Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Join Forces to Fight Coronavirus

In an effort to help ensure passenger safety, at least two major cruise companies are teaming up to create a safety-oriented panel.

USA Today.com reports that Royal Caribbean and Norweigan Cruise Line have created a task force to help the companies devise a solution for keeping passengers safe in the era of coronavirus. The so-called “Healthy Sail Panel” will perform a top-to-bottom review of cruise operations and propose changes that could he ensure passenger safety.

The panel has attracted some powerful names, including former Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Scott Gottlieb, and former Utah governor and Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt.

If one thing is certain it’s that the nature of cruising is likely to change.”We are not only looking at COVID, but we think there will be changes to the way people look at cruising altogether,” said Leavitt. But as of now the nature of those changes are not immediately clear as the panel has only met twice.

Currently, there are several potential proposals on the table, including using ultraviolet lights to kill coronavirus before it can infect people, and reorganizing ship operations to promote social distancing.