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.
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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.
