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A Royal Caribbean cruise ship moored at a quay in the Port of Miami.
Daniel Slim / AFP via Getty Images
Royal Caribbean Group,
which has halted most of its voyages for the past year due to the pandemic, plans to resume some voyages from the Bahamas in June with adult passengers and crew being vaccinated against Covid.
Royal Caribbean (ticker: RCL) will use Nassau as a home port in the Bahamas for the seven-night voyage, which is planned from June to August.
This is the first launch in the main Caribbean market for the company in Miami in more than a year. The cruise companies were mostly shut down for about a year due to the pandemic, which caused billions of dollars in losses and huge capital increases to sharpen their balance sheets.
Royal Caribbean has had several voyages from Singapore and through a joint venture, Europe.
Royal Caribbean and its two major American counterparts –
Carnival
(CCL) and
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings
(NCLH) – awaits more guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on resuming their voyages from US ports.
However, the Nassau sailings offer some possible clues as to what sailing will look like if sailing resumes wider.
The new itineraries “will be available to adult guests vaccinated against Covid-19 and those under the age of 18 with negative test results,” according to a statement issued by Royal Caribbean on Friday, adding that the crew will also be vaccinated.
In the statement, Michael Bayley, President and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, said: “We believe it is the right choice to embark on a voyage for vaccinated adults and crew. As we move forward, we expect that this requirement and that other measures will inevitably evolve over time. ”
The voyage is expected to stop at Perfect Day at CocoCay, a private island destination in the Bahamas developed by Royal Caribbean; Grand Bahama Island, and Cozumel, Mexico.
Shares in Royal Caribbean have risen 21% to date as investors gain confidence over a broader reopening of the economy. There has been more optimism among Wall Street analysts lately about the outlook for the industry.
Yet Royal and his peers burned hundreds of millions of cash every month while their fleet was idle.
The company had an adjusted loss of $ 18.31 per share in 2020, compared to a profit of $ 9.54 the previous year.
Write to Lawrence C. Strauss at [email protected]