Nowadays, working on a cruise ship next to a COVID-19 situation is not easy. Various measures have been introduced and again there is the fear of what happens if you get COVID-19 on a cruise ship.

Health and Safety Measures 

As the world turns towards Ukraine with prayers and support, loyal cruise ship guests reach out to the cruise lines' Head Quarters with inquiries about the safety, support and concern of Ukrainian crew members. Each company responds to the cruise guests with understanding of their concerns, addressing the same and reminding that the companies are focused on the wellbeing and support of both Ukrainian and Russian crew members.

Some good news is coming from Royal Caribbean regarding the easing of the health and safety protocols for the cruise ship crew. With the latest announcement that masks will be optional for fully vaccinated guests sailing from U.S. ports, the cruise lines has also updated protocols for crew which will go into effect for new sailings, starting Friday, February 25.

Rohan Goes - Team India Captain at the World Photographic Cup from Cuncolim, GOA will be representing Team India at the World Photographic Cup 2022 in Rome, Italy.

As the Covid-19 surge caused over the past several months by the Omicron variant continues to decline and many cruise ships are reporting zero Covid cases in the past few weeks, several cruise lines decided to relax some of the safety measures. This week Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line announced rolling back of its onboard mask policy for guests, allowing fully vaccinated passengers to go without masks in most of the public areas.

“Take your food, consume it, and leave.”

MSC Cruises crew member has sent a letter to Crew Center voicing his concerns about how the company’s health and safety rules are followed by the crew and the high-ranking officers. The crew member states that while the crew are the ones who are following the rules under tremendous pressure, people who need to lead by example have privileges due to their high-ranking positions.

The spread of COVID-19 aboard Mein Schiff 2 has forced TUI Cruises to cancel the upcoming Caribbean voyage. The last-minute cancellation comes as the number of positive cases among the crew has increased exponentially, especially within the service staff, which makes it impossible to maintain daily operations for guests. All passengers will disembark the ship today and tomorrow in Bridgetown, Barbados and will be sent home on charter flights back to Germany.

Cunard’s Mixologist, Ryan Lapag Latumbo is this year’s winner of the maritime division of the United Kingdom’s Bar Tenders Guild National Cocktail Competition. This talented bartender won his division with his cocktail “Sailor’s High Ball” and will join the other UKBG finalists in London in January 2022, for the chance to be crowned, overall winner of the prestigious National Cocktail Competition.

Royal Caribbean International started the “Crew free flow pilot program” allowing independent shore leave for employees on five cruise ships sailing to U.S. ports. The pilot program started last week with 50 crewmembers, from each ship, being granted shore leave on the Anthem of the Seas in Cape Liberty - Bayonne, Liberty of the Seas in Galveston, Allure of the Seas in Fort Lauderdale, Independence of the Seas in Port Canaveral, and Oasis of the Seas in Miami.