Some bad news from Royal Caribbean: Odyssey of the Seas has just had a small outbreak of COVID-19. This puts another delay on the inaugural voyage of Odyssey, a ship that has been waiting since the beginning of the pandemic for its debut. It is also possible that this outbreak will further damage the chances of Royal having a regular summer season.
The outbreak
The outbreak of coronavirus aboard the ship was announced on June 15th by Michael Bayley, the President and CEO of Royal. He revealed that eight members of Odyssey’s crew had tested positive for COVID-19. Royal had recently begun efforts to get all crew members vaccinated, but this outbreak came before the team could be considered fully vaccinated. Still, the outbreak wasn’t too severe. Six of the eight crew members were asymptomatic while two of them suffered from mild symptoms. Royal decided to be as cautious as possible and quarantine the entire crew to make sure that there was no spread of the disease. This two-week quarantine is ongoing, and there have been no further updates on whether more cases have sprung up or not.
Odyssey’s inaugural voyage delayed
This outbreak is troubling for a number of reasons, but chief among them is the fact that it is going to further delay the inaugural voyage of Odyssey of the Seas. The Quantum-class ship was set to begin sailing out of Fort Lauderdale starting in November 2020, but this was obviously pushed back due to the pandemic. April 2021 was then decided upon, but this was again pushed back to July 3rd. This outbreak has now forced Royal to reschedule the inaugural voyage for July 31st. Those who had tickets for the July 3rd sailing have likely already been contacted about their refund or rescheduling options.
Will this affect Royal’s summer season?
The outbreak is scary on its own, but it’s also worrying to think of the impacts this may have on sailings later this summer. For instance, a simulation cruise also on the Odyssey had to be pushed back, and that may hurt Royal’s chances of having non-vaccinated cruises as soon as they would have liked. On the bright side, however, the fact that the crew was not yet fully vaccinated may be in Royal’s favor. If they can get all of their team members vaccinated against the coronavirus as quickly as possible, they may be able to stave off future outbreaks like this.
It’s sad to see another outbreak occur on a cruise ship, but hopefully this one is quickly contained and no one becomes seriously sick. Let’s all cross our fingers that a fun summer cruise season is still on the horizon!