After a year of crippling losses, Carnival and Royal Caribbean said late last week their first post-pandemic cruises will set sail in July, after the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) earlier this month gave the green light to allow trips with passengers and crew who received Covid-19 vaccinations.

"We have been waiting for a very long time to announce a resumption of cruising from the US. We are so proud to be sailing for the first time in over a year from our special homeport of Seattle to the breathtaking state of Alaska," Harry Sommer, chief of Norwegian Cruise Line, said in a statement.