Minister of Transport, the Hon. W. Lawrence Scott JP, MP announced today, May 20, 2021:
"You may be aware that the US CDC made a public announcement that cruise ships will soon be able to resume sailing in US jurisdictional waters, under a conditional sail order, providing each ship meets certain CDC COVID-19 regulations and recommended operational protocols. The restart of this service will depend on the cruise lines' ability to get ships ready for service and their compliance with the CDC’s guidance.
This means that cruise lines originating ship calls from the United States are refocussing their resources on the safe resumption of traditional sailings from US ports on or around July or August.
Already this news has influenced passengers' decisions on homeporting from Bermuda on the Royal Caribbean Group’s ‘Vision of the Seas’.
For this reason, I confirm that the specific homeporting itinerary for the Vision of the Seas has been replaced with the hope that Royal Caribbean will be able to meet the CDC conditional sail order protocols and commence regular contract calls to Bermuda as soon as mid-August.
The 2021 Cruise Ship Schedule remains fluid and currently shows 21 calls for RCG ships between August 13 and November.
We are committed to working through the details of the COVID-19 protocols to meet our Ministry of Health’s travellers immunization and pre-test and on-arrival test requirements for passengers and crew on-board traditional call ships.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our internal and external stakeholder partners for their commitment and dedication to our new homeporting initiative. Viking Cruises ‘Orion’ is on track to arrive in Bermuda tomorrow afternoon to ready the crew and ship for the revenue cruises commencing on June 15 with eight calls.