First cruise ship sails from United States in more than 15 months

Cruise ships are officially sailing again from the United States.

After 15 months, Celebrity Edge departed Port Everglades on Saturday, after receiving approval by the CDC to be the first ship back in the water, having met all new standards for providing a healthy and safe cruise experience for its guests and crew.

Edge’s seven night cruise will sail for three days in the Western Caribbean waters before making stops in Costa Maya, Cozumel and Nassau. 

All Celebrity ships will sail with a vaccinated crew. U.S. guests ages 16 and older must be fully vaccinated and, as of August 1, 2021, all U.S. guests ages 12 and older must be fully vaccinated. In Florida, vaccinations are strongly recommended.

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman Richard Fain celebrated cruising's return, "this is the first cruise and it's just one cruise, but it's the start of something huge."

Celebrity Cruises’ President and CEO, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, was equally excited to have a ship return, "Today marks the rebirth of our company and our industry, as our beautiful Celebrity Edge sets sail on a new-luxury experience that will - once again - feed peoples’ love of travel."

Edge is the third ship in Celebrity's fleet to restart cruising. Celebrity Millennium began sailing from St. Maarten, and Celebrity Apex began cruises from Athens, Greece.

Celebrity Silhouette will begin sailing from Southampton, UK beginning July 3 and offer stunning cruises of the British Isles and coastline.  

Beginning July 4, the luxurious, state-of-the-art mega-yacht, Celebrity Flora, will resume sailing the magical Galapagos Islands. She will be followed soon after by the award-winning Celebrity Xpedition and intimate 16-passenger Celebrity Xploration on July 24, and September 18, respectively. 

And, Celebrity’s long-awaited return to the incomparable natural wonders of Alaska begin July 23.