Belize is preparing to welcome Carnival Vista, operated by Carnival Cruise Line, to Belize City on July 7, 2021. The ship will embark from Galveston, Texas and will be the first ship to call on Belize since the suspension of cruise industry in the region over a year ago. As the Belize Tourism Board outlined in their release, this is encouraging news for thousands of Belizeans that work in the tourism sector who are looking forward to welcoming cruise guests to our shores once again.
95% Vaccinated Passengers and Crew
Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson receives her second dose of Covid-19 vaccine (Office of the Premier)
The health and safety of Belizeans and visitors is paramount as cruise tourism resumes. Carnival Vista will operate with at least 95 percent of its passengers and all of its crew having been vaccinated, and there will be rigorous protocols in place for disembarking passengers. The health and safety protocols that were recently released by the Belize Tourism Board (BTB) will guide the restart of cruise operations in Belize. These protocols outline the necessary adjustments and adaptations to be undertaken at each step of the cruise cycle – from home port, to destination and return.
The Belize City cruise port, found inside the Belize Tourism Village.
Under these protocols, which adhere to the Centers for Disease Control guidelines, as this is a fully vaccinated ship a travel bubble will not be implemented. Cruise passengers will be allowed to go on both guided and self-guided tours and Gold Standard approved operations will be allowed to provide service to these passengers.
In order to ensure that the tourism sector is adequately prepared to provide a safe and secure experience for the passengers, crew and the destination, the BTB will offer online training sessions over the next few weeks.
Tourism industry stakeholders are encouraged to keep abreast of real time information on cruise ship calls to Belize Ports via the BTB Cruise App at https://www.btbcruiseapp.com/, as these are changing daily.
