Step by step, synchronized with the established procedures considering the pandemic, the cruising has won many battles and got to the place where it stands right now. There’s no doubt the industry has made significant progress by the number of ships on the trackers these days, which has reached 100 ships, compared to the 65 at the beginning of August. Not all of the vessels are with guests, only 76 of them resumed cruise operations, the rest are with crew only waiting for their official return. About 20 different cruise lines, including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Disney, Norwegian, Princess are represented in the above-mentioned 100+ ships.

But there is always something new threatening this progress, something the cruise companies have to deal with, and this time it is the new variant of the virus dubbed “Omicron,” that is main subject in all the news worldwide. Will this new moment slow down the progress of the cruising?

The alarming content in the headlines, calling this variant “worst-ever” had made sudden doubts in the potential impact on public health. Some are even wondering if it could affect the effectiveness of vaccines or if the consequences of those who would get infected could be even worse.

The United States and the United Kingdom were the first to put in place travel restrictions from countries where the variant is widely found. Compared to the Delta variant, that worried people in the past, the Omicron has appeared more sudden and is spreading faster than any of them since the beginning of the pandemic. Since it is still new, without enough proves and evidences about it, we will wait for further information on how the cruise lines will react to the news and if any further changes in the safety protocols will be implied.