As a reaction to the recent situation with the COVID-19 and the fast spreading of the new Omicron variant, Royal Caribbean International has decided to voluntarily pause new bookings for all cruises scheduled through mid-January 2022. With this proactive effort, the cruise line limits the capacity onboard while still providing safe, enjoyable cruises to already booked passengers.

According to a statement of Royal Caribbean spokesperson, “Cruises departing through early January 2022 are unavailable to new reservations because our ships will continue sailing with a limited capacity to accommodate physical distancing. These sailings were removed from our website as we’ve done with previous cruises in 2021.”

In a further detailed explanation, it is said that the affected ships will set sail as planned, only with the passengers that booked voyages by now, no further bookings will be offered for those voyages.

This is a new moment in the recent tightening of the measures, such as promoting frequent mask wearing, banning smoking in the casinos, changing COVID testing protocols etc. 

“Royal Caribbean International has a set of multilayered health and safety protocols that safeguards the well-being of our guests, our crew members and the communities we visit. Additional layers of our measures include vaccination requirements for our guests and crew, a facemask policy, pre-cruise testing for all guests, and weekly testing for every crew member,” the company explains.

The booked passengers are advised to stay alerted and contact their agents, so they can follow further possible changes, including itinerary shifts, stateroom changes to promote better spacing, lowering passenger capacity, and even sailing cancelations that may occur in the next few weeks as the cruise industry adapts to the Omicron variant’s spread and the impact it is having on travel and tourism.