All cruise guests will need to be vaccinated, says Royal Caribbean boss
All Royal Caribbean guests will need to be vaccinated, the boss of the world’s biggest cruise companies said today.
Chief executive Richard Fain said, “we expect all of our guests who are eligible for a vaccine to have it”.
“The combination of the vaccines and testing and contact tracing, all these kinds of protocols really helps us reach our objective, which is to make cruising safer than in your home community,” he told the BBC.
“We want you to be more comfortable walking on board a ship than walking down Main Street.”
The cruising chief said proof of vaccination will differ from the type of documents airlines are calling for.
“I don’t think we’re talking about a vaccine passport. I think we are talking about people who are vaccinated, and there are lots of different ways to show that”. He added that he doesn’t think there are security issues around the paper documents issued in the US and UK.
“We’ve actually surveyed our guests and the vast bulk of the people that have booked our cruises have already been vaccinated, and they’re volunteering it, they want it. And people want a place where they can go where they know they’re safe,” he added.
As vaccinations continue to ramp up across the world there is hope there will be somewhat of a recovery for the travel industry this summer.
Before the pandemic, the cruising was worth $150bn and supported approximately 1.2m jobs but the near year-long closure has battered companies.
Royal Caribbean has lost more than $6.8bn since the start of the pandemic and has had to tap investors for more than $12bn to stay afloat.
“We think it’s enough to see us through during these terrible times,” Fain said. “I didn’t like having to do it. But I was impressed at how quickly we’re able to do it given a terrible market and a company with zero revenue.”