The first cruise ship to leave the Port of Baltimore since the Key Bridge collapse has set sail on Saturday.
Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas welcomed passengers onboard on May 25 for a 5-night cruise to Bermuda, and it's an important symbol of Baltimore's recovery since the Key Bridge collapse.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse severely impacted logistics and the economy of Baltimore, and the clean-up effort to open up maritime commerce was an immense task.
Royal Caribbean said in a statement, it "looks forward to returning to the Port of Baltimore once again."
On Monday, May 20, the Dali container ship that crashed into the Key Bridge at the end of March, was escorted by tugboats to a marine terminal 2.5 miles away. It had remained stuck under the bridge wreckage until Monday.
Last week crews demolished the largest remaining steel span of the bridge using explosives.
The removal of the steel span and moving of the ship were some of the final steps to allow cruise ships to restart sailing from Baltimore.
The collision brought down the 1.6-mile long steel structure, killed six construction workers on the bridge and severed access to critical shipping routes in and out of the Port of Baltimore.
Officials have vowed to rebuild the bridge – but the exact cost remains unclear. A spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute has estimated the bridge alone could be worth more than $1.2 billion.
Earlier this week, the Port of Baltimore celebrated the restart of cruises with a post on social media, "Get ready…the Port of Baltimore is ready to cruise once again! Royal Caribbean International's Vision of the Seas will depart on May 25th for a fantastic 5-night voyage from Baltimore to Bermuda."
Royal Caribbean had temporarily moved its operations south to Norfolk, Virginia to offer cruises in April prior to the ship going in for regularly scheduled maintenance.
The drydock session came right after the bridge collapse, leaving less sailings impacted by the closure of the Port of Baltimore since there were no scheduled Royal Caribbean cruises during the refurbishment.
The 1997-built ship went to Grand Bahama Island in Freeport, Bahamas for its drydock work.
The dry dock work done on Vision of the Seas was limited to maintenance work, upkeep, and general "under the hood" type work.
Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas sails out of Maryland, offering cruises to the Bahamas, Southern Caribbean, Bermuda, and Canada/New England.
Vision will offer cruises of five- to nine-nights to Bermuda and the Bahamas.
Then in November, Vision will transition to offer cruises that visit just the Caribbean and Florida.
Carnival is next
Following Vision, Carnival Pride will resume its homeporting in Baltimore on Sunday.
Pride will sail a 14-day voyage to Greenland when she departs on May 26.
Carnival had shifted to Norfolk as well, but plans on resuming their original ship itineraries through spring 2026.
Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy said of the efforts to reopen Baltimore, "We are extremely grateful to the officials and incredible first responders in Baltimore, who’ve shown great leadership and resolve in this difficult time, as well as our supportive partners in Norfolk, whose rapid response allowed us to continue to deliver our scheduled sailings for our guests."
