Celebrity Cruises has informed the crew onboard Celebrity Edge about the easing of coronavirus-related restrictions, with the most significant being relaxation in mask requirements.
Celebrity Edge Executive Committee send a letter among the crew about the new mask-wearing policy and embarkation quarantine. Starting from October 15, mask requirements in the crew indoor areas would be optional as well as the guest and crew outdoor areas. Mask requirements in the guest indoor areas for crew are still in place on the Celebrity Edge.
The letter also gives an update about the easing of the quarantine policy for new embarking crew on all Celebrity cruise ships in service. New embarking crew who are fully vaccinated will be in a 7 days quarantine onboard, instead of the previous 14-day mandatory quarantine.
“Quarantine for Embarking crew will now be 7 days! Effective October 15th, Fully Vaccinated joining crew on IN SERVICE ships will do 7 days quarantine,” the letter reads in part.
The crew will take PCR test of day 7 (after 7x24hrs) and the quarantine release will be permitted after test results is available. If the test is negative the crew starts with the regular working assignments. Additional antigen testing will be completed in full crew testing between day 8-14. After day 14, regular crew monitoring testing and monitoring will be done. The new policy applies for all crew joining Celebrity ships starting October 15, and the crew currently in quarantine will have to complete their full 14-day quarantine.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention color tracking system shows that the Celebrity Edge has been in Green status for the past weeks. CDC Green status means the ship has no reports of COVID-19 cases or COVID-19-like illness.
Edge is currently sailing the Caribbean on 7-day cruises from Fort Lauderdale. The ship alternates voyages between the Western- and the Eastern Caribbean.
Another Celebrity Cruises ship in operation, the Celebrity Summit, also has Green status and most probably crew mask policy will be updated there as well.
Eventually easing of the mask policy is expected also on the Royal Caribbean International which is a sister company of Celebrity Cruises owned by Royal Caribbean Group.
