As the Covid-19 surge caused over the past several months by the Omicron variant continues to decline and many cruise ships are reporting zero Covid cases in the past few weeks, several cruise lines decided to relax some of the safety measures. This week Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line announced rolling back of its onboard mask policy for guests, allowing fully vaccinated passengers to go without masks in most of the public areas.

“Take your food, consume it, and leave.”

The sale of some of Genting Group global assets, including shipyards and cruise ships, could become a reality after the company announced appointment of joint provisional liquidators by a Bermuda court.

A 36-year-old crew member has died on the cruise ship Norwegian Escape this morning. The crew member had reportedly completed his 10-day COVID isolation, and one day after his release he passed away. According to our source, the deceased crew member is an Indian national who was working in the bar department. The cause of the death is unknown.

The current voyage on Norwegian Gem was cancelled mid-cruise and the ship will return to New York ahead of the schedule due to COVID-related circumstances. Guests sailing on the current 10-day voyage received a letter that their Norwegian Gem voyage was cancelled.

Norwegian Cruise Line is pulling out the cast members from the Norwegian Pearl, and it seems that Creative Studios shows onboard will be temporarily pausing performances for the next three months. In a letter sent out by the Senior Director of Entertainment Production for NCLH Robert Dean Hertenstein, cast/ band members were informed about the canceled shows which are expected to return on April 15. The cast members are expected to disembark the Norwegian Pearl today in PortMiami.

Norwegian Cruise Line next Prima-class ship set to be delivered by Fincantieri shipyards in 2023 will be named Norwegian Viva. The vessel is the second of six NCL’s Prima-class ships that will eventually join the cruise line by 2027.

The cruise ship Norwegian Pearl has become the latest vessel to be hit by a COVID-19 outbreak amid the current global surge in cases by the highly contagious Omicron variant. Norwegian Pearl is heading back to Miami after the captain’s announcement that the current cruise is canceled due to “several COVID-19 positive cases” detected among the crew. The ship is expected to arrive in Miami on January 6, to disembark all passengers onboard.

Lately, cruise ships often report passengers and crew with COVID infections aboard and they are monitored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some of them had passed the allowed threshold of 1% of active cases, they are denied port entry.  According to V.I. Health Commissioner Justa Encarnacion, the Virgin Islands has turned away two cruise ships with COVID infections aboard.

This holiday season Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings celebrated the big comeback and acknowledged crewmembers' crucial role and hard work in the company’s return to cruising with a holiday bonus. All crew members on board the NCL, Regent Seven Seas and Oceania Cruises ships received a $100 holiday cash bonus which will be deposited to their December account.