Royal Caribbean's "Freedom of the Seas" returned to PortMiami Tuesday morning after embarking on a “simulated” cruise Sunday night with hundreds of fully-vaccinated employees serving as volunteer guests.
The cruise returned with around 650 employees that made part of the test run.
In accordance with CDC guidelines and requirements, the purpose of the simulation was to observe the cruise line's multilayered health and safety measures, more than a year after COVID-19 brought the U.S. cruise industry to a halt.
The “Freedom of the Seas" is scheduled to set sail on a paid cruise July 2nd.
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The ship headed out to sea on the "simulated" voyage after a judge ruled against the CDC's no-sail order. The ruling also means the CDC cannot enforce any vaccine requirements on cruises leaving from Florida.
After July 18th, CDC regulations will just become non-binding recommendations.
