DCL-Disney Cruise Line's ‘test sailing’ departs Port Canaveral FL on Disney Dream

   July 17, 2021 ,   Cruise Industry

DCL-Disney Cruise Line is expected to conduct a simulated voyage on Saturday, July 17, from Port Canaveral (Orlando, Florida) - part of the effort to resume sailing under the CDC's conditional sailing order.

This will mark the first test sailing from Port Canaveral, which said it expected others to follow before CCL-Carnival Cruise Line’s newest ship Mardi Gras on July 31 becomes the first paying-passenger cruise from the Port since the beginning of the Coronavirus crisis.

"Cast members" will board from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm for the simulated sailing.

DCL last month delayed its first test voyage, for 2 nights on Disney Dream, from Port Canaveral due to what it called "inconsistent COVID-19 test results." 

DCL has not yet announced when it will resume operations with paying passengers from ports in the USA.

Disney Dream cruise ship

CDC's conditional sailing order spells out phased guidelines on how the industry can resume U.S.-based operations amid the pandemic.

In May, the CDC took a step toward resuming U.S.-based voyages when it said cruise companies would be able to start trial cruises in US waters. Saying that it exceeded the Centers' requirement that 95% of cruisers be vaccinated, Celebrity Edge in June became the first cruise liner to leave a US port since the beginning of the pandemic.

The CDC recently asked a federal appeals court to intervene in the attempts to maintain its conditional sailing order on the USA's cruising industry.