Royal Caribbean International's new flagship Wonder of the Seas will depart on her first sea trials from August 22 to 25 from the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in France.

The countdown is underway for the official restart of cruises onboard Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas. The ship will set sail on July 10 from Limassol, Cyprus on a 7-day Greek Isles Cruise, visiting some of the iconic destinations in Greece such as Rhodes, Mykonos, Piraeus (Athens), Santorini, Chania, and Crete.

During the past year, the crew was not allowed to go out in ports and most of them haven’t step foot on land for the entire length of their contract. However, with the recent developments and vaccination of the shipboard employees, things are slowly starting to move in the right direction. I spoke with my fellow crew members to find out if the crew is allowed to go out in ports and if the cruise lines organize protected shore excursions for them. 

Royal Caribbean is postponing Spectrum of the Seas short cruises to nowhere out of Hong Kong. The ship was set to start cruising from Hong Kong on July 30, however, according to local media reports the cruises are now rescheduled for September.

Anthem of the Seas arrived in Southampton, England ahead of the first Royal Caribbean summer cruises from the UK in over a year. The ship is ready and the crew are 100% ready and vaccinated and eager to welcome the first guests on July 7.

No doubt the internet is one of the most important things for crew working onboard the cruise ships. The net is the window to the outside world, connecting the crew with their loved ones back home.

Today, June 26, Celebrity Cruises will restart voyages on Celebrity Edge, the first cruise ship to set sail from U.S. port with paying guests. As agreed with CDC, at least 95% of passengers need to be fully vaccinated on the ship. According to Celebrity Cruises, 100% of the crew onboard Celebrity Edge are already fully vaccinated. 

Starting today the crew onboard Anthem of the Seas will go in a so-called modified quarantine after four crew members tested positive for COVID-19 on the recent PCR test. According to our source, the 4 crew members disembarked the ship today.

Odyssey of the Seas crew will go in a 14-day quarantine again, after eight crew members tested positive for COVID-19. Six team members who tested positive are asymptomatic and two with mild symptoms. They are quarantined on board and are being closely monitored by the ship’s medical team.

Royal Caribbean International continues with crewing up its ships for the upcoming cruise season. With the latest announcement of its gradual restart with more cruise ships on the way the company will bring team members from all around the world back on board.