59TRAVEL Bloomberg Pursuits February 8, 2021
to measure these trials’ success were still being determined.
Whenever the test cruises happen, they’ll encompass a
handful of “simulated voyages” inspecting best practices for
social distancing as well as quarantine and evacuation pro-
cedures. Royal Caribbean hasn’t yet disclosed whether the
itineraries will consist only of drills or if the ships will even
leave the port. Spokesman Rob Zeiger, who left his post on
Jan. 29, expects them to combine dockside testing in Florida
with a visit to Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal’s $200 million
private island in the Bahamas.
Even with so many unknowns, fans are itching to be let on
board. Nancy Price Towner, a retiree from Galveston, Texas,
who has 16 sailings booked for this year beginning in May,
frames her desire almost in terms of civic duty. “This is not
a vacation,” she says. “I see this as a job. We must do all we
can to help cruise lines get back to what they do best, pro-
viding a respite from the everyday world.”
For Deborah Marino-Ramos, 58, a registered nurse from
New Rochelle, N.Y., who had 20 cruises booked for 2020—all
canceled—the test sailings are an opportunity to be part of
Royal Caribbean’s history. “I don’t want to do it with another
cruise line. I just want to do it with Royal,” she says. “I trust
they are not going to have a problem and ruin their industry.”
Richard Fain, chairman and chief executive officer of par-
ent Royal Caribbean Group, has offered few assurances. He’s
told travel agents that eliminating the virus is impossible on
a cruise ship. The goal, he says, is to make ships safer than
guests’ hometowns and quickly contain any outbreaks that
inevitably occur. Just as on dry land, testing will be key. Rapid
PCR tests will be available at both the pier and on board each
ship to identify and isolate sick passengers.
Some of Royal’s biggest fans are offering their medical train-
ing services. Pam Merkin, 66, a registered nurse from Houston
who’s sailed with Royal 34 times, says she volunteered because
“I believe with my medical background I could give useful
feedback regarding cleaning and PPE protocol.”
New York nurse Marino-Ramos also has firsthand
knowledge on her side. She was on a ship in the Caribbean
when New Rochelle was cited as a pandemic hot spot. “My
husband and I looked at each other and knew we felt safer on
the ship than going back home,” she says. Now she expects
test cruises to include social distancing, mask-wearing, order-
ing food from smart devices, and other measures. “It’s what
we have done all around in our town, but on a ship.”
Matt Hochberg, 38, a cruise industry reporter who closely
follows Royal on his unofficial Royal Caribbean Blog, thinks
the whole gambit could be a mirage and wonders if the com-
pany’s move was an elaborate publicity stunt. Instead of
citizen volunteers, he suspects that the line will populate
its test cruises primarily with land-based Royal employees
and travel agents—the same friendly audience typically on
shakedown cruises for new ships. And yet, Hochberg vol-
unteered anyway. “I signed up immediately,” he says. “I fig-
ured, why not?” (Michael Bayley, president and CEO of Royal
Caribbean International, says the company’s sign-up pro-
gram stemmed from high demand that was coming in over
social media and email.)
David Chipping, 64, is also taking the opportunity with a
dose of nonchalance. A business executive with residences
in Miami and London who’s been on more than 150 Royal
cruises, he says he’d even play-act in a simulation. “I wanted
to do anything I could to assist them in a return to the seas,”
he says of his decision to sign up. “If I am asked to drink at
a bar and be that difficult cruiser, then I will. They need to
test procedures under both controlled and ‘normal’ circum-
stances.I am very versatile.”