Oasis of the Seas has arrived in New Jersey ahead of her first test cruise, which will be sailing this weekend. The Oasis-class ship will be the first cruise ship to set sail from New Jersey’s Cape Liberty Cruise Port after the pandemic.
The former largest cruise ship in the world will be the last of the four Oasis-class ships to resume operations; Harmony of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, and Symphony of the Seas have already started operation in the last few weeks. The first cruise with paying guests for Oasis of the Seas is a seven-night cruise out of Cape Liberty on September 5, 2021.
Oasis of the Seas arrived in New Jersey on August 19 at 7:30 AM and is currently docked at the Cape Liberty Cruise Port.
Oasis Will Sail A Test Cruise First
Royal Caribbean has been planning the return of Oasis of the Seas for quite some time now. At the end of June, the cruise line received permission from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to start sailing test cruises with the first out of four Oasis-class ships.
The vessel’s first test sailing will take place out of the Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, New Jersey. It will be the first time that the cruise line has sailed a test cruise from Cape Liberty, and perhaps this is why it is taking a little longer than usual. Oasis of the Seas will be sailing this weekend on August 22, 2021, and return to port on August 28, 2021.
Once the CDC is satisfied with the protocols Royal Caribbean has implemented onboard; the ship will be receiving the Conditional Sailing Certificate. Which means the ship will be allowed to resume revenue cruises.
Bahamas Itinerary Means Strict Health Guidelines
The 226,838 Oasis of the Seas will be sailing on a seven-day itinerary that brings her from Cape Liberty, New Jersey, to the Bahamas starting September 5.
She will be calling at Port Canaveral, Florida, a Perfect Day at CocoCay, and Nassau, Bahamas, before sailing for another two nights back to Cape Liberty, New Jersey. Although that itinerary would have been one of the most straightforward ones before this week, the situation has changed somewhat.
The Bahamas released a new executive order that bans all cruise ships from the Bahamas unless all guests have been fully vaccinated. While Royal Caribbean has long maintained it would like to sail with both vaccinated and unvaccinated guests, this can no longer be the case.
Therefore guests age 12 and older must present proof of COVID-19 vaccination with the final dose of their vaccine administered at least 14 days before sailing. Guests aged two and up will also need to take a COVID-19 test (PCR or antigen) with an accredited test provider no more than three days before the cruise.
Also Read: Must-Know Things about Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas
Once she does start sailing, Oasis of the Seas will be the largest cruise ship to ever operate from Cape Liberty Cruise Port. The 2009-built vessel is the former largest cruise ship in the world and has space for 5,606 guests.
