The first Royal Caribbean cruise in more than six months has set sail from Singapore, filled with volunteers on a two-day voyage to test new COVID protocols and safety operations.
The cruise to nowhere, on board Quantum of the Seas, set sail on Saturday and will complete a two day loop with no port stops along the way.
Royal Caribbean lighting technician Riley Tench shared a sneak peak of the cruise with his Instagram followers late Saturday night and said it was amazing to be cruising with guests again.
Mr Tench shared footage of the Singapore harbour at night from onboard and said: “This is the first sailing of a ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet since the COVID shutdown. We are departing now, life is good”.
In an attempt to closely simulate what a regular cruise will be like in the months to come, entertainment has been included in the itinerary.
“We actually just finished running a show for a live audience of real people for the first time in months” Mr Tench said.
The lighting technician, who specialises in lighting, show control and video programming also said: “it feels amazing to be doing my job again”.
While it is unclear whether Royal Caribbean has selected volunteers from their 100,000 strong pool of volunteer applications, Mr Tench explained this cruise was taking place to iron out the fine details before paying customers can return on board.
Australia has not yet announced a detailed plan for the return of large cruise ships but Quantum of the Seas is still currently scheduled to arrive in Brisbane for the 2021-2022 wave season from early November.
The Royal Caribbean mega-ship has been updated to have improved ventilation, increased cleaning schedules, changes to the pool deck, activities and indoor spaces and dining as well as a re-vamped medical wing.
