As a reaction to the situation with COVID and the fast spreading of the Omicron variant, RCI-Royal Caribbean decided to voluntarily pause all new bookings for cruises scheduled through January 10, 2022.
With the proactive effort, the line limits the onboard capacity while still providing safe cruises to already booked guests.
An RCI spokesperson said that cruises departing through early January 2022 were unavailable to new reservations because their ships would continue sailing with a limited capacity to accommodate physical distancing.
"These sailings were removed from our website as we’ve done with previous cruises in 2021.”
In a further explanation, it is said the affected cruise ships would set sail as planned, only with the passengers that booked cruises by now, no further bookings will be offered for those sailings.
This is a new moment in the tightening of the measures, including promoting frequent mask-wearing, changing COVID testing protocols, banning smoking in the casinos, etc.