RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line plans to conduct a simulate sailing later this month after receiving approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday.
A small, private group of pre-selected, fully vaccinated passengers will join fully vaccinated crew members onboard Grand Classica, departing June 25 for a two-night round-trip cruise from the Port of Palm Beach to Grand Bahama Island.
The sailing will including dining, entertainment, leisure activities and shore excursions.
The closed-group test cruise will include a full evaluation of Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line’s cleanliness and safety protocol.
The cruise line, as well as other providers, are following CDC’s Framework for Conditional Sailing Order.
Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line plans to resume sailing July 2 and is currently accepting bookings on its website.
Before the pandemic, the cruise line had two ships, but Grand Celebration was sold for scrap during the pandemic.
Previously, Disney Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean received approval to conduct simulated voyages. Also, Carnival has been approved to begin sailing from three U.S. ports at Port Canaveral, PortMiami and Port of Galveston in Texas. The company plans to begin service in Miami and Galveston in July with no date set for the port in Brevard County.
Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Edge cruise ship, owned by the Royal Caribbean Group, announced plans to depart Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale on June 26, the first ship to sail from U.S. waters in more than one year.
Norwegian Cruise Line has not received approval from the CDC yet.
Some cruises lines have announced plans to require fully vaccinate passengers and crew but that policy conflicts with Florida law barring businesses in the state from requiring people to show proof they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.