Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and other major cruise lines are rolling back mask mandates aboard just 2 months after outbreaks

• Companies like Carnival Corp and Royal Caribbean Group have announced plans to ease face mask requirements.
• The CDC recently said cruises could ease mask requirements on vaccinated ships.

Several major cruise lines have announced plans to ease face mask requirements aboard ships.

Last week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its COVID-19 program for cruise ships sailing in the US. These refreshed guidelines now include the option to ease mask requirements throughout a ship as long as at least 95% of both crew and passengers are fully vaccinated. And luckily for the industry, many major cruise lines are already operating with strict vaccine mandates.

In response, Carnival Corp and Royal Caribbean Group have announced plans to ease mask mandates aboard cruise ships in the coming weeks, the companies told Insider. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings previously said it would be following suit as well, Reuters reported.

The easing of face-covering requirements will apply across the companies' cruise brands, which include their eponymous cruise lines, Celebrity Cruises, and Princess Cruises.

Specific masking guidelines will still vary per cruise line. For example, masks will be fully optional for all Royal Caribbean Group guests except children participating in Adventure Ocean youth programs. Similarly, Carnival may still require masks in "certain venues and events."

"The public health situation has continued to improve, providing confidence about these changes," Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line said in a press release.

The decision to rescind strict face-covering mandates is a testament to how quickly COVID-19-related health requirements can shift. Just two months prior, the same cruise lines tightened mask requirements amid a spike in the Omicron variant that began impacting almost every vessel in operation.