Two cruise traces within the Royal Caribbean Group have ended the necessary mask-wearing coverage for crew members, demonstrating yet another step towards pre-pandemic operations and a welcome enchancment to the consolation of crew members who’ve remained masked for 2 years.
Crew No Lengthy Required to Put on Masks
Crew members aboard ships inside Royal Caribbean Worldwide and Superstar Cruises are not required to put on masks, based on an announcement the cruise traces launched on October 3, 2022, to their group members.
“We’re completely satisfied to announce that from at present masks are optionally available for crew. In case you are prepared to put on masks, it needs to be with the corporate’s emblem. It is a enormous step in direction of our return to regular life. The choice to put on a masks is as much as each crew member,” the assertion learn.
This new coverage applies to all areas onboard every ship, together with each indoor and outside places. Crew members might now select to not put on masks each in crew-only areas in addition to public areas and visitor areas resembling lounges, eating places, staterooms, and corridors.
It needs to be famous that crew members will not be required to take away their masks, however they could select to take action if they need. Crew members preferring to proceed sporting a masks are welcome to take action, simply because the coverage for each cruise traces permits passengers to decide on whether or not or to not put on a masks.
A number of weeks in the past, Superstar Cruises piloted a choose program allowing crew members to forgo masks because the cruise line examined whether or not onboard protocols continued to be efficient with out mask-wearing.
That restricted take a look at was a hit, as masks have now been made optionally available fleetwide for all crew members aboard Royal Caribbean Worldwide and Superstar Cruises vessels.
Silversea Cruises Nonetheless Requires Masks
Whereas each these cruise traces have now eliminated the masks mandate for crew members, it needs to be famous that the third cruise line owned and operated by Royal Caribbean Group nonetheless mandates that every one crew members put on masks.
Silversea Cruises’ “Wholesome Return to Crusing” webpage outlines the present masks coverage, which incorporates “Employees and Crew aboard all our ships will proceed to put on masks for the foreseeable future.”
Whereas Silversea Cruises is a part of the Royal Caribbean Group, every cruise line can have distinct insurance policies and protocols to fulfill the distinctive wants of its friends, crew members, and port locations.
As a result of Silversea is a luxurious, small-ship line – the biggest vessel within the line’s fleet, Silver Muse, solely accommodates 596 friends – they select to be extra cautious with their protocols.
The extra restrictive protocols are additionally seemingly a results of the cruise line’s extra unique itineraries, visiting ports of name that could be much less geared up to deal with potential illness outbreaks, and subsequently require extra stringent well being and security measures.
Will Different Cruise Traces Observe?
As an increasing number of cruise locations have eased necessities for vacationers in latest weeks, it’s seemingly that extra cruise traces will ease onboard crew protocols as nicely, as these protocols will not be obligatory to fulfill locations’ necessities for port visits.
Norwegian Cruise Line, for instance, has eliminated all its pandemic-related restrictions for cruise friends from October 4, 2022, and whereas there isn’t any phrase on how crew restrictions might or is probably not impacted, that will be a logical subsequent step.
Many cruise vacationers are wanting to see these restrictions made optionally available for crew members, because the smiling faces of outstanding group members is a welcome sight on any cruise trip.
As with passenger protocols, nonetheless, it’s clever that cruise traces might hold choice masks sporting accessible, and each friends and crew members can select what security measures they’re most comfy with.
Moreover, cruise traces reserve the appropriate to re-implement the necessary mask-wearing coverage ought to it change into obligatory sooner or later.
