Two More Royal Caribbean Ships Get the Go-Ahead for Test Cruises

Royal Caribbean on Thursday announced that Allure of the Seas and Symphony of the Seas have both been approved for test sailings by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The ships will welcome guests on July 27 (Allure) and Aug. 1 (Symphony). They will be the second and third Royal ships to get permission from the CDC for test cruises after Freedom of the Seas, which was the first Royal ship to get approval and will sail out of PortMiami on June 20.

Royal Caribbean International president Michael Bayley confirmed the news in a Facebook post, writing that Allure will sail through July 29 from Port Canaveral and Symphony will sail from Miami through Aug. 3.

The goal for the sailings, according to a letter from the CDC to Royal shared by Bayley last week, is to test Royal’s plan for return to service and record “any deficiencies” in the process. The ship will be required to sail with at least 10% of its regular passenger volume and maintain a color-coded status with the CDC leading up to the test cruises. All guests will be notified of the CDC’s Travel Health Notice for COVID-19 and Cruise Ship Travel prior to embarking, too.

The push for test cruises prior to CDC approval also means that Royal is wanting to be able to sail without the vaccinated requirement that the CDC is mandating if cruise lines want to skip test cruises. Royal has opted for requiring vaccination for passengers in some of its sailings, but this week’s news means that Royal is looking to see if it is able to drop that requirement with these test cruises.

Royal reportedly has had more than 250,000 people already volunteer for the test sailings.