makes sense to sell, it sounds like only if a particular cruise ship "does not fit strategically" within the brand would they then look at options.

New cruise ship capacity

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Selling or scrapping a ship may also come to offset new ships joining the fleet.

Right now, Royal Caribbean expects its cruise ships on order to continue ahead, although "delayed by probably eight to 10 months", according to Mr. Liberty.

Nonetheless, new ships growth will continue.

"I think we do expect that will be slower newbuild growth probably towards the latter part of four or five years from now....I think we expect to continue to try to come online."

Royal Caribbean International has a few ships on order, including Odyssey of the Seas and Wonder of the Seas.  Both ships have been delayed, but will debut in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

No change in Royal Caribbean's ship selling strategy

Today's comments on Royal Caribbean having no firm plans to sell any ships continues the company's general strategy since cruises shutdown in March.

In August, Mr. Liberty said Royal Caribbean Group was still evaluating options in selling ships, but had nothing firm to announce.

"This time we are evaluating opportunities to to sell ships or to take other actions with ships."

"We're valuating all all options, but of course, we've put a lot of money into these ships. These ships do exceptionally well, and so it's a difficult decision to depart with ship because they generate so much cash."

Why scrap or sell a ship?

The question of if Royal Caribbean will sell more ships or not is partly based in finances, and partly due to what competitors have been doing.

Carnival Corporation has been far more aggressive in selling ships of its brands, having announced a total of 18 cruise ships across its brands will be sold soon (if not already).

Royal Caribbean Group chose to scrap its fleet of Pullmantur Cruises ships, including the former Monarch and Sovereign of the Seas, when that cruise line went into bankruptcy.

Besides getting rid of ships and the overhead they bring, new cruise ships tend to break-even with less guests and are more efficient with generating onboard revenue.

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley spoke about demand the cruise line is seeing for cruises during a call with Wall Street analysts.

One question raised was if Royal Caribbean will have to wait for them to prove cruises can sail safely before substantial demand returns.

Mr. Bayley talked about the pent-up demand customers have, even before the cruise line is ready to restart.

Surprised by the level of demand

A great example of this demand comes from the newly added Quantum of the Seas cruises from Singapore, which will begin in December.

Despite the fact Quantum will offer cruises to no where, with no port stops at all, demand has been very strong.

"We were really quite surprised by the level of demand that came into the product of the winter season that we've got it open," Mr. Bayley shared during the call with investors.

"Within the first two weeks, we had literally the triple demand that we were expecting at rates above what we were expecting."

In addition to Singapore, Mr. Bayley said despite COVID increases in Europe, "there is demand in the marketplace and it's coming quite naturally."

A look at the American cruise market

Mr. Bayley also touched upon demand for cruises in the American cruise market, which he sees tied to how Americans feel about the nature of the pandemic.

Royal Caribbean is conducting a great deal of market research to get a sense of what consumers are thinking.

"About three or four months ago, most people believed that COVID would be kind of moving behind us by the end of 2020. Of course, that shifted now. And the belief from most consumers is that as you move through '21, COVID will move behind us with vaccine, therapeutics, etc."

"You very much see a correlation between what people are believing and how they're booking."

To that point, the data shows Royal Caribbean that people want to vacation again once things start to settle down.

"We kind of see that in the booking behavior out of the American market for our products through '21, with a particular emphasis on Summer 21, " Mr. Bayley described. "It feels and it looks as if customers are thinking this is going to be behind us and we're going to have a summer vacation."

Of course, the No Sail order looms large in the United States, and while a lifting of that prohibition would be helpful for bookings, Mr. Bayley believes ultimately consumers want to see cruises begin before booking in large numbers.

"I do believe that if there is a change in the No Sail order and a pathway is created for the safe return to cruising, there will be an uptick in demand. But I think people will naturally wait and see."

During Royal Caribbean Group's third quarter earnings call with investors on Thursday, the company provided a preview of what its early return to service might look like.

While Royal Caribbean is very cautious about expectations related to restarting, but it did provide more insight into its plans for a very limited initial return.

Jason T. Liberty, executive vice president and CFO, spoke on restart plans during his opening statement, "The situation regarding our return to service is fluid, but we are currently planning for a very limited initial return and a gradual ramp up during the first half of 2021."

Mr. Liberty emphasized that the first cruises back will be focused on short sailings, "Deployment of spring is expected to be highly focused on short sailings from key drive markets in both the U.S. and Asia-Pacific regions."

Typically, "key drive markets" references cruises that depart from ports where most of the customers can drive to the cruise ship, as opposed to guests who fly to their cruise ship.

In addition, the first sailings will be highly focused on Perfect Day at CocoCay.

"We will also make the most out of our incredible private destination in the Bahamas. Perfect Day at CocoCay."

Cruises restarting will be slow

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain reiterated the restart plans that have been the plan for months, with a slow and methodical restart.

Mr. Fain spoke of the work the Healthy Sail Panel has done to provide a roadmap for cruises to restart, "the panel has recommended that this process be carefully evaluated by independent outside observers and we will do that.

"And then only on a ship or two it first and in a gradual and methodical way, we expect to start sailing again."

"There'll be short cruises at first with limited destinations and controlled shore excursions. But as we learn and as the science continues to improve, we will expand."

A scientific approach to cruising safely

Prior to cruises starting again, Mr. Fain reminded investors that they intend to test out their new protocols with a series of test sailings.

"We propose to start slowly by training our crew and embarking on a series of non-revenue trial sailings, where we can rehearse and validate the new protocols."

Mr. Fain was confident that the Healthy Sail Panel recommendations can serve as a foundation for a gradual and methodical, healthy return to service.

"We intend to make our ships and environment a bubble, if you will, that presents less risk of transmission than our guests would find on land."

If all of this sounds frustrating, Mr. Fain remains optimistic about the future, "I am optimistic that we will soon have a path that we all see as a pathway back to resuming operations. It will be slower than I would wish, but faster than many are assuming."

Announcement coming soon?

While Royal Caribbean Group executives were hesitant to provide any insight into what the CDC might do, travel advisors are being told to expect a change.

In an email to travel advisors sent on Thursday morning, Royal Caribbean told travel agents to expect something "very soon".

Very soon – potentially as early as next week - we’ll be announcing our return to service.