PORT ST. MAARTEN – Celebrity Cruises has announced that its canceling cruise calls scheduled for August and September out of Miami for the Celebrity Summit cruise ship. For destination St. Maarten, the August 28 call is cancelled.
This is to ensure alignment with guidance provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has currently advised any ship returning to the U.S. after having traveled in international waters may not sail with guests onboard for at least 14-days which is a regulation that is part of the Conditional Sail Order (CSO) from the CDC.
The 14-day quarantine period for the Summit will allow the vessel to meet the requirements of the CSO in order to sail out of U.S. ports. 95 per cent of cruise ship guests and crew must be fully vaccinated. The Celebrity Summit is expected to start sailing out of Port Miami from September 16.
Port management said the homeporting operations carried out by Celebrity Millennium and Celebrity Summit were beyond expectations inside the revamped and restrengthened terminal at the Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise & Cargo Facilities in Point Blanche.
“The collaboration and discussions with the airport also allowed smooth passengers movement to and from the airport. Despite this development which is beyond our control, Windstar Cruises Star Breeze is currently still homeporting from the destination.
“Star Clipper Cruises and Seabourn will commence homeporting in November through 2022. These are smaller cruise lines; however, they do generate business for the country, and we are looking forward to catering to them in November.
“There’s great potential for other lines to homeport out of St. Maarten, and a new cruise brand is showing great interests. We are reviewing all variables and are working towards bringing this business to the Port once the ship is launched,” Port St. Maarten Management said on Thursday.
