Carnival Panorama begins its first sail in 17 months to Mexico

The coronavirus pandemic halted a number of cruises across the globe as a safety measure. But as the restrictions across the nations started to ease, the travel industry is also slowly trying its best to recover. The Carnival Panorama, cruise started off from Port of Long Beach on August 21, 2021 and is heading towards the Mexican Riviera. The cruise became the first to depart from California in 17 months.

Carnival Panorama has kicked off its seven day journey and in between the final destination, it will be stopping by at the Mexican ports of Cabo San Lucas and Mazatlan. The majestic Carnival Panorama was launched in 2019. The entire cruise industry was severely affected due to the coronavirus pandemic. A number of passengers and crew members had tested positive for COVID-19 after which some of the ships had to be returned from the ports. Ever since then the sector has faced harsh arguments with the U.S Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency has said that the cruise sector will have to oblige with the health requirements before it resumes sailing in the U.S. waters.

However, the company has said that its operational protocols exceed the recommendations by the CDC. Some of the recommendations include fully vaccinated employees and a negative COVID-19 test for all the passengers. Even the passengers will have to be vaccinated but it would be making a few exemptions in certain cases. For instance children who are under the age of 12 can be excluded. However, those who are not vaccinated will have to follow some strict precautions as per the COVID-19 guest protocol laid down by Carnival.

Last week, nearly 27 people had tested positive for COVID-19 before it made a stop at Belize City, Belize. People who tested positive included 26 crew members and one passenger. It had a total of 1400 crew and 3000 passengers. All people who tested positive were fully vaccinated.

Photo Credits: Pixabay