Royal Caribbean is sailing again, but you probably aren’t eligible for these cruises. And they’re nowhere near the Caribbean, either.
But last week, the company sent Quantum of the Seas back to work, sailing from Singapore, to Singapore, and with only Singaporeans allowed as passengers. The short sailings don’t call at any other ports.
Singapore, which has had fewer than 10 Covid cases a day, has also allowed one other company, Dream Cruises, to restart. For both companies, there are testing requirements and capacity is limited to 50% or less.
Earlier in the fall, some European cruise lines, including Costa and MSC, tried limited cruising with limited audiences, but had to stop when Europe began to experience a second surge in cases.
UPDATE: 12/10/20
Just how fragile the immediate future is for cruising got a new emphasis this week when the first Royal Caribbean Singapore-only cruise was forced to return to port after less than two days at sea because of a passenger who received a positive test for Covid-19.
The ship returned to Singapore; the passenger, who had tested negative before boarding, subsequently tested negative, and a retest of the original sample also came negative. Both false positives and false negatives are known outcomes in mass testing programs.