Fans line up to see the new 6,500-passenger Carnival Cruise Line ship Mardi Gras arrive at Port Canaveral, Florida, last Friday. Carnival says it is staffing up the ship and will need to run a test cruise for COVID-19 protocols before it can start its Caribbean cruises later this summer. The billion-dollar ship has 20 decks and is the eighth largest cruise ship in the world. The Mardi Gras, which was built in Finland, is the first ship in North America powered entirely by liquefied natural gas
MIAMI (AP) - Royal Caribbean International said it will require vaccinations for passengers 16 and older on cruises to Alaska, and that crew members on all of its ships will be vaccinated against
COVID-19 before it restarts cruise operations
__next month to Alaska and from ports in Texas and Florida.
The vaccination requirement will be expanded to cover Alaska-bound passengers 12 and over starting Aug. 1.
Royal Caribbean is the latest of most other major cruise operators to Alaska - including Holland America, Carnival, Princess and Norwegian-to announce that passengers will be required to show proof of full vaccination.
Royal Caribbean said last Friday that eight of its ships will resume U.S. voyages in July and August, with trips leaving ports in Florida and Texas, and also leaving Seattle for Alaska.
For voyages other than to Alaska that pass through U.S. waters, Royal Caribbean said that passengers are "strongly recommended" to get vaccinated. Unvaccinated passengers must be tested for the virus and follow other measures that will be announced later, the company said.
Royal Caribbean said its first U.S. sailing since March 2020 will leave Miami on July 2 on the Freedom of the Seas. The company's first sailing to Alaska will leave Seattle on July 26 for stops in Sitka, Hoonah, Juneau and Ketchikan.
Over the following six weeks, five ships will sail the Caribbean after leaving from Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Port Canaveral, Florida, and Galveston, Texas, and two ships will sail from Seattle to Alaska during the shortened summer season.
Royal Caribbean, which is headquartered in Miami but registers its ships in other countries, plans to have 12 ships operating worldwide by the end of August. Those include ships sailing from the United Kingdom, Europe and the Bahamas.
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