Last week, Royal Caribbean put forward plans for a “test voyage” which will aim to test out new measures in place to combat the spread of coronavirus onboard its ships.
So far, the trial has reportedly attracted more than 100,000 volunteers eager to step onboard.
Cruise experts have “applauded” and “encouraged” the move, and believe it will be a huge help in “restoring consumer confidence” and getting cruises back to sea as early as next year.
“It’s encouraging to see Royal Caribbean taking a proactive approach to risk management,” Lloyd Figgins, chairman of the Travel Risk & Incident Prevention Group (TRIP), told Express.co.uk.
“Despite some high profile cases of COVID-19 outbreaks on ships, the cruise industry has long had some of the most rigorous hygiene standards within the travel and tourism sector.
“This initiative comes off the back of the Centre of Disease Control (CDC) requiring cruise lines to demonstrate that they can deal effectively with potential future outbreaks onboard their ships.”