Royal Caribbean announced on January 9, 2019 that it will pause new bookings for cruises departing after February 12, 2022. The cruise line said the decision was made due to a decline in passenger demand and “unprecedented” levels of booking activity this year.
Royal Caribbean has announced that they will be pausing new cruise bookings for the next 6 months. This means that no new cruises will be taken until January 2022. Read more in detail here: royal caribbean cruises cancelled 2021.
Royal Caribbean International has voluntarily put a hold on new reservations for all cruises sailing until mid-January 2022. This is a proactive attempt to keep the number of people aboard to a minimum while still offering safe and pleasurable voyages for those who have already purchased tickets.
Bookings with Royal Caribbean have been halted.
“Cruises leaving until early January 2022 are inaccessible to new bookings,” a Royal Caribbean spokesman stated in a statement to Cruise Hive. “Our ships will continue operating with a restricted capacity to facilitate physical distance.” As with prior voyages in 2021, these sailings were withdrawn from our website.”
This means that the impacted ships will sail as scheduled, but that no more reservations will be available for those cruises. On Wednesday, December 22, prospective visitors started to see reservations being withdrawn, before the whole block of bookings was removed.
Bookings with Royal Caribbean
This comes after Royal Caribbean and many other cruise companies recently tightened their onboard mask policy, banned smoking in casinos to encourage people to wear masks, adjusted COVID testing processes, and made other safety-related improvements.
“Royal Caribbean International has a system of multilayered health and safety regulations that ensures the well-being of our customers, our crew members, and the communities we visit,” the company stated in a statement on December 23. Vaccination requirements for our guests and crew, a facemask policy, pre-cruise testing for all guests, and weekly testing for every crew member are all further layers of our procedures.”
Capacity of Cruise Ships
Many cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, have steadily boosted capacity since cruise ships resumed operations earlier this year, as their health and safety precautions have proven successful in preventing onboard exposure or responding to positive instances.
Photo credit: Shutterstock.com / stef brown
According to a Facebook post by Royal Caribbean President and CEO Michael Bayley, the cruise line began sailing with just 20-30 percent full when it reopened over the summer, and has now grown to 70-80 percent capacity.
In a typical year, December capacity would be about 110 percent, with third and fourth berths filling up as more families with children sail over the holidays. The total capacity of a cruise ship is always estimated with just double occupancy.
Are There Any Troubled Waters Ahead?
While Royal Caribbean’s proactive measure of suspending reservations is meant to keep cruises sailing safely, further modifications may be required in the near future. Several cruise ports have already started to refuse ship trips if positive cases have been recorded on board. Due to more than 50 cases on board, predominantly staff members, the Odyssey of the Seas has missed both Curacao and Aruba on its current cruise from Fort Lauderdale.
The Odyssey of the Seas is a cruise ship based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Royal Caribbean provided this image.)
Other ships have been refused ports of call this week, including Carnival Freedom in Bonaire and Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas in St. Lucia.
Various governments have decided to refuse cruise ships admission in order to protect their own people and reduce the possibility of introducing COVID-19 cases into their country, especially in light of the fast spreading Omicron form. To remain in sync with health and safety procedures and to keep everyone informed of this rapidly changing scenario, cruise companies are in continual contact with ports of call.
As the cruise industry adjusts to the Omicron variant’s spread and the effect it is having on travel and tourism, other alterations, such as schedule shifts, cabin changes to encourage better spacing, decreasing passenger capacity, and even sailing cancellations, may occur in the coming weeks.
Passengers should remain in touch with their travel agent or cruise company to be informed about any changes that may affect their holiday plans, and keep an eye on Cruise Hive for further information as it becomes available.
Watch This Video-
Royal Caribbean has announced that they will be pausing new cruise bookings through mid-January 2022. Reference: royal caribbean cruise cancellations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can we cruise in 2022?
A: In 2022, we will be able to cruise in outer space.
Is it safe to book a cruise in 2022?
A: Its very safe and highly unlikely that any major disasters will happen in 2022.
Do cruises resume January 2021?
A: Unfortunately, cruises do not resume until January 2021.
Related Tags
- royal caribbean cancelled cruises 2022
- is royal caribbean sailing in july 2021
- is royal caribbean sailing at full capacity
- royal caribbean news today
- royal caribbean cruises 2021
