At long last, 500 days in the making, Norwegian Cruise Line has resumed sailings from the USA. On Saturday, August 7 the Norwegian Encore set sail from Seattle with 100% vaccinated crew and guests, with all cruisers heading up to Alaska receiving a Covid test in the Seattle port.
So far Norwegian Cruise Line is one of the ‘safest’ cruise lines to travel on, with the line seeking, and being granted an injunction to only bring on board vaccinated guests, even in Florida where the state has put a ban on Covid Vaccine Passports.
Prior to the Encore sailing, Norwegian Cruise Line Holding’s President and CEO, Frank Del Rio hosted a “Great Cruise Comeback” panel along with company and government health officials, reassuring future cruisers that NCL is putting their health and safety first.
“It’s not a slogan for us. We mean what we say, and we say what we mean,” Del Rio claimed. “As early as mid-March we committed that we would not start cruise operations unless everyone on board our vessels were 100 percent vaccinated.”
The positive economic impact of their ships’ ports of call was also discussed, including how the Seattle and Alaskan cruise ports are in dire need of the injection of tourism dollars.
“Simply put, I think you all know that the cruise industry is an economic accelerator around the world,” said Tom Norwalk, president and CEO of Visit Seattle. “It brings over 1.2 million passengers to our region in a normal year, and an estimated $900 million impact not just for the city core but throughout our region over the season.”
The Norwegian Encore is now sailing roundtrip from Seattle, calling at Icy Strait Point, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan. The Norwegian Gem will be the second US based NCL ship to restart operations, setting sail (with 100% vaccinated crew and guests) on Sunday, August 15 form Port Miami calling into Roatan, Harvest Caye, Costa Maya and Cozumel.
Norwegian Jade resumed cruising on July 25 with seven-day Greek Isles cruises out of Athens. these are the only three NCL ships to set sail since the no cruise order took hold in March of 2020.
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