100,000 people have volunteered for Royal Caribbean’s ‘mock cruise’

The programme only launched last week, with no definite sailing date

100,000 people have volunteered for Royal Caribbean’s mock cruises (Getty Images)

Royal Caribbean’s president and CEO Michael Bayley has revealed that 100,000 people have signed up to volunteer for the company’s “mock cruise” programme since it launched last Thursday.

Writing on his public Facebook page, Mr Bayley said: "And just like that...100,000 people have volunteered. We can’t wait to start this next phase with you all!”

“Mock cruises” are trial sailings with volunteer guests that will demonstrate the effectiveness of Covid-19 health and safety measures on board ships.

It’s part of a series of steps mandated by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to get the cruise industry going again in America. At the moment, there’s still no clear date for when cruises might resume from the US.

Mr Bayley unveiled the mock cruise programme on 12 November, writing in a public Facebook post: “As many know from reading the CDC conditional sale order we will be operating trial sailings with volunteer guests. It has been so gratifying to receive literally thousands of emails and calls offering to volunteer.

“To make things easier and keep everyone up to speed, we’ve set up a Volunteers of the Seas group! Here you'll find out all the next steps and can sign up to learn more.”

The group now has over 42,000 members.

Mr Bayley later revealed that Royal Caribbean received tens of thousands of volunteers within hours, with 100,000 by the early hours of 16 November.

Volunteers for the mock cruise, who must be over 18, would get to sail for free and could potentially travel with friends and family.

It’s likely that the first sailings will be cruises to nowhere, with the ship departing and returning to the same port without any passengers disembarking during the trip.

There are no set dates for when the mock cruises might take place in the US, as Royal Caribbean is still working with the CDC to finalise the details.

However, the cruise line has already begun a series of three to four day cruises to nowhere from Singapore.

The round-trips won’t have any stopovers, with passengers able to enjoy the facilities on board and take in any sights from afar, but required to remain on the ship the entire time.

To ensure sailings are safe, these pilot cruises, launched in November, will operate at 50 per cent capacity and be open only to Singapore residents.

The Singapore Tourist Board has developed a mandatory CruiseSafe certification that companies must adhere to, setting out stringent hygiene and safety measures.

These include mandatory Covid-19 tests for passengers prior to boarding; strict cleaning and sanitisation protocols onboard; ensuring 100 per cent fresh air throughout the ship; setting up onboard measures to discourage close contact and inter-mingling between groups; and emergency response plans for Covid-19-related incidents.