At last, a cruise ship departs U.S.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The first cruise ship to leave a U.S. port since the COVID-19 pandemic brought the industry to a 15-month standstill sailed away Saturday, with nearly all of its passengers vaccinated.
Celebrity Edge departed Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at 6 p.m., limited to about 40% of its passenger capacity.
Celebrity Cruises, one of Royal Caribbean Cruise’s brands, said 99% of the 1,100 passengers had been vaccinated, well over the 95% requirement imposed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A giant greeting was projected onto a wall at one of the port buildings: “Someday is here. Welcome back.”
The port is fewer than 15 miles north of the Surfside building collapse site, where rescue crews continued to search for victims Saturday.
Passengers arrived for the cruise in T-shirts bearing phrases such as “Straight outta vaccination” and “Vaccinated and ready to cruise.”
“Words can’t describe how excited we are to be a part of this historic sailing today,” said Elizabeth Rosner, 28, who moved from Michigan to Orlando, Fla., in December 2019 with her fiance just to be close to the cruise industry’s hub.
To comply with both the CDC’s requirement and a new Florida law banning businesses from requiring customers to show proof of vaccination, Celebrity Cruises asked guests if they would like to share their vaccination status. Those who did not demonstrate or say that they were vaccinated face additional restrictions.
Saturday’s sailing kicks off the cruise lines’ return to business. Carnival vessels are scheduled to depart from other ports next month.
Celebrity Cruises had unveiled the $1-billion Celebrity Edge in December 2018, betting on demand for luxury cruising. The ship offers a giant spa and multifloor suites.
The seven-night cruise will sail for three days in the Western Caribbean before making stops in Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico, and Nassau, Bahamas.
Celebrity Edge is led by Capt. Kate McCue, the first American woman to captain a cruise ship, who has more than 1 million followers on TikTok.
“You can truly feel the palpable sense of excitement and energy among the group as we prepare for our welcoming of our first guests,” McCue said. “I’ve never honestly seen a group so excited to get back to work.”
Industry officials are hoping all goes smooth so they can move past last year’s chapter of deadly outbreaks on cruises that prompted ships to be rejected at ports and passengers to be forced into quarantine. Some passengers died of COVID-19 at sea; others became so ill they had to be carried out of the vessels on stretchers.
The CDC extended nosail orders repeatedly last year as the pandemic raged and came up with strict requirements for the industry that have already been contested in court by the state of Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis said the industry generates billions for the state’s economy.
On Saturday, officials at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale said the port lost more than $30 million in revenue in fiscal 2020 from the cruise shutdown.
During that hiatus, Carnival, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean, the three largest cruise companies, have had to raise more than $40 billion in financing just to stay afloat. Collectively, they lost $20 billion last year and $4.5 billion in the first quarter of 2021, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.