Businessweek
Cruise Fanatics Eagerly Volunteer to Test Virus Protocols Aboard Ships
More than 250,000 have signed up for a Royal Caribbean program that might still be months away.
Photo Illustration: 731; Photos: Getty Images
When Royal Caribbean International announced it was looking for volunteers to help test its post-pandemic health and safety protocols, Melody Wiggins was among the first to sign up.
“No matter where [they] want me to be, I’m there,” says Wiggins, 58, a life coach from Southern California who calls the 4,180-passenger Anthem of the Seas her “home away from home.” After she fell in love with cruising in 2018, she’s been on 16 voyages—several of them on the Anthem. Her obsession is a straightforward romance with ocean views, sunrises at sea, and the smell of salt breezes. “I miss all of that,” she says.