Celebrity Cruises announced a new round of cancelled sailings for one of its ships that was scheduled to return to the United States, and it is because of a rule the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has for ships homeported outside the U.S.

Celebrity Cruises announced it has cancelled 4 sailings of Celebrity Summit between August 28 and September 11, 2021 because of the CDC's rule.

According to the CDC, the current requirements indicate that all ships operating with passengers outside of U.S. waters (i.e. ships with a homeport outside of the U.S.) will not be eligible to enter U.S. waters until 14 days after the last passenger disembarks.

A spokesperson for the agency told RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com,"At this time, there is no exception to this requirement; therefore, all ships planning to sail in U.S. waters under the conditional sailing order (CSO) will be required to sail without passengers for 14 days prior to entering U.S. waters."

This rule does not apply to cruise ships that homeport in the U.S. which sail to international waters. Rather, just ships embarking passengers in foreign countries.

The CDC added that they are "currently evaluating the need for options as ships want to reposition to the U.S. in the fall."

This policy has been in place since the start of the CSO in the agency's technical instructions.

 For ships currently outside of U.S. waters and not operating under the CSO, submission of the Enhanced Data Collection form for 14 days preceding the cruise ship’s expected arrival in U.S. waters is required prior to being assigned a color status.

It is unclear yet if other ships returning to the United States from Europe will also be affected by the policy.

In a letter to passengers booked on Celebrity Summit, the cruise line explained it was canceling the four sailings because of this CDC policy, "The CDC has currently advised any ship returning to the US after having traveled in international waters may not sail with guests onboard for at least 14 days."

Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas, Anthem of the Seas, and Jewel of the Seas are all sailing European cruises this summer, and are scheduled to return at the conclusion of their season.

I've reached out to Royal Caribbean for an update on how this policy may affect current deployment plans, if at all.

Adventure of the Seas schedule looks to already have enough of a pre-built in gap when she finishes her sailings from Nassau, Bahamas and moves to Galveston, Texas.

Florida's showdown over businesses being able to require customers to show proof of a Covid-19 vaccine has ended in a legal loss.

United States District Judge Kathleen M. Williams granted Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) a preliminary injunction which would allow a cruise line to require passengers to prove they are vaccinated against Covid-19 if sailing from Florida.

Judge Williams said in the docket that the combination of trying to restore consumer confidence and the Delta variant contributed to NCLH's win.

"Businesses face unprecedented challenges, including the understandably difficult tasks of restoring consumer confidence and minimizing the spread of COVID-19. In addition, the nation is now threatened by new virus variants that are more transmissible than the initial strain."

NCLH sued Florida because it wanted to ensure every single person sailing on its ships are vaccinated, which would violate a Florida law that was passed earlier this year banning such a practice.

In May, the Florida Legislature passed and Governor DeSantis signed into law a bill stating that all business entities “may not require patrons or customers to provide any documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination or post-infection recovery to gain access to, entry upon, or services from the business operations in this state,” subject to the imposition of a fine not exceeding $5,000 per violation.

The cruise line sued Florida so that it could restart sailings from Florida on the Norwegian Gem on August 15, 2021, and the company had adopted a policy requiring all passengers on its vessels to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and to provide documentation confirming their vaccination status before boarding.

NCLH argued that law violated its First Amendment rights and dormant Commerce Clause claims.

Judge Williams felt the fact the law allows businesses to require proof of a Covid-19 vaccine for its employees, while at the same time cannot demand the same proof of its customers makes it known as a "content-based restriction".

The Judge pointed out that the law prevents proving a customer is vaccinated, but allows the cruise lines to limit unvaccinated passengers’ access to events, activities, and venues.

Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas do not have access to certain dining venues, the casino, art auctions, the indoor pool, or the spa and during shows, they are required to sit in the back of the theater. (DE 35-1 at 22–29.) Princess and Carnival have also limited the excursions available to unvaccinated guests at ports of call.  Thus, Section 381.00316 does not prohibit businesses from treating unvaccinated passengers differently by charging them more while offering them less. 

She also pointed out that adult-only cruises, which exclude a significant amount of unvaccinated people (children), is not prohibited under the law.

In sum, if combatting discrimination were the goal, merely banning the exchange of COVID-19 vaccination documentation is an ineffective way to accomplish this objective because the Statute does not directly prohibit the treating of unvaccinated persons or those who decline to verify their vaccination status by businesses and employers differently.

In addition, the privacy of customers is not protected by this law, saying it is "far too underinclusive" to protect medical privacy, if that were a goal of it.

The Statute does not govern employers, who are free to require COVID-19 vaccination documentation from employees, and Defendant does not explain why the exchange of these documents is less intrusive on medical privacy in the employment context.

The Judge pointed out that businesses and employers are able to require Covid-19  test results, hospital records,other vaccination records, as well as information regarding exposure to third parties with Covid-19.  Therefore, Florida failed to explain why proof of Covid-19 vaccination documents are more medically sensitive or need more protection than these other documents.

During the hearing, it was divulged the law does not prohibit a business from providing their Covid-19 vaccine status orally, nor does it prevent a company from retaining, disclosing, or publishing a person’s Covid-19 vaccination status.

Cruise lines have subjected unvaccinated passengers to different policies that easily disclose their unvaccinated status.

Royal Caribbean provides unvaccinated patrons with a “hole punched in their SeaPass” to indicate their status to crewmembers and segregates these passengers to one deck of the main dining room

In addition to NCLH's First Amendment claim, Judge Williams agrees that the law imposes substantial burdens on interstate commerce that will directly affect their abilities to operate the Norwegian Gem and other vessels.

Another Royal Caribbean cruise ship has gotten approval to sail from the United States.

Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas has received its Conditional Sailing Certificate from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which means the ship can offer cruises with paying passengers onboard.

This certificate is the final phase of the CDC's phased approach, known as the Conditional Sail Order (CSO), to allowing cruise ships to resume operations from the United States, and is yet another ship in the fleet to get approval by the U.S. government to sail.

Allure of the Seas had her 2-night test cruise conducted on July 27.

The cruise line shared the good news on social media, although it has not always shared publicly which ships have gotten approval to sail following a test cruise.

Allure of the Seas is scheduled for her first sailing this weekend when she departs Port Canaveral on August 8.

Allure joins Freedom, Serenade, and Odyssey of the Seas as ships able to restart cruises after getting CDC approval.

Update: More progress. After a successful simulated cruise, #AllureoftheSeas has received its CDC Conditional Sailing Certificate to welcome its first guests in @PortCanaveral starting on Sunday, Aug. 8. ? pic.twitter.com/dYP5y2WEl0

— Royal Caribbean PR (@RoyalCaribPR) August 6, 2021

Test cruises are part of the CSO that the CDC implemented as a way for cruise ships to resume operations.

Since Royal Caribbean will not require at least 95% of its cruise passengers to be fully vaccinated, test cruises are needed to demonstrate to the CDC that the onboard health protocols work.

All of the crew members will be fully vaccinated on Allure of the Seas, and any unvaccinated guests (mainly children, according to the cruise line) will be subject to additional testing requirements and specific health protocols. 

Sailings on Allure of the Seas will require all guests to get a pre-cruise Covid test up to 3 days before the ship sails, and to bring the negative test result to the ship.

The new test requirement of all guests is a new protocol recently introduced due to the Delta variant and Covid cases subsequently rising across the country, especially in Florida.

Once onboard, Royal Caribbean has new health protocols for guests depending if they fully vaccinated or not.

All guests must wear face masks while indoors, but the mask can be taken off when in a fully vaccinated area, and/or while actively eating or drinking. Masks are also not necessary when outdoors or at the cruise line's private island.

Vaccinated guests also wear a wristband to easily identify themselves as vaccinated, while unvaccinated guests have no such wristband and have a hole punched in their SeaPass card.

Lawyers for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) and the State of Florida were in court on Friday to deliberate the merits of the lawsuit against a ban on Covid-19 vaccine passports.

The preliminary injunction hearing was held in a virtual court hearing between attorneys from both parties as Judge Kathleen M. Williams in Miami heard both sides of the case.

This court case is NCLH's claim that Florida's law that prohibits businesses from requiring proof of Covid-19 immunity in return for a service. Violations of this law come with a $5,000 penalty per violation. It went into law as of July 1.

In May, Florida signed a new law that prohibits businesses, schools, and government agencies from requiring people to show documentation certifying Covid-19 vaccinations or post-infection recovery before gaining entry.

The attorneys for NCLH argued a variety of issues, primarily focusing on company's first amendment right by restricting the flow of information with customers and interferes with interstate commerce.

NCLH sued Florida’s surgeon general, Dr. Scott Rivkees, because he is the head of Florida's Health Department.

Florida justifies the law by saying it is enacted to protect against discrimination privacy concerns.

The cruise line felt the law was passed by Florida's legislature without any proof there was an actual problem with a particular industry to substantiate concerns vaccine requirements were creating any sort of problem.

In the case of protecting against discrimination, NCLH's lawyer pointed out employers can can still require vaccine documentation for Covid-19 from employees, suppliers, or contractors.

Florida said a cruise line can ask for proof of vaccination and its customers are free to provide it, but the cruise line cannot deny entry to the ship for anyone who declines to provide documentation.

Norwegian is planning to restart cruises from Florida on August 15, but wants the Florida vaccine passport ban lifted before then so the company does not violate the law each time a passenger is asked to show vaccination proof.

At the conclusion of the nearly 2 and a half hour hearing, the Judge said she hopes to have a response "very soon".

If you want a chance to win a free Royal Caribbean cruise, you have to act quickly before the contest ends.

Royal Caribbean opened up its Volunteer of the Seas contest, where you have a chance to win a free stateroom for you and one other person to sail on an upcoming test cruise.

Between 12:00:01 AM ET on August 6, 2021 and 12:00:01 AM ET on August 7, 2021, you can enter up to 12 times to win a room one of three simulated voyages Royal Caribbean has scheduled.

These test cruises are required by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the cruise is using them to ensure the new health protocols are working as planned before regular sailings begin.

To be eligible for the free cruise giveaway, you must be:

• U.S. residents currently residing in one of the 50 United States (except Montana) or the District of Columbia
• At least 18 years old
• Fully vaccinated with a Covid-19 vaccine that has been authorized by either the United States Food and Drug Administration or the World Health Organization

The contest is for a cabin on one of these three test cruises, which you could be randomly chosen for:

• Mariner of the Seas - August 11th (2 Nights) from Port Canaveral, FL
• Oasis of the Seas - August 22nd (6 Nights) from Bayonne, NJ
• Liberty of the Seas - September 18th (4 Nights) from Galveston, TX

Sound like something you want to do? You can fill out a contest entry form here for your chance to win.

According to the contest rules, Royal Caribbean will award 1,125 winners for the winner and a guest to sail on one of these ships. 

The contest is open to repeat cruisers as well as someone new to cruising, but if you have cruised before you will get extra entries.

If you’re a Crown & Anchor member, Royal Caribbean will automatically provide you with additional entries – so you only need to submit your entry once! Here is the breakdown:

• Pinnacle members: 11 additional entries
• Diamond Plus members: 9 additional entries
• Diamond members: 7 additional entries
• Emerald members: 5 additional entries
• Platinum members: 3 additional entries
• Gold members: 1 additional entry

If you are not a Crown & Anchor member, you can submit additional entries – up to a total of 12 entries per person. Diamond Plus tiers and below, you can also submit additional entries to reach the 12 entry maximum.

If you do win a room, it will be up to you to get to and from the ship.  Royal Caribbean is not including transportation and/or lodging as part of the contest.

This new sweepstakes is the first opportunity for the public to be a part of a simulated voyage, as test cruises up until now have been filled by cruise ship employees, travel agents, media and select top tier Crown and Anchor members.

Royal Caribbean began taking sign ups for test cruises in November 2020, but this contest requires eligible folks to sign up again through the contest.

In addition to demonstrating to the CDC the viability of new health protocols, Royal Caribbean is using these test sailings to prepare each ship before sailings begin with paying passengers.

Royal Caribbean has completed seven test cruises so far, which began in June.

The cruise line also announced restart plans for ships in fall 2021 and beyond, which means there could be more test cruises scheduled later.

A few days after announcing a Covid test would be required for cruises five nights or longer, Royal Caribbean has extended that policy to include 3 and 4 night sailings.

Starting on August 12, 2021, on 3 & 4 night sailings, all guests ages 2 and up, regardless of vaccine status, will need to provide a negative PCR or antigen test for Covid-19 during check-in.

The test must be taken no more than three days prior to sailing and must be arranged by each guest at their own expense with an accredited test provider, such as a drugstore chain or diagnostic lab.

Including 3 and 4 night sailings matches what many other cruise lines are adding similar protocols.

According to a statement by Royal Caribbean in an email sent to guests, this extra precaution was added, "to give you added peace of mind."

The cruise line says passengers booked on a sailing in August who do not wish to follow these protocols can get a refund or be moved to a cruise in the future.

Going forward, all sailings (of any length), all guests 2 and older, regardless of vaccination status, will need to undergo a Covid-19 test (PCR or antigen) administered by an accredited laboratory of the guest's choice and taken no more than three days prior to sailing. 

Read more: When you should take a Covid test before your Royal Caribbean cruise?

This requirement applies even to fully vaccinated guests, there is no exemption.

The results can be printed out, or can be presented on your phone, such as the email result from your test provider. Costs associated with this test are the guests' responsibility.

Royal Caribbean announced a Covid test would be required by vaccinated passengers for sailings at least 5 nights or longer last week, but that policy excluded 3 and 4 night sailings.

Other cruise lines announced similar policies this week, including Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, and Holland America Line.

Royal Caribbean will hold a sweepstakes for those that want to go on a test cruise for free later this week.

As cruise ships return to service in the United States, they must undergo a test cruise so that the ship can be approved by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Royal Caribbean posted a teaser on Facebook that the Volunteers of the Seas sweepstakes opens this Friday, August 6.

No other details were shared regarding which ships or when these test cruise(s) might be held.

Here are the official eligibility rules so far we can expect.

No purchase necessary. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. /D.C. Excluding MT, age 18+ (19+ in AL and NE, 21+ in MS). Void in MT, outside the 50 U.S. /DC, and where prohibited. Starts 12:00:01 AM ET on August 6, 2021; ends 12:00:01 AM ET on August 7, 2021. Total ARV for all 1,125 Grand Prize(s): $731,250. For full Official Rules see bio. Prize excludes transportation to and from the vessel and hotel accommodations. Sponsor: Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

On the Volunteers of the Seas Facebook page, the cruise line added, "Stay tuned here for more information on how to enter and your chance to join us on a Simulated Voyage."

It sounds like anyone interested in winning a spot on a test cruise might have to register again for this particular sweepstakes.

Read more: Here's what it looks like if Royal Caribbean invites you to volunteer for a test cruise

Royal Caribbean started taking registrations for test cruisers back in November 2020, and quickly amassed a list of well over 300,000 registrations.

Royal Caribbean opened up its Volunteer of the Seas group in an effort to more easily collect information on anyone who might be interested in being a volunteer.

This is the first real opportunity to get on a ship since the group was created.

The first test cruises were limited to cruise line employees, but over the last few recent test cruises, Royal Caribbean has begun inviting members of the public.  Travel agents, top tier Crown and Anchor members, and members of the media have been invited to join other cruise line employees in the testing.

Friday's sweepstakes would possibly be the first opportunity for members of the general public to secure a spot for a test sailing.

In addition to demonstrating to the CDC the viability of new health protocols, Royal Caribbean is using these test sailings to prepare the vessel and crew members before revenue sailings begin.

Read more: Everything you need to know about Royal Caribbean test cruises

Thus far, 7 test sailings have occurred, with Mariner of the Seas on August 11 and Oasis of the Seas on August 22 publicly known as upcoming test cruises.

There could be other test sailing dates, but they have not been announced publicly.

The road to recovery for Royal Caribbean Group has not been an easy one, but the company told Wall Street analysts today that it sees positive signs ahead.

During the company's second quarter earnings call, cruise executives talked about many facets of the restart process, as well challenges they face getting there. Certainly there are many concerns in the market related to the Delta variant, but Royal Caribbean Group seemed confident these were short-term issues.

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley characterized these concerns as an interim issue, but not stopping them from booking.

"I think customers now see this for what it is, it's a it's a blip and a bump," Mr. Bayley said while talking about the booking environment right now. 

"I think we feel encouraged by the protocols that we've got in place."

In fact, even when there are Covid cases on ships, the spread is limited due to the strong protocols in place, "We've been very encouraged to see that when we do have a positive Covid case on board our ships, we very quickly contact trace test. And what we find is that very often you may have a occur with positive either from a vaccinated or unvaccinated cast, and they'll be in the very same room with somebody who's vaccinated and they test negative."

"So the vaccines are really working."

In the month of July, Royal Caribbean sailed with around 92% guests vaccinated, which was while the cruise line still allowed guests ages 12 to 16 to sail unvaccinated.

"If there is good news with the Delta variant is that people are becoming far more accustomed to this. If you've got a highly vaccinated population, there's minimal impact," Mr. Bayley explained in talking about why consumers feel safe cruising."

"The feedback we get from our customers is recognition and relief that this is very contained and something that, you know, that's going to pass."

Royal Caribbean Group CFO Jason Liberty indicated the cruise line saw "small variations" due to the Delta variant with closer-in bookings and markets with high case counts.

Booking trends

In the first half of the year, Royal Caribbean Group CFO Jason Liberty said more than 130,000 guests across five brands during the first half of 2021.

While bookings are still below 2019 levels due to in part reduced capacity for 2021 sailings, Royal Caribbean Group has "narrowed the gap" during the second quarter. In fact, they received we received about 50% more bookings in the second quarter than during the previous three months.

"By June, we were receiving about 90% more bookings each week when compared to Q1," Mr. Liberty explained while going through the numbers. "The bookings for 2022 are practically back to twenty nineteen levels."

He also said July was their second highest booking month of the year.

When will they break even?

Royal Caribbean Group reported another quarter with losses measured in the billions of dollars, so when will the company finally break even?

Mr. Liberty said based on how things look, they could reach break even on a cashflow standpoint in six months, "Based off of what we're seeing the ramp up of our business, I think we will see ourselves be cash flow positive in about six months as we ramp up the business."

Increasing capacity

What is Royal Caribbean's plan to increase passenger capacity as ships return to service?

Right now, ships are sailing with extremely low capacity, but there is a plan to start ramping that up.

Mr. Liberty explained capacity will go up monthly, "Our plan is for our load factors to steadily increase from one month to the next."

"After a few weeks of getting these ships up and running, we're getting to occupancy levels in which the ships are accretive to our our overall cash position."

Guests want to know when ships will sail again

Royal Caribbean announced yeserday its plan when and how it will bring back all of its cruise ships, which was met with a lot of enthusiasm in the form of new bookings.

Mr. Bayley says the announcement of ships returning with a firm plan is important to consumers, and that is directly tied to bookings.

"We literally have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of customers who are simply waiting for the confirmation."

"When we last announced return to service confirmation at the beginning of June. that's when we saw a really significant increase in bookings. And I think the announcement that we made yesterday should also receive a significant amount of interest."

"If you go on social media, people are there waiting. They're waiting for the confirmation. And yesterday, we gave confirmation on the remaining fleet. So we feel quite optimistic about that."

Royal Caribbean has laid out its plans for the rest of the fleet on when and where ships will resume sailing again.

While Royal Caribbean has restarted successfully a number of ships this summer, many sailings were in question without a firm restart date.

The cruise line shared restart plans for its cruise ships which were still in limbo as Royal Caribbean slowly restarts sailings.

The new restart plan encompasses 13 cruise ships, extending into Spring 2022.

Each ship now returning will cruise with the health measures that have safeguarded the well-being of guests, crew and destination communities to date across other ships in Alaska, Asia, The Bahamas, the Caribbean and Europe.

Here is what Royal Caribbean has announced for its restart:

Oasis of the Seas  7-night Bahamas cruises from Cape Liberty, New Jersey, starting Sept. 5; and 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries from Miami, beginning November

Liberty of the Seas 7-night Western Caribbean cruises from Galveston, Texas, starting Oct. 3

Serenade of the Seas  4- and 5-night Western Caribbean cruises from Tampa, Florida, starting Oct. 16; and 7-night Caribbean itineraries, beginning December

Explorer of the Seas 7-night Southern Caribbean sailings from San Juan, Puerto Rico, starting Nov. 7

Navigator of the Seas 3-, 4- and 5-night Catalina Island, California, and Ensenada and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico cruises from Los Angeles, beginning Nov. 19

Grandeur of the Seas 7- and 14-night Southern Caribbean sailings from Bridgetown, Barbados, starting Dec. 5

Ovation of the Seas 2- to 10-night domestic itineraries in Australia from Sydney, beginning Dec. 13

Brilliance of the Seas 4- and 5-night Bahamas and Western Caribbean cruises from Tampa, starting Dec. 16

Enchantment of the Seas  8-night Bahamas sailings, and select 12-night cruises to the Southern Caribbean from Baltimore, starting Dec. 23

Vision of the Seas 10- and 11-night Southern Caribbean itineraries from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, beginning Jan. 24, 2022

Voyager of the Seas 7- and 9-night cruises in Northern Europe from Barcelona, Spain, starting April 15, 2022

Radiance of the Seas 7-night Alaska sailings from Vancouver, Canada, beginning April 29, 2022

Rhapsody of the Seas 7-night Mediterranean and Greek Isles itineraries, sailing from Rome starting May 23, 2022

All other ships have either restarted cruises, or have plans to restart cruises this summer.

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley celebrated plans to restart all the ships, "We are excited and appreciative to be able to say with confidence when all of our ships will return, especially for travelers looking ahead to plan their getaways. More than 110,000 guests have cruised with us since December, and they’ve done so safely while enjoying the memorable vacations they trust we’ll bring to life."

"It’s been incredible to see families come together again on board our ships sailing in the U.S., the Caribbean, Europe and Asia. And to know we’ll soon welcome more in a safe manner when our entire fleet is back by spring 2022 is wonderful."

Redeployments

Booked guests currently confirmed on the below sailings will be automatically moved to the corresponding sailing on the newly redeployed ship.  Should guests no longer wish to sail due to this change, refunds can be requested through August 24, 2021.

Brilliance of the Seas departing Oct 16 – Dec 6, 2021 to be moved to like-for-like sailing on Serenade of the Seas departing Tampa (Dec 6 sailing now 4N vs prior 5N sailing).

Radiance of the Seas departing Oct 1, 2021 to be moved to Serenade of the Seas on same sail date (now 13N sailing vs. prior 14N sailing).

Rhapsody of the Seas departing Dec 14, 2021 – Feb 19, 2022 to be moved to like-for-like sailing on Serenade of the Seas departing Tampa.

New cancellations

In conjunction with the restart plan announcement, Royal Caribbean also announced a new series of cruise cancellations to make way for the restart.

• Anthem of the Seas departing Southampton: October 20, 2021 
• Brilliance of the Seas departing Tampa: September 4-October 11, 2021; December 11, 2021; March 28-April 25, 2022
• Enchantment of the Seas departing Baltimore: September 4- December 11, 2021 
• Explorer of the Seas departing San Juan: October 31, 2021 
• Harmony of the Seas departing Barcelona: October 31, 2021 
• Liberty of the Seas departing Galveston: September 26, 2021 
• Ovation of the Seas departing Sydney: October 27, 2021- April 10, 2022
• Radiance of the Seas departing Miami: October 15, 2021- April 10, 2022
• Rhapsody of the Seas departing Tampa: February 26- April 16, 2022
• Serenade of the Seas departing Sydney: October 24, 2021- February 27, 2022
• Vision of the Seas departing San Juan/Fort Lauderdale: September 5, 2021- January 14, 2022

Summer restart

The restart plan builds upon the ships that have either already resumed sailings, or are scheduled to later this summer.

Here is a list of those ships that already had restart plans announced by the cruise line:

• Adventure of the Seas from Nassau, Bahamas, beginning June 12, 2021
• Freedom of the Seas from Miami, Florida, beginning July 2, 2021
• Anthem of the Seas from Southampton, England, beginning July 7, 2021
• Jewel of the Seas from Limassol, Cyprus, beginning July 10, 2021
• Serenade of the Seas from Seattle, Washington, beginning July 19, 2021
• Odyssey of the Seas from Fort Lauderdale, Florida beginning July 31, 2021
• Allure of the Seas from Port Canaveral, beginning August 8, 2021
• Ovation of the Seas from Seattle, Washington, beginning August 13, 2021
• Symphony of the Seas from Miami, Florida, beginning August 14, 2021
• Independence of the Seas from Galveston, Texas, beginning August 15, 2021
• Harmony of the Seas from Barcelona and Rome, beginning August 15, 2021
• Mariner of the Seas from Port Canaveral, Florida, beginning August 23, 2021
• Quantum of the Seas began sailing in Singapore in December 2020

Royal Caribbean is adding a new requirement for sailings from the United States that will require proof of a negative Covid-19 test result in order to sail.

With increasing Covid-19 case counts around the country, Royal Caribbean has announced the policy change "in an abundance of caution".

All guests over the age of 2 will be required to provide a negative Covid-19 test, regardless of vaccine status, prior to boarding on sailings 5-night or longer.

The new policy is effective for all U.S. sailings between July 31 and August 31.

The test must be administered no more than three days prior to sailing and proof of negative results must be shown at check-in. Either PCR or antigen tests are acceptable.

The results can be printed out, or can be presented on your phone, such as the email result from your test provider. Costs associated with this test are the guests' responsibility.

There are no other changes to requirements and policies previously announced by Royal Caribbean.

Example of the new policy shared on Royal Caribbean's website

In a statement by the cruise line, the change is being done as a precaution, "This is an additional layer of precaution to ensure the safety of everyone onboard. We will continue to monitor public health circumstances as they evolve and make necessary adjustments to our protocols."

Here is a copy of the full statement Royal Caribbean made:

In an abundance of caution, and to ensure that our guests, crew and the communities we visit remain healthy we are requiring all guests over the age of 2, regardless of vaccine status, to provide a negative COVID-19 test prior to boarding on sailings 5-night or longer. This new policy is for all sailings in the U.S. from July 31 to August 31. The test must be administered no more than three days prior to sailing and proof of negative results must be shown at check-in.

All other testing requirements and policies are still in place. This is an additional layer of precaution to ensure the safety of everyone onboard. We will continue to monitor public health circumstances as they evolve and make necessary adjustments to our protocols.

Prior to this change, unvaccinated passengers were required to get multiple Covid-19 tests, but not vaccinated passengers.

Unvaccinated passengers were required to get tested at the terminal prior to embarkation and onboard prior to disembarkation.

Royal Caribbean requires negative test results for passengers sailing on Adventure of the Seas from Nassau, Bahamas, but this is the first time since sailings restarted that a test result for all passengers has been implemented in the United States.

For at least cruises on sailings this weekend, there may be a short-term option to get tested near the cruise port.

Guests sailing on Odyssey of the Seas for the July 31st sailing will have an option to show up to the port and get off-site testing completed nearby. It is not clear which other sailings will have this opportunity as well.

The cruise industry is not the only business making changes to ensure the safety of their customers.

Walt Disney World announced this week it would require face masks again for its customers while indoors, and Lollapalooza will require either proof of vaccination or a negative test for the viral infection within the past three days.