Carnival, Royal Caribbean suspend sailings to end of February 2021

Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International announced last week that they are suspending sailings through the end of February 2021 for most global itineraries.

Both cruise lines released statements explaining that they are still working through the stringent guidelines set by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) before they can begin taking on paying passengers.

Royal Caribbean stated that it continues to work with government authorities across the world.

“Royal Caribbean Group’s panel of globally recognized scientific and medical experts, together with teams both on sea and on land, continue to focus on a healthy and safe return to service for our guests, crew and the communities we visit,” Royal Caribbean noted in its statement.

Carnival in its statement revealed it has canceled itineraries for February 2021 out of Miami, Port Canaveral and Galveston. Much of Carnival’s business to The Bahamas comes out of its Miami and Canaveral ports.

“We apologize to our guests but we must continue to take a thoughtful, deliberate and measured approach as we map out our return to operations in 2021,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

“Our commitment to the health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we visit is at the forefront of our decisions and operations.”

Downtown Nassau has become a ghost town due to the absence of cruise lines, which Ministry of Tourism officials contend brought up to 10,000 people per day.

Nassau Cruise Port Limited has predicted that The Bahamas will see cruise ships return by the second or third quarter of 2021.

Royal Caribbean has resumed itineraries out of Singapore, where there were only five reported COVID-19 cases yesterday.

“After months of careful planning, extensive training and simulated trials, Royal Caribbean International’s Quantum of the Seas resumed cruises for Singapore residents this week with comprehensive health and safety measures in place, meeting the requirements of the CruiseSafe certification standards developed by the Singapore government,” the cruise line stated.

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/carnival-royal-caribbean-suspend-sailings-to-end-of-february-2021/