Royal Caribbean says likelihood of US summer cruises greater each day, cancels Bermuda

Royal Caribbean has cancelled its summer cruise itineraries from Bermuda aboard Vision of the Seas and will instead most likely homeport the ship in the US ahead of an expected US cruise restart.

Vision of the Seas was due to cruse roundtrip from Bermuda on 7-day cruises to Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas, Perfect Day at Coco Cay, but is now expected to homeport in the US instead.

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“The likelihood of cruises setting sail from the U.S. this summer is greater each day, and with that, U.S. travelers are increasingly showing a preference for more direct access to ports of departure,” Royal Caribbean said in a statement.

“The decision has been made to cancel Vision of the Seas’ summer season from Bermuda. While we are no longer homeporting from the island nation, we still look forward to bringing our guests to Bermuda with several ships across the Royal Caribbean fleet as we have for many years,” it added.

“As we get back to cruising, our close partnership with the Ministry of Tourism and the Bermuda Tourism Authority is still focused on working toward the common goal of getting the community back on its feet by helping revive local tourism.”

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Royal Caribbean’s decision to homeport in Bermuda followed a trend by several cruise lines to move embarkation ports from the US to the Caribbean and other nearby ports, selling fly-cruise packages to the North American market amid the CDC’s lack of guidance on when it would allow cruises to resume from the US.

Now, however, the CDC has become more receptive to the possibility of a US cruise restart, and has begun updating its guidance on the Conditional Sailing Order, making it easier for cruise lines to gain compliance when cruising with fully vaccinated guests.

As a result, several cruise lines are now preparing to resume cruises from Miami, with Carnival Cruise Line having recently made plans to reposition its newest cruise ship, Mardi Gras, from Europe to Florida.

It’s unclear at this point whether Royal Caribbean will also cancel its roundtrip cruises from Nassau in the Bahamas. Adventure of the Seas is due to begin cruising from the islands in June, visiting Perfect Day at CocoCay, Grand Bahama and Cozumel.

At the time of writing, those cruises were no longer available on the Royal Caribbean International website.