The ship was supposed to have its first cruise on July 3. Now, that's pushed back to July 31.
The inaugural launch of the Odyssey of the Seas will set sail on July 31 instead of July 3. A test cruise scheduled for June has also been postponed.
The decision was made after 8 crew members on the Odyssey of the Seas tested positive for COVID-19. Two of the eight crew members who are sick have mild symptoms. The others are asymptomatic.
All crew members aboard the ship were vaccinated on June 4th, which means no crew members will have full immunity against the virus until this Friday.
In a statement on President Michael Bayley’s Facebook page, he says guests will be notified of this scheduling change.
Bayley says, “While disappointing, this is the right decision for the health and well-being of our crew and guests.”
He says all crew members on the Odyssey of the Seas will undergo a 14-day quarantine and routine COVID-19 testing.
