Cruises will return to the North East of the United States in August of this year. Mayor Jimmy Davis announced the return of Royal Caribbean to Port Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey.
The announcement comes after intensive talks between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, local and state health officials, and the Office of Emergency Management, according to the Bayonne city Mayor.
Bermuda, Bahamas, and the Caribbean
Royal Caribbean International has not made any official announcements yet; however, the cruise line has cruises scheduled for July from Port Liberty. These cruises are a 5-night Bermuda cruise first sailing on July 3 onboard Freedom of the Seas and a 7-night Caribbean and Bahamas voyage first sailing on July 2 onboard Oasis of the Seas.
Whether these voyages will be canceled or Royal Caribbean is confident these voyages can go ahead remains unclear at this moment.
Mayor Jimmy Davis said the following to tapinto.net:
“Right now, we’re hearing the first ship will leave in August at half capacity. This means that if the ship can accommodate 6,000, then 3,000 will be allowed on board.”
For the month of August, the month in which cruises will resume according to the Bayonne city mayor, Royal Caribbean International has scheduled the following cruises out of Port Liberty:
- Cruise: 5-night Bermuda Cruise
- Ship: Freedom of the Seas
- Sailing Dates: Aug 5, Aug 14, Aug 19, Aug 28
- Itinerary: Cape Liberty, New Jersey | Cruising | Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda | Cruising | Cape Liberty, New Jersey
- Cruise: 7-night Bermuda Cruise
- Ship: Oasis of the Seas
- Sailing Dates: Aug 8, Aug 15, Aug 22, Aug 29
- Itinerary: Cape Liberty, New Jersey | Cruising | Orlando (Port Canaveral), Florida | Perfect Day at CocoCay, Bahamas | Nassau, Bahamas | Cruising | Cape Liberty, New Jersey
Royal Caribbean Re-Focussing
The world’s second-largest cruise company has been re-focussing in recent weeks. Initially, the cruise line seemed eager to restart cruises from foreign ports due to the ban on cruising in the US; the line has been pulling ships back to the US.
Of course, Odyssey of the Seas was scheduled to sail in Israel and was only canceled due to the unrest in the middle east. Still, the cruise line could have easily deployed the family’s newest member on its original European itinerary.
Instead, the vessel is making its way to Fort Lauderdale. The cruise line also canceled voyages departing from Hamilton, Bermuda, onboard Visions of the Seas. At the time, the cruise line cited the increased chances of cruises sailing from the US, and guests would be unwilling to fly to Bermuda as a result.
Currently, Royal Caribbean has restart plans for the start of July, while sister company Celebrity Cruises will resume at the end of June, both out of Florida. These plans might still need to be amended if the cruise lines do not reach an agreement with Governor DeSantis of Florida regarding a disagreement over a new bill the governor introduced regarding vaccination proof. The major cruise lines and the State of Florida are still in discussions on how to proceed here.
As it stands though, we will see cruises leaving from the United States one way or another, and New Jersey is another port that seems more than willing to get cruising under way.
