It appears crew members now have the choice of wearing a face mask or not on cruise ships.

According to select crew members, Royal Caribbean has changed the policy so that it is up to the crew members to decide if they want to wear a face mask or not.

“The decision to wear a mask or not is up to the crew member,” is what crew members are being advised via email as it pertains to “front of the house areas”.  The phrase “front of the house” refers to places on the ship where guests are present, as opposed to backstage areas.

Crew members will have the choice to wear a mask in:

• Crew areas
• Crew member offices & meetings
• Hot working areas (galley, engine room)
• Guest areas
• Mixed inside/outside dining venues (bar counters, Johnny Rockets, Playmakers)
• Outside: Private islands

The new guidance also says if a crew member decides not to wear a mask, they no longer need to wear the “smile behind the mask” buttons either.

It’s not clear if the policy applies to certain locales, such as Singapore.

Masking for crew members may return as required should a ship deem it necessary based on internal factors the cruise line decides on.

Since the restart of cruises, mask-wearing requirements were common on cruise ships through much of 2021 and into early 2022.

While Royal Caribbean removed face mask rules for guests back in February 2022, crew members have been required to wear masks up until now.

Matching other forms of leisure travel

he entire cruise industry has been steadily moving its health protocols back towards a sense of normalcy in an attempt to match cruise ship protocols with that of leisure travel on land.

In April 2022, the mask mandate was removed for flight attendants as well as passengers. Walt Disney World removed its requirement for cast members to wear masks in February 2022.

Guest reaction

The change has been met warmly by cruise ship guests, who did not understand why the rules remained so different for crew members compared to passengers for months.

Some guests have been vocal about wanting Royal Caribbean to change the rule to make things the same for crew.

GKMCruising joked on the Royal Caribbean Blog message boards, “I told our Cruise Director that it’s just a shame you can’t have a fire onboard, crew should have a massive mask bonfire on the helipad.”

WAAAYTOOO simply wrote, “Hallelujah!”

RGThibs on responded on Twitter, “Happy to see the crew have the option.  Love to see their smile!!”

Do I have to wear face mask on a cruise?

For nearly all sailings, face masks are not required by passengers on Royal Caribbean cruise ships.

For sailings departing the U.S., Puerto Rico, Barbados, Canada, Europe & Israel, masks are optional for vaccinated guests and recommended for unvaccinated guests while onboard.

Face masks were a very visible and divisive protocol on cruise ships, but crew members were pretty much the last people on a ship required by the cruise line to wear them.