Royal Caribbean Faces Boycott Calls as Only Vaccinated Adults Allowed on Cruise Ships

Several people on social media have made calls to boycott cruises with Royal Caribbean after the company announced its new sailings from the Bahamas will require adult guests to be "fully vaccinated against COVID-19" in a statement on Friday.

Speaking to Newsweek, a spokesperson for Royal Caribbean said that "vaccinations will be required for the upcoming sailings from [the] Bahamas and St. Maarten."

"We have followed the science and used our learnings about COVID-19 to develop comprehensive health and safety protocols to make cruising safer by preventing and mitigating the spread of infectious diseases, in general, and of COVID-19, in particular. This will continue to evolve as new research and technology becomes available," the spokesperson added.

Twitter user @patriottakes wrote: "MAGAs [Make America Great Again, Donald Trump's campaign slogan] are starting to boycott Royal Caribbean because they are requiring vaccinations for adult passengers and crew members when they start sailing again in June. #CancelCulture." The post has had over 7,200 likes since it was first shared on Monday.

User @drsimonegold tweeted: "WOW: @RoyalCaribbean cruises is now requiring you to get an experimental vaccine to book a cruise with them. I will be boycotting the company instead. Who else is with me? #BoycottRC." The post received over 8,100 likes and over 2,300 retweets since it was first posted on Saturday.

User @joanwetz agreed with the boycott, noting: "I am. I will not do business with anyone requiring a vaccine," in a post that received over 130 likes since it was first shared.

User @FunTimeFred1 wrote: "I'm 100% with you, Simone Any company that make this a requirement will go bust," in a reply to the message by @drsimonegold. The post received nearly 100 likes since it was first tweeted.

User @HardLinesBlog tweeted: "I'm saying goodbye to all venues moving to this requirement," in response to the tweet by @drsimonegold. The tweet received at least 145 likes since it was first posted.

On Friday, Royal Caribbean announced new seven-night cruises aboard the Adventure of the Seas cruise ship that will depart from Nassau in the Bahamas starting in June.

"The new itineraries departing through August, which will sail with vaccinated crew, will be available to adult guests who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and those under the age of 18 with negative test results," the statement said.

Royal Caribbean extended the suspension of sailings for its global fleet through May 31 (excluding cruises aboard the Quantum, Spectrum, Voyager and Odyssey of the Seas cruise ships) "in order to allow additional time for our return to service preparations," the company said in a statement on March 19.

The company plans to "resume further operation in June" but noted updates on extended suspensions for the following ships and sailings:

• Quantum of the Seas: "Alaska sailings departing April 5 to October 14, 2021: In order to allow additional time for our preparation, Quantum of the Seas will remain in the Asia-Pacific region."
• Odyssey of the Seas: "May 9 to October 28, 2021 sailings departing from Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy. Instead, Odyssey will begin her inaugural season out of a new homeport, Haifa, Israel from June to October 2021. These new sailings are available for residents of Israel only."
• Adventure of the Seas: "June 5 to October 14, 2021: Instead of offering sailings from Barcelona, Spain, Adventure of the Seas will now offer sailings from Nassau, Bahamas beginning June 2021," the company said.

The company warns: "Health and safety protocols, guest conduct rules, and regional travel restrictions vary by ship and destination, and are subject to change without notice.

"Due to evolving health protocols, imagery and messaging may not accurately reflect onboard and destination experiences, offerings, features, or itineraries. These may not be available during your voyage, may vary by ship and destination, and may be subject to change without notice."

The cruise industry came to a halt last year amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a "No Sail Order" for cruise ships from March 14, 2020, as the national health body had "reason to believe that cruise ship travel may continue to introduce, transmit, or spread COVID-19."

The order was most recently extended on September 30 last year but on October 30, "a Framework for Conditional Sailing Order" was issued by the CDC. The new order outlined detailed guidelines for resuming cruise operations in U.S. waters.

"This Order introduces a phased approach for resuming passenger cruises. Passenger operations continue to be suspended during the initial phases of this Order. The initial phase requires crew screening to determine the prevalence of COVID-19 among all crew members currently on cruise ships in U.S. waters," the health body advises.

Currently the CDC recommends that "all people avoid travel on cruise ships, including river cruises, worldwide, because the risk of COVID-19 on cruise ships is very high. It is especially important that people with an increased risk of severe illness avoid travel on cruise ships, including river cruises."

"Cruise passengers are at increased risk of person-to-person spread of infectious diseases, including COVID-19, and outbreaks of COVID-19 have been reported on cruise ships," the CDC warns.

The wider picture

Coronavirus has infected more than 123.3 million people, including over 29.8 million in the U.S., since it was first reported in Wuhan, China.

More than 2.7 million people have died worldwide and more than 69.9 million have recovered as of Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The graphic below, produced by Statista, illustrates countries with the most COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100,000 people.

The graphic below, produced by Statista, illustrates the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S.

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