SEATTLE — After more than a year sitting empty during the pandemic, cruise ships are preparing to set sail from U.S. ports.
On Wednesday, Royal Caribbean’s "simulated" cruise departed Seattle – a test case for the company’s COVID-19 safety protocols.
“We’re thrilled to be back here in Seattle after such a long layoff, being the very first cruise ship and very first cruise brand to sail to Alaska from our homeport of Seattle,” said Mark Tamis, senior vice president of hotel operations with Royal Caribbean.
About 300 vaccinated employees will play the role of paying passengers on the Serenade of the Seas for the trip, which will visit Ketchikan and return to Seattle Sunday.
“And what they’re doing is they’re helping us bring our protocols that we’ve been working on for a long time, for almost a year and half, to life, and make small adjustments,” said Tamis.
That’s under the eye of observers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which issued and sustained "no sail" orders for cruise ships through 2020, after cruise ships were home to some of the most severe outbreaks of the coronavirus early in the pandemic.
Now, the CDC requires high vaccination levels among staff and passengers, but gave its blessing for the first U.S. ship with customers to depart at the end of June from Miami.
Royal Caribbean will even simulate the on-board detection, quarantine and evacuation of a COVID-positive guest, Tamis said.
He said many of the new precautions may not be immediately evident to travelers – from improved air circulation and filtration, to expanded medical facilities. However, more noticeably, travelers have COVID-19 to thank for a shift away from self-serve buffets.
Travelers old enough to qualify for vaccines will be required to prove they received the shot, Tamis said. Children too young to receive the vaccines will be allowed to travel.
This is the second test run for Royal Caribbean, following the first out of Miami recently.
The future of the Alaska cruise season had been in jeopardy, following extended Canadian limitations of passengers vessels in its waters, and U.S. law forbidding foreign-flagged ships from transiting directly between U.S. ports without an international stop.
The return of the cruise industry means big money for Seattle and Washington. Officials with the Port of Seattle said cruises pumped $900 million annually into the economy pre-COVID, with each visiting ship carrying about $4.2 million of economic impact. Cruises also support 5,500 area jobs, Port of Seattle said.
“We're really looking forward to this,” said Peter McGraw, spokesperson for the Port of Seattle’s maritime division. “This simulated cruise will give them a lot of information. And same with the Port of Seattle, and we’re looking forward to this.”
The first cruise departing Seattle with paying customers is scheduled for July 19. Still – only time will tell if passengers are ready to set sail again.
“The most important thing is making sure our guests feel safe, because that really is going to give them this comfort level to relax and have a great vacation like they really want to do,” Tamis said.