Royal Caribbean Blog

After Royal Caribbean Group announced the initial recommendations of its Healthy Sail Panel, Royal Caribbean's top executives said that cruises in 2020 are not completely out of the question.

There is no doubt that every cruise line would love to salvage something of the 2020 season, but the question is how feasible is it to have cruises this year?

Speaking to a few different media outlets this past week, sailings from the United States at some point in 2020 have not been completely ruled out.

When Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain was asked by Cruise Critic if cruises starting in November was realistic, he stated, "I think the idea that we could be having cruising in November, under a very strict set of protocols, is absolutely in the cards."

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley told The Points Guy that there is scenario he can envision where cruises begin in November, "If everything lined up, then we would be feeling good about starting in November."

Mr. Bayley also spoke to Seatrade Cruise News and said, "I feel like things are lining up. Everything's beginning to fall in place".

Both executives cautioned readers in every statement that any resumption of cruises in 2020 is dependent on a things falling into place, and there is ample examples in the past few months why caution is necessary.

Royal Caribbean has been shutdown since mid-March, and currently has sailings possibly restarting in November, but still has not released its cruise-line specific new health protocols derived from the Healthy Sail Panel recommendations, nor have they released a startup plan of which ships will begin sailing and where.

The other major factor is the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) No Sail Order, which is set to expire on September 30, but could still be extended.

Richard Fain told travel advisors his company has not yet heard back from the CDC officially on the Healthy Sail Panel protocols, nor if the No Sail Order will be extended or not.

"No, we only just gave it to them on Monday, and as you've seen, it is a extensive and comprehensive document, but we have not heard any comment back from them since we submitted it on Monday, nor would we have expected to do that quickly."

Mr. Fain indicated that its new cruise line policies will be issued "relatively soon".

Assuming Royal Caribbean follows the recommendations for restarting cruises that the Healthy Sail Panel outlined, they will begin with a series of test cruises, where Royal Caribbean employees act as guests and the cruise experience is simulated in order to test and adjust the new policies.

The cruise industry has a history of conducting test sailings when they introduce a new product. These are normally several cruises of short duration with selected invited guests and limited itineraries, which gives the operator the opportunity to train the crew and refine its procedures. We believe that such a process could be helpful in the introduction of these protocols and procedures, giving the operators the opportunity to ensure that their programs are well understood and work appropriately.

In conjunction with succesful tests, it is likely the cruise line will announce some kind of start up plan where certain ships and sail dates are confirmed as ready to sail.

All of this work is centered around the question of can Royal Caribbean come back to a safe and healthy environment, which is what Mr. Fain asked the Panel.

"And their answer was, if you adopt all these protocols, you can."

"And obviously we are going to, and we believe that will greatly accelerate the time, so we're looking forward to coming back sooner."

When your Royal Caribbean cruise ship begins to sail away from port and your cruise actually begins, you will probably want to have the best spot to enjoy the view as your ship departs.

There is plenty going on during sailaway on a Royal Caribbean ship, and if you want to find my recommendation for the best spot to enjoy sailaway, here is a list of the top spot on every ship in the fleet.

Keep in mind that this is a very subjective list, as there is no way to qualitatively determine the superior spot. I have chosen some good places that should fit most people's needs, but keep in mind you should scout out your own spot ahead of sailaway and determine what you want in a sailaway spot.

Some people prefer there to be music and a party, ample beverages available, or perhaps the best view possible.

Top sailaway spots for every ship

Spectrum of the Seas: Bridge wings near Solarium, or anywhere on top deck

Symphony of the Seas: Bridge wings on deck 14

Ovation of the Seas: Bridge wings near Solarium, or anywhere on top deck

Harmony of the Seas: Bridge wings on deck 14

Anthem of the Seas: Bridge wings near Solarium, or anywhere on top deck

Quantum of the Seas: Bridge wings near Solarium, or anywhere on top deck

Allure of the Seas: Bridge wings on deck 14

Oasis of the Seas: Bridge wings on deck 14

Independence of the Seas: Helipad on deck 4

Liberty of the Seas: Helipad on deck 4

Freedom of the Seas: Helipad on deck 4

Jewel of the Seas: Helipad on deck 5

Serenade of the Seas: Helipad on deck 5

Mariner of the Seas: Helipad on deck 4

Brilliance of the Seas: Helipad on deck 5

Navigator of the Seas: Helipad on deck 4

Radiance of the Seas: Helipad on deck 5

Adventure of the Seas: Helipad on deck 4

Explorer of the Seas: Helipad on deck 4

Voyager of the Seas: Helipad on deck 4

Vision of the Seas: Solarium or anywhere on top deck

Enchantment of the Seas: Solarium or anywhere on top deck

Rhapsody of the Seas: Solarium or anywhere on top deck

Grandeur of the Seas: Solarium or anywhere on top deck

Majesty of the Seas: Viking Crown Lounge

Empress of the Seas: Anywhere on top deck

Other great spots for sailaway on any ship

Your balcony

If you are staying in a balcony or suite cabin, you have access to your own private spot to enjoy sailaway.

Having a balcony is a quieter experience than sailaway on other decks of the ship, and it allows you to see the scenery going by from the comfort of your balcony, or even from inside the room with the blinds open.

Families with young children may find sailaway from their balcony room a great choice, since the child can nap or play quietly while you still get to see everything going by.

Pool deck party

Weather permitting, there will be a party somewhere on the ship that coincides with sailaway. 

You can expect a DJ playing fun music and crew members leading everyone in dancing.  In addition, the nearby bars are open and waiters taking drink orders as well.

The sailaway party is usually a safe bet if you are new to cruising, or looking for where to go where most others will congregate.

Spa

If you are looking for an alternative way to enjoy sailaway, how about from the massage table at the Vitality Spa?

The spa is open on embarkation day, and some of the best deals are offered to anyone who wants to book a treatment on the first day of the cruise, especially during sailaway. Since there are less people willing to skip sailaway, the deals can be quite lucrative.

Plus, getting a massage is a fun and relaxing way to kick off your cruise vacation.

What is your favorite sailaway spot?

Which sailaway spot do you love to go to? Share the ship and place you love to go for sailaway in the comments!

One of Royal Caribbean's most popular ways to move a booked cruise during the shutdown is about to expire.

The Lift and Shift program allows guests to take a booking they have and move to next year, while keeping the price they have locked in from this year.

Lift and Shift is set to expire as an option to use at the end of this month, and RoyalCaribbeanBlog has learned there are no plans to extend it.

An email from a Royal Caribbean Strategic Account Manager confirmed the program is set to expire, "Currently we do not have a plan to extend the Lift & Shift past this end of the month.  Should anything change with the Global suspension, dates will be adjusted accordingly. "

Since being offered as an option during the global cruise shutdown, Lift and Shift has proven to be a practical and lucrative option for guests who simply wish to push off their cruise until the same time next year.

Not only does it avoid having to cancel a reservation, get a refund, and then re-book and re-pay for everything, it also allows the guest to keep their current price, which is often lower than the price of a cruise next year.

Until September 30, guests can protect their original cruise fare and promotional offer by shifting to a future sailing on the same itinerary type, length, stateroom category and within the same four-week period of their original cruise date same time next year.

Guests are eligible to rebook under the Lift & Shift guidelines between now and September 30, 2020. After this point, Lift & Shift expires and is no longer eligible.

Note that while Lift & Shift is set to expire, the Cruise with Confidence program still allows customers to cancel their cruise up to 48 hours before their cruise and recieve a Future Cruise Credit for sailings that set sail on or before April 30th, 2022.

Earlier this week, the Healthy Sail Panel released its initial recommendations for every cruise line to employ in order to make a safe and healthy return to sailing, but it did not answer every question cruisers have about what cruises will be like once they start up.

The Healthy Sail Panel addressed the major topics related to keeping guests and crew healthy on a cruise, while mitigating the chances of any kind of widespread infections. However, there are still a few areas that will need to be addressed by Royal Caribbean in their cruise line-specific protocols.

Here are the major questions RoyalCaribbeanBlog readers have expressed after reading the new recommendations.

What will be the reduced capacity of ships?

For quite a while we have known that the initial cruises that start up will not be at 100% capacity. Royal Caribbean has said many times, and the Panel agrees, that it will artificially reduce the capacity of its ships by not selling as many staterooms as possible.

Neither the Panel nor Royal Caribbean have given an exact percentage to this figure.

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain was not able to give an exact figure during a webinar with travel advisors on Wednesday, "I think that is something that we will be dealing with. It will change over time. One of the recommendations from the panel is that we do this incrementally. So we start back and we do some test sailing."

"I don't have a number, and any number I start with is going to be wrong right away afterwards....it may depend on the ships too, it's not there's some magic percentage."

In addition, many guests want to know what happens if a particular sailing already is sold beyond that threshold and what logic will be implemented in order to determine who is not able to sail.

Any changes to Adventure Ocean?

The Healthy Sail Panel recommendations made little mention of children, and no references at all to the children's programming onboard.

While some may believe it will continue operating like any other area of the ship (albeit with the same mask protocols and other ship-wide policies), others are wondering if additional protocols for Adventure Ocean will be added.

Could there be reduced capacity at Adventure Ocean? Will check-in or check-out be handled differently in order to promote social distancing?

Will I get a refund if I test positive?

Another major concern is what happens if you test positive, either before your cruise or at check-in. Will you receive a refund since you are unable (but not unwilling) to cruise?

While the cruise contract everyone signs when booking a cruise seemingly offers no compensation, nothing about the current situation is usual, so will there be any special handling.

One of the recommendations by the Panel is Royal Caribbean is  "incumbent upon cruise operators to foster a culture of caring and compliance for guests."

"This includes education around the need for honesty and timeliness in reporting of COVID-19 symptoms or exposure without fear of negative repercussions."

Can I sightsee before my cruise?

A popular choice for many is to fly to their cruise embarkation port early and do some sightseeing, but will that still be permitted?

The Panel recommends getting a negative test in the days leading up to the cruise, but will going out to see various tourist attractions compromise the integrity of the test.

Will there be a rule prohibiting it, or will testing at the cruise terminal be the final means of determining health.

What changes will be made to the Windjammer and other counter service venues?

A major concern over the last few months was the fate of the Windjammer buffet, but the Panel barely mentioned it.

There is one mention of buffet, where it says it should not be self-service, "the Panel believes that removal of, and substitution for, self-service buffets during this time will help to maintain these general distancing guidelines and avoid overcrowding, and should therefore be implemented across all ships."

This could be easily achieved by having crew members serve guests, but it is unclear yet as to if that will be the only change.

Exactly where will I be able to not wear a mask?

A major focal point is the requirement to wear masks while onboard, although there are at least a few areas where masks are not required.

The question remains where exactly will masks not be required.

The Panel noted masks are not needed in these locations:

• Cabin
• Seating in restaurants and bars/lounges
• Outdoor settings as long as physical distancing is feasible

Will this be the only places, or are more available? How will smoking be handled in designated areas? Is the Solarium considered an outdoor setting?

Last week, two U.S. Senators introduced a new piece of legislation to Congress that it hopes will get cruise ships sailing again while changing the structure of how cruise lines are regulated, but does this bill have a chance of actually becoming law?

Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio introduced the Set Sail Safely Act that if passed, will create a Maritime Task Force focused on the health, safety, security, & logistical changes to allow cruise lines & ports to resume operations. 

While this proposed new law sounds great, what exactly should cruise fans and the industry expect going forward? 

The reality of most bills

In order to get some answers, I turned to Kelli Davis, who is an adjunct government professor and high school social studies teacher in Texas.

In order for any bill to become law, it has to pass a few key steps, including a few votes along the way. In fact, only about two to three percent of legislation that gets introduced actually becomes law.

Otto von Bismark famously said, "If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made," and digging into the nuances of Congress, it becomes quite clear why.

Many times in Congress, bills are introduced as so-called "PR bills", whose purpose is to build public relations with constituents or other allies within the Senate or House of Representatives.

While these PR bills may not ever have a chance of becoming law, it does bring attention to the issue. In the case of the Set Sail Safely Act, both Senators issued press releases related to it, and it got national attention across major media outlets.

The Set Sail Safely Act

While we won't know the full intention of this bill without talking to either Senator, it does stand to reason that both Florida Senators created this bill as a way to demonstrate they recognize the concern for the cruise industry and the ripple effect it is having on their constituents.

Ms. Davis provided her opinion of the motivation behind proposing this kind of legislation, "It's the people that own businesses in Fort Lauderdale, in Miami, in Cocoa Beach, who are dealing with the ripple effect of the cruisers and the cruise industry not being there. And so Rubio and Scott, both with this bill, are able to say, if anything, they're able to put out a press release. Hey, we're trying to do something for you. We're trying to help you."

The Set Sail Safely Act has been introduced, and has been read into the record and referred to the Commerce Committee that deals with science and transpiration.

Ms. Davis points out that of the twenty three members of the Commerce Committee, only six have cruise ports their states. Not to mention the Senate is currently embroiled in the fight over whether or not to replace the vacancy on the Supreme Court.

"Ultimately what will determine whether or not this bill gets a vote is whether it's deemed important," Ms. Davis explained. "Is it important enough to the committee members to give it a hearing, to give it time, to give it consideration, to give it a vote, because it requires a vote from the committee to get it to the floor for a full Senate vote."

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain was asked about the new legislation during a webinar with travel advisors on Wednesday, and he also seems to feel the thought behind the bill means more than the potential new law itself.

"I'm not really going to comment so much on the legislation that's been proposed, but I think what it does show is it's another example of the desire of people to get back to closer sense of normalcy if and only if we can do it in a healthy and safe manner."

"I think the introduction of that legislation shows there is political support and we have it in so many other ways that provided we can do so in a healthy and safe manner."

Next steps for the bill

In order for the Set Sail Safely Act to become law, it would have to get enough votes to make it out of committee, then it goes to the full floor for a debate on the full floor. 

Depending on how the debate turns out, then it would go to full vote and then the whole process has to start all over again in the House of Representatives.

You can track the progress of the bill on the U.S. Congress website.

Five Royal Caribbean cruise ships will have their summer 2021 schedules changed up, as the cruise line announced an update to its deployment plans.

Royal Caribbean says it made these changes based on, "market research and valuable feedback from guests and travel partners".

Our new deployment line-up provides guests with greater variety, including a season of short Mediterranean cruises from Barcelona and more island time in the Caribbean with additional summer homeports in Tampa, FL and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Guests with confirmed bookings between April and October 2021 whose cruises are affected by these changes will be notified directly within the next three weeks, as the new itineraries are added. These existing bookings will continue to be covered by Royal Caribbean’s Cruise with Confidence program.

Europe

Adventure of the Seas will sail from Barcelona and offer a mix of 4- and 5-night short Mediterranean itineraries. She was previously scheduled to sail from Copenhagen and Stockholm.

Jewel of the Seas will sail from Stockholm and Copenhagen on 7-night cruises to the Baltics and Scandanavia. She was previously scheduled to sail from Amsterdam and Barcelona.

Caribbean

Independence of the Seas will sail from Miami instead of Fort Lauderdale for the summer season, offering 6- and 8-night cruises to the Southern and Western Caribbean.

Vision of the Seas will cruise from San Juan, Puerto Rico to the Southern Caribbean. She was originally scheduled to sail from Barcelona.

Brilliance of the Seas will stay in Tampa for the summer, offering 4-, 5- and 7-night cruises to the Caribbean. She was originally scheduled to sail from Miami.

Royal Caribbean’s other summer 2021 cruises will sail on as planned in the Caribbean, Alaska, Europe and Asia-Pacific. 

Individual reservations will be moved to the new ship/sailing on-or-before September 28, 2020.

If a future cruise credit was leveraged to pay for a reservation on a cancelled itinerary, the FCC will be reinstated for future use, under its original terms. Likewise, for impacted guests preferring to cancel in lieu of a re-accommodation offer, the reinstatement of the original FCC will occur, opening the flexibility to select an alternate future cruise of his/her choice, within the set parameters of the FCC terms.

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain spoke with travel advisors on Wednesday about the body of work and impact of the Healthy Sail Panel's initial recommendations.

Mr. Fain touched on a variety of topics related to the new protocols, the work of the Panel, and of course the return of cruising.

New protocols will allow cruises to come back sooner

Not only have the Healthy Sail Panel recommendations been well-received among cruise fans and industry leaders, but Richard Fain believes they have the basis to even get cruises back up and going even sooner than expected.

The question Mr. Fain asked the Panel after the protocols were submitted was could Royal Caribbean come back to a safe and healthy environment? 

"And their answer was, if you adopt all these protocols, you can."

"And obviously we are going to, and we believe that will greatly accelerate the time, so we're looking forward to coming back sooner."

"If they don't want to wear a mask, then they shouldn't come on the cruise"

There has been a lot of opinions if people are willing to go on a cruise and be required to wear a mask, and Mr. Fain touched on the fact that masks will be required at least in the beginning.

"It is one of the single most effective things you can do to reduce the transmission of this disease. And at least when we start, it will be an important part of the process."

"There are people who object to doing so and won't do so, but we will make sure they understand that that is, at least in the beginning, a part of the experience. And if they don't want to wear a mask, then they shouldn't come on the cruise."

"At least in the beginning, it will be an important part of our protocols on board. And I think a lot of people understand the need to protect against transmission on board."

Both Mr. Fain and Vicki Freed, Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, reiterated that masks will not be required to be worn everywhere, including in staterooms or while dining or on open decks where permissible.

Big focus on preventing a ship quarantined

There are a lot of cruise fans concerned regardless of any rules or regulations, that they could be stuck on a ship for an extended period of time due to a positive case onboard, similar to what happened to some ships in Asia before cruising shut down.

Mr. Fain noted a major focus of the Panel was on response, contingency planning, and execution.

"I don't think that many people are so much afraid of getting infection, but they don't want to be on a ship where somebody else gets infection and then they get quarantined or isolated."

"A really important part and a really big focus of the panel's effort was on how to respond if we do have a case that gets on board."

Even Mr. Fain acknowledged that statistically, it is likely a case will pop up onboard eventually, but the system will be designed the catch it early and avoid it becoming a major issue.

"We respond properly. We have a extensive contingency plan so that we don't have to go through one of these processes of quarantining huge numbers of people. We take care of the the the small number that we catch early and everybody else can go about their business."

Royal Caribbean still has to turn protocols into rules

The Panel's work are recommendations, and Mr. Fain did note that Royal Caribbean still has to take the recommendations and turn them into cruise line policy.

"I should this explain these are recommendations from the panel. We actually then take these recommendations and put them into our detailed protocol."

"We'll be doing our own rules and we'll be working those through with the CDC and other regulatory bodies, but the panel's report is really our North Star on this."

"Maybe in our protocols, we put this in more operationally oriented language, but I think the vast bulk of the substance is clear from the report."

"Our protocols will be based on the report, but not a verbatim transcript. And we will we will be issuing those relatively soon."

Testing is single most important step

Mr. Fain was adamant of the importance that testing will play to keep everyone safe onboard.

"We do think that we have procedures that we could put in place that gets you the tests, have the test results reported directly to us."

"I think we have processes that will enable you relatively easily to get the tests and have... the confirmation of the negative tests forwarded to us electronically."

No comment back yet from CDC

Mr. Fain was asked if the CDC had responded yet to the Healthy Sail Panel protocols, but Mr. Fain explained they had not, nor did they expect them to quite this quickly.

"No, we only just gave it to them on Monday, and as you've seen, it is a extensive and comprehensive document, but we have not heard any comment back from them since we submitted it on Monday, nor would we have expected to do that quickly."

Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings joint Healthy Sail Panel announced its initial recommendations on Monday, and as many expected, we will have to wear a mask on a cruise.

Wearing a mask is one of many new protocols that will be part of the overall plan to prevent, detect and treat infections on a cruise ship, and it is one of the most contentious topics related to what guests are willing to do (or not).

Having sifted through the proposed policies, here are the important takeaways from what wearing a mask on a cruise will probably entail.

Guests and crew members should wear masks

As many guessed, the wearing of personal protective equipment, such as a face mask, should be required for guests and crew members in accordance with CDC recommendations while on board the ship

The panel landed on this recommendation based on "increasing evidence that cloth face coverings help prevent people who are infected with SARS-CoV-2 from spreading the virus to others."

They cited a systematic review in The Lancet of 172 observational studies in health care and non-health care settings across 16 countries and six continents that found a reduced risk of infection with the use of face masks.

The Healthy Sail Panel knew masks are a divisive topic

The Healthy Sail Panel engaged in consumer insight surveys to get a sense of what people thought about masks, and there is clearly differing opinions.

Surveys conducted by the cruise industry show that some guests are unwilling to cruise if face coverings are required, while other consumers are unwilling to cruise if face masks are not required.

In cruises that have resumed in Europe, a significant portion of guests wear face masks in public areas, even when they are not mandated. Therefore, in the interest of limiting potential spread of virus, the Panel recommends that face coverings are a simple and effective strategy that should be employed.

Masks on a cruise are not a permanent change

While having to wear a mask on a cruise is something we will have to deal with when cruises resume, it will likely eventually go away as a rule.

The Panel recognizes that as disease prevalence goes down, face covering requirements may be loosened over time based on the latest available scientific data, public health agency recommendations, and risk modeling. However, in the initial period of sailing, they are an important tool that should be regularly used.

There will be exceptions where you have to wear a mask

Wearing a mask is important, but not required everywhere.

The Panel indicated guests should wear face coverings in any indoor, congregate setting regardless of physical distancing measures, but should not be required to wear face coverings in their own cabins.

A notable exception is indoor dining. Seating in restaurants and bars/lounges should allow for physical distancing, so guests can eat and drink without needing face coverings while seated.

Face coverings are not required in outdoor settings as long as physical distancing is feasible. However, if physical distancing is not feasible in certain outdoor settings, masks/face coverings among guests should be required in those locations.

For crew members, masks should be worn any time they are engaging with other crew members or guests (i.e., in all public settings, both indoors and outdoors).

The types of masks you should (and should not) wear

The Panel pointed out the types of masks guests should wear, based largely on CDC recommendations.

CDC recommends that masks have two or more layers, be worn over the nose and mouth, be worn by individuals two years of age and older, and should not be worn by children younger than two, people who have trouble breathing, or people who cannot remove the mask without assistance.

CDC does not recommend that non-health care workers wear masks intended for health care workers and also does not recommend the use of gaiters or face shields at this time.

Cruise operators should ensure that requirements for face masks are in accordance with the most up-to-date CDC guidelines.

Medical conditions and Disabilities

The guidelines also spell out recommendations for guests who have certain special needs that preclude them from being able to wear a mask.

Individuals for whom wearing a mask is medically contraindicated should be directed to a secondary medical screening (to be conducted in person or as a telehealth consult) where a case-by-case assessment of the individual’s fitness for travel will be made, and a recommendation to allow or deny boarding will be based on the fitness for travel determination.

The Panel says case-by-case exceptions may be granted for individuals for whom wearing a mask is medically contraindicated.

Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. executives had a funny moment during an interview with CNBC.

Richard Fain and Frank Del Rio started off this week doing lots of interviews to help showoff the hard work the Healthy Sail Panel has had in creating a comprehensive set of new recommendations and protocols.

During the course of one of these interviews, the host attempted to compliment Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line as the industry leaders of cruising, by comparing the two cruise lines to the #1 and #2 soft drink manufacturers, Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

While being complimented as the top two cruise lines is a pleasant honor, it is well known how much more dominant Coke is over Pepsi, and Mr. Del Rio couldn't help but quickly say that NCL was the Coke of the two.

Mr. Fain, equally feeling his cruise line was worthy of the top honor, quickly retorted back "In your dreams, Frank! In your dreams."

The lighthearted moment caps off a big couple of days for the entire cruise industry, which believes a return to cruises in North America is closer than ever thanks to a broad set of new protocols, coupled with success in limited cruising restarting in Europe.

The blue ribbon panel of scientific experts have produced over 70 steps they believe cruise lines can adopt and use to be able to offer cruises as safely as possible.

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

The Panel is chaired by Governor Mike Leavitt, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The Healthy Sail Panel identified five areas of focus every cruise operator should address to improve health and safety for guests and crew, and reduce the risk of infection and spread of COVID-19 on cruise ships:

• Testing, Screening and Exposure Reduction
• Sanitation and Ventilation
• Response, Contingency Planning and Execution
• Destination and Excursion Planning
• Mitigating Risks for Crew Members

In each category, the Healthy Sail Panel created practical and actionable recommendations to address specific safety concerns. Among the recommendations are key strategies such as:

• Taking aggressive measures to prevent SARS-CoV-2 from entering a ship through robust education, screening and testing of both crew and guests prior to embarkation
• Reducing transmission via air management strategies and enhanced sanitation practices
• Implementing detailed plans to address positive infection on board, including contingencies for onboard treatment, isolation and rapid evacuation and repatriation
• Closely controlling shore excursions
• Enhanced protection for crew members

Royal Caribbean is going to take their live shows on cruise ships to new heights, according to a recently shared video.

Nick Weir, Senior Vice President of Entertainment for Royal Caribbean International, shared a video on Twitter of a demonstration of the cruise line's drone technology for an upcoming show on its newest cruise ship, Odyssey of the Seas.

Looking forward to showing our audiences how far we have taken our use of Drones in our theater productions. #OdysseyoftheSeas will have our most complex technology yet. #RoyalCaribbeanProductions #2021. ~Here is a video clip from a technical rehearsal. #Drones #TheEffectors pic.twitter.com/cveyOGTWAk

— Nick Weir (@NickWeirShowbiz) September 20, 2020

Royal Caribbean has used drones in shows in the last couple of years, but Mr. Weir characterized this drone performance on Odyssey of the Seas as, "most complex technology yet."

A total of 48 drones are being used in the technical rehearsal with a performer in the middle of them, appearing to command the drones around him.

Royal Caribbean has already used drones on at least two ships, including Symphony of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas.

The new show is being developed for Odyssey of the Seas, which is currently under construction at the Meyer Werft shipyard.

Royal Caribbean has not yet revealed the entertainment for Odyssey of the Seas, but Mr. Weir enjoys showing off brief teases on what we can expect to see.

September 22 photo

The shipyard released a new construction photo this week of Odyssey of the Seas, which is due to be delivered in Spring 2021.

Once complete, Odyssey of the Seas will be Royal Caribbean's second Quantum Ultra Class cruise ship, sailing from Rome in Summer 2021.

After her inaugural season in Europe, Odyssey will then continue its inaugural year in Fort Lauderdale, FL with 8- and 6-night Caribbean itineraries.