With nearly 1100 fully vaccinated passengers on board, the first post-COVID-19 pandemic cruise ship sailed away on Saturday from the United States. It is the first ship to sail away from a US port in 15 months after the coronavirus crisis began in 2020, AP reported. The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the US cruise industry that faced a $32 billion loss in 2020 alone.

However, the post-corona cruise, ‘Celebrity Edge’ left Florida’s Fort Lauderdale at 6 pm (ET). According to Celebrity Cruises, a Royal Caribbean Cruise brand said, “99% of the passengers onboard are vaccinated. This is well over the 95% requirement imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to AP, passengers were greeted by a giant wall greeting on one of the port buildings that said, “Someday is here. Welcome back.” They all wore matching T-shirts with happy phrases “straight outta vaccination” and “vaccinated and ready to cruise.”

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

The cruise will be led by captain Kate McCue, the first American woman to captain a cruise ship. McCue has more than one million followers on short video-creating platform TikTok.

“You can truly feel the palpable sense of excitement and energy amongst the group as we prepare for our welcoming of our first guests. I’ve never honestly seen a group so excited to get back to work,” McCue told AP.

Now, as the company received CDC clearance for the cruises to come, Royal Caribbean has several other voyages scheduled for Alaska, Florida and Texas in July and August.