This month Royal Caribbean International marks one year since the successful restart of cruise operations, an important milestone worth celebrating. The company and its crew made extraordinary efforts to start cruising again with Quantum of the Seas, the first ship to make a comeback since the industry shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quantum of the Seas officially restarted cruises on December 1, 2020, from Singapore at a reduced guest capacity of 50%. The final preparation was with a trial voyage on November 28th with the ship sailing a 2-Night Non-Revenue “Shakedown Cruise.” This voyage consisted completely of staff and family members from the Royal Caribbean office in Singapore, local travel agents and invited guests to test and implement safety procedures.

Quantum of the Seas has set the standard for other Royal Caribbean ships to resume cruises and the phrase that cruise line and crew used during the global pause in operations “We Will be Back” gradually changed to “We Are Back” with the start of each ship.

In the latest “Royal Newsletter” Royall Caribbean International said that 17 ships are back in service with 28,896 crew members on board. There are only 4 ships at minimum manning around the world and the number of team members on the islands has increased to 462.

Today we celebrate the Royal Caribbean's remarkable achievement and the sacrifice thousands of crew have made to make cruising happen again.

Crew Center wants to send special thanks to Chief Security Officer Mansor Ashkar who has shown the world of Quantum of the Seas on his YouTube channel during the restart. Mansur has made some incredible videos, full of positive energy, letting people know what is going on onboard and how the crew is doing. During the difficult times, Mansor has proven, that people with a positive mindset can make a great impact and lift the spirits high around them.