Several test cruises carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic and before the start of vaccinations have shown that ships are ready to start sailing again, says Richard Fain, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Royal Caribbean Group.

Fain, in a video message to travel advisers on March 22, said the uncertainties of a year ago, that brought the cruise shipping industry to a screeching halt, no longer exist and that the sector is now equipped with all the health and safety protocols on which to safely resume operations.

The Royal Caribbean CEO also confirmed that Royal Caribbean fully expects to sail out of The Bahamas and St Maarten to other Caribbean islands in June, signaling also that there might be other home porting opportunities for future consideration in the region.

CRUISE PASSENGERS HANDLED SMOOTHLY DURING PANDEMIC

This is certain to resonate well with cruise dependent nations like Jamaica, which is currently in talks with cruise line executives, including Royal Caribbean, about the island being considered a major home porting destination.

“The Royal Caribbean Group has now carried more than 100,000 guests on over 150 cruises… during the pandemic. And out of the 100,000, we have only had 10 people tested positive for the COVID-19 virus,” said the head honcho of the second largest cruise line in the world. 

“And all of them have been handled smoothly and without undue disruption of other guests’ cruises. And without undue burden on the communities and the governments involved,”  Fain added in his latest video message, telegraphing Royal Caribbean’s readiness to a seemingly overly and overtly anxious travel market. 

“This is really our objective. Few infections and certainly lower than would be expected in the surrounding community… all handled smoothly without ruining everybody’s vacation. And also, protection of guests and the surrounding community from a big spread of the virus,” the Royal Caribbean CEO added.

 Fain said the company’s experience with the 100,000 guests is very powerful proof of concept and has demonstrated that the process indeed works.

He also noted that the experience wasn’t just unique to Royal Caribbean, adding that the industry as a whole has carried more than 350,000 passengers, “with very few cases and minimal disruption. This is precisely what we thought would be the case”.

He added: “Important to note is that most of these sailings took place before the vaccines were out.”

Said Fain: “Everybody knows that the vaccines are a game changer but they’re not the only protection we have, as our experience proves.”

He added that testing has got very good and contact-tracing capabilities on ships is “better than anything available on land.

“The result of all this is a dramatic change in the landscape. We’re now able to achieve our objective of being safer than your home community, that successful experience is enabling us to restart cruises in more and more places around the world.”

 Fain declared that the response to Royal Caribbean’s decision to open up sailings from the selected ports “has been exceptional” and reinforces the view that there’s an enormous amount of pent-up demand to cruise again.

“I expect that we will soon be announcing more such itineraries,” he said.

He added that he’s not sure whether vaccines will be required on all future cruises, as they are for adults on the cruises from the Caribbean. 

“And there are likely to be more, but each circumstance is different,” he said. “And I would note that the cruises we are currently operating are operating without requiring vaccines.