Royal Caribbean Gets Green Light to Restart Cruises with Ticketed Passengers

After successfully completing its test cruises, Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas has officially received approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to restart sailings with ticketed passengers.

With the news, Freedom will become the cruise line’s first ship to resume sailing from the U.S.

Royal Caribbean president Michael Bayley made the announcement in a message posted to social media on Tuesday morning, writing that “this is exciting progress, and we look forward to welcoming our guests onboard.” 

Guests will now be able to sail on Freedom starting next month. The first revenue sailing will depart from Miami on July 2 and visit Nassau and Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island destination, in The Bahamas, before returning to Miami on July 5. 

While the CDC’s approval allows ships to sail with less than 95% of guests vaccinated, Freedom will sail with all crew fully vaccinated and the “majority of guests fully vaccinated.”

Any unvaccinated guests, which Bayley said will be mainly children, will be subject to additional testing requirements and specific health protocols, including not being able to enter certain public spaces.

It’s more good news for the cruise industry, which returned to the U.S. last week. Celebrity Edge became the first ship post-COVID to welcome guests on Saturday when it set sail from Ft. Lauderdale on a Mexico and Bahamas itinerary, the first cruise ship to welcome guests on a “regular” sailing in more than a year.