Some health and hygiene policies adopted due to Covid-19 will become permanent onboard Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCCL) ships, the group’s boss has predicted, as he gave an update on returning to service.
During his latest video message, chair and chief executive Richard Fain said although the Covid pandemic was “not over yet” there were “very positive signs on the horizon”.
He promised RCCL was working to make sure its return to cruising was done properly, promising to raise the group’s already high hygiene and health standards even further.
“We need to do even better [post-Covid] and we are determined we will do so,” he said.
RCCL has created a “blue riband” panel of health experts to advise it on new policies – a group Fain described as “some of the most knowledgeable and experienced people in the world”.
“These are leading experts in all the relevant fields including epidemiology, infection diseases… they really are the best of the best.”
He apologised for the continued uncertainty facing travel agent partners but stressed: “until we get that guidance [from governing authorities] we just can’t predict how fast or in what shape our health return to service will take.”
Fain predicted that upon returning to sailing “some changes will be permanent but many others will likely be temporary” but added he could not say which at the present time.
“Science and society will guide us to those answers,” he said, referring to Royal’s banning of nail clippers onboard following 9/11 and its quick U-turn on the issue.