The Royal Caribbean ship Rhapsody of the Seas has returned to service, offering seven-night Mediterranean and Greek Isles sailings from Rome.
Now that Rhapsody of the Seas is back on the water, Royal Caribbean International (RCL) is officially completely back in service, with all 26 of its ships back to active duty, a pandemic-era milestone.
Royal Caribbean Is Back To Full-Strength
The pandemic was rough on the service industry in general. But the luxury cruise industry was hit especially hard, as it voluntarily shut down as soon as the covid-19 pandemic began in March 2020.
Ships will often sail all over the world, and every country has different safety standards.
In the United States, the Center for Disease Control has strict safety regulations for ship safety.
That’s why the main three players, Carnival Cruise (CCL), Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) spent millions refurbishing its ships to make them as safe as possible.
It may also be why all three have been taking a wait-and-see, methodical approach to getting all of its ships back on the water.
Royal Caribbean began slowly reactivating its line in August of last year, with Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and former CEO Richard Fain noting at the time
"We don't expect that ... someday somebody blows a horn, and all the ships start operating right away. We think that it will be a gradual start, a little bit like society is opening up gradually," Fain said.
"So we would imagine that we would start with fewer ships, and more likely to be more drive markets in the beginning, and then it would then evolve and grow from there."
Royal Caribbean International has now cruised to 160 destinations across 2,000 voyages since reopening. It has taken passengers all across United States, Europe, and select ports in the Caribbean, though China continues to remain shut down.
In addition to getting its existing ships back in service, Royal Caribbean also recently launched the new ships Odyssey of the Seas and Wonder of the Seas.
Carnival Cruise
Full Capacity Should Be Returning Soon
It’s been an exciting time for cruise fans lately, as Norwegian and Carnival also recently recently reactivated their entire fleets.
Carnival Cruise became the first company to get its entire full fleet back onto the water following the departure of Carnival Splendor from the Port of Seattle.
Norwegian officially reactivated its entire 17-ship fleet, once The Norwegian Spirit, set sail from Tahiti on May 9.
But there have also been ongoing challenges for the industry.
Carnival recently made news when it drastically cut down on the guest capacity for the Queen Victoria and Queen Mary 2, both of which are part of the Cunard Line.
The reason for the cutback was an ongoing worker shortage, which is causing dining and cleaning services to take longer.
That has lead to the cancellation of some onboard activities including dance parties and interactive games.
“One of the issues driving the worker shortage is that cruise ships have strict isolation and quarantining requirements for its workers, and the industry is dealing with tightening travel protocols, including strict visa restrictions that prevent members from traveling through multiple countries to join their contracted ships,” TheStreet reported.
But even as the worker shortage continues, Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley is bullish.
He said he sees his company’s ships sailing at 100% capacity in the near future, as he said in a recent earnings call that he expects the company to be at "triple digits" in terms of capacity.
"And as we head towards Memorial Day weekend," Bayley explained to a Wall Street analyst during the call.
"We're going to see significant percentage of our ship sailing at 100% and greater."
