CDC gives Celebrity Cruises the green light to sail in June

(Image credit: Sebastien Salom Gomis/AFP via Getty Images)

published 27 May 2021

U.S. cruise ships have been docked for the last 15 months because of the coronavirus pandemic, but with the blessing of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Celebrity Edge will set sail from Fort Lauderdale on June 26.

"For the past 15 months our conversations with friends and loved ones about seeing the world have been accompanied by the phrase 'someday,'" Celebrity Cruises President and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo said in a statement. "I'm beyond proud and excited to say that day has arrived."

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The Celebrity Edge will head to the Caribbean, with reduced capacity. All crew members and U.S. passengers 16 and over must be vaccinated, Celebrity Cruises said, and the company promised there will be "more space — and more luxury — in all restaurants and venues." The cruise industry was crushed by the pandemic, and Congress approved a bill that will allow cruise lines to travel to Alaska this summer without stopping in Canada, a usual requirement, the Post reports.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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