The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recent changes to its COVID-19 advice for cruise ships has spurred several cruise lines on to bring their entire fleets back into service, with less-reduced capacity, according to Cruise Critic.
The CDC dropped the requirements for a cruise to be awarded a "Highly Vaccinated" status from 95% of passengers being vaccinated to 90% of passengers being vaccinated. This means more passengers are eligible for a cruise.
Carnival Cruises became the first major cruise line to return its entire fleet to operation earlier this month, followed by NCL and Royal Caribbean, also in May. Celebrity Cruises has also dropped capacity limits on ships as demand continues to rise.
"We sailed at reduced capacity to get back," Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, President and CEO of Celebrity Cruises, told UK media and travel agents. "Please go back and fill these ships."
Virgin Voyageshas also raised capacity from 50%. "Our Voyage Well protocols are working so we felt comfortable re-evaluating the capacity restrictions," said a spokesperson. "We haven't sailed at capacity just yet, but we're excited to welcome both new-to-cruise and past sailors on-board without limitation."
Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley recently predicted that most cruise lines should be back to sailing at full capacity again soon, according to Cruise Critic. Bayley also confirmed that select sailings have already recorded full capacity.
