Celebrity Cruises accomplished something that has not been done in more than a year. The Celebrity Millennium just became the first ship to sail not only in the US but in North America since when the pandemic started.
The Celebrity Millennium sailed on Saturday from St. Maarten. Celebrity Cruises was able to skip the simulated voyage stipulated by CDC’s conditional sailing order by having more than 95% of their passengers and crew fully vaccinated.
According to Celebrity CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo “We haven’t don’t this in 15 months and so it’s a big, big weekend for us”. For the Millennium Captain Theo Zakkas who cried when passengers boarded, “I don’t even have words to express my feelings”. He added that “It’s something amazing and unique, it’s also a very emotional moment for me”.
Celebrity Cruises refers to vaccines as the game-changer that made it possible for the cruise industry to sail again. Aside from showing proof of vaccination before boarding, adults will also have to show a negative PCR test to get to St. Maarten and Barbados.
However, things aren’t back to 100% normal. For starters, the Celebrity Millennium sailed with a 30% capacity from its 2,000 capacity. Also, there are no buffets. The ship’s infirmary this time around has 11 nurses and two doctors. Plus, there are more ventilators and isolation rooms in case someone gets infected while on board.
Lutoff-Perlo claims that “I would say at this stage, a cruise ship is the safest and healthiest way to vacation right now”.
On June 26, Celebrity Edge is set to sail from Fort Lauderdale in Florida. However, things can get problematic since Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law that prohibits businesses from checking customers’ and employees’ vaccination status.
Because of this existing law against vaccine passports, Norwegian already announced that it could force the company to suspend their Florida departures. On the other hand, Celebrity is still hopeful that they can reach a compromise with the state. Lutoff-Perlo said that “I just believe this is one more situation what will resolve itself”.
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