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.

The US Coast Guard is conducting an investigation after a Royal Caribbean cruise ship ventured near the hazard area of the rocket trajectory on Sunday, causing the SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral to be aborted at the last moment.

Elon Musk's SpaceX launch of the rocket Falcon 9 was aborted at the last moment from Cape Canaveral after a cruise ship ventured under the planned flight trajectory near the hazard area. SpaceX was set to fire a Falcon 9 rocket into orbit on Sunday at 6:11 p.m, but the US Coast Guard could not clear a cruise ship in time out of the rocket’s downrange hazard area.

Royal Caribbean International officially expanded its fleet on January 27th, 2022, after taking over the new Wonder of the Seas from the shipyard Chantiers de l'Atlantique. From April 2019 to January 2022, the world’s largest cruise ship was under construction at the well-known French shipyard in Saint-Nazaire The newest ship in the Oasis-class has now been handed over to Royal Caribbean International with a flag ceremony in Marseille. The company's fleet now consists of 26 cruise ships.

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.

On the 27th of December, Royal Caribbean cruise ship Symphony of the Seas was not allowed to dock in San Juan due to the number of positive cases on board. The local government imposed new restrictions on the arrival of cruise ships, as a result of the rebound by the COVID-19.

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.

Dozens of cruise ships with COVID-19 cases are under observation by the U.S. authorities during their cruises, and several of them are reportedly denied port in the Caribbean. Over 60 cruise ships are monitored after "reported cases of COVID-19 have met the threshold for CDC investigation," the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. One of the denied, the Carnival Freedom, was turned away from the Caribbean island of Bonaire.

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.

Three guests and 52 crew members onboard Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas have tested positive for COVID-19. The cruise ship was scheduled to dock at Curacao today, however due to the current status, the vessel was denied clearance by the port authority, and disembarkation of guests was canceled.