PHOENIX – A resident of the Valley is back at sea on board the first cruise ship that has anchored the industry since the pandemic last year.
“Today is the port of Costa Mya, tomorrow Cozumel,” said Jenner Kaplan via zoom from the deck of the Celebrity Edge.
“The crews themselves, the employees all wear masks,” said Kaplan.
Kaplan says there are new rules to learn.
In a lawsuit between the CDC and the state of Florida, a federal judge ruled against the CDC, saying they had exceeded their powers by asking for vaccines to be put to sea. No vaccinations are currently required for cruises from Florida. It remains to be seen whether the judgment will also be carried over to other ports in other cities.
However, according to Celebrity Cruises, around 99% of the passengers on this maiden voyage are vaccinated.
“Actually, the people who are not vaccinated on the ship have to wear a mask,” said Kaplan.
According to Celebrity Cruises, unvaccinated passengers 16 and older will have to pay $ 178 for three COVID tests – one before boarding, one in the middle of the cruise, and one final test on return.
You will also be restricted to designated seating areas. For this first voyage, the shipping company decided to set the sails with a reduced capacity.
“You have 30% capacity so you don’t sit on top of people, it’s definitely more spread out,” Kaplan said.
This is all part of an effort to avoid the disaster that was experienced on the Diamond Princess last year.
Thousands of passengers were stranded on the ocean when the coronavirus infected hundreds. They added automatic doors and installed hand washing stations throughout the ship.
“It’s gotten really touchless, so you use an app for a lot of things,” said Kaplan.
They have also increased medical capacity in the event of an outbreak. Kaplan says it went smoothly for an industry that lost billions of dollars last year.
