Bermuda Drops Vaccine Mandate
Bermuda announced on Friday that as of August 22, it is dropping its vaccination mandate for visitors. Previously, travelers 12 and older had to be vaccinated or have a medical exemption to enter the territory.
To travel to Bermuda, unvaccinated or not, cruise passengers will be required to submit in their travel authorization application both a valid pre-arrival test and proof of overseas travel health insurance.
Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian have been calling to the island on a regular basis throughout the summer.
STORY: Bermuda Drops Vaccine Mandate For Visitors
Proposed Law Would Limit Speed of Cruise Ships at Port Canaveral
Complete federal overreach that poses multiple safety hazards, that’s what some are saying about a new whale law that would seasonally limit the speed of large vessels to 10 knots.
One of Florida’s ports in the new zone is Port Canaveral, and they are pushing back in the name of maritime safety.
Port CEO Captain John Murray said, “When ships come up the channel, they sometimes have to exceed 10 knots in order to maintain safe steerageway making the turn into the harbor.”
The new zone extends from Central Florida up the entire east coast, limiting speeds at certain times of the year.
NOAA reported 51 whale strikes in Canada and New England since 2017.
Norwegian Joy Makes Inaugural Call to Port Canaveral
Norwegian Joy made its inaugural call to central Florida earlier this week.
In keeping with maritime tradition, Captain John Murray, CEO of Port Canaveral, presented a welcome plaque to the officers and crew of Norwegian Joy.
Joy is based out of NYC and will be stopping in Port Canaveral several times over the upcoming season on cruises the Bahamas, Bermuda, and the Caribbean.
Joy was built for the Chinese market, but in 2019 was repositioned to North America after a $50 million dry dock over softening demand in the Asian market.