The cruise ship industry is a step closer to reopening. The first simulated voyage has set sail from Miami.

This is the next step before a full restart of cruise operations.

Onboard, the cruise line welcomed employee volunteers for a two-day trip to Royal Caribbean's private island, CocoCay.

"It's been a long 15 months, and we're really excited to get back to cruising again and get started. This is a great way for us to do that with a simulated sailing, to work with our employees and volunteers and guests to really try out all of our protocols to make sure that they're working and ensure kind of a seamless transition to revenue voyages," said Laura Hodges Bethge, senior vice president of Shared Services Operation at Royal Caribbean Group.

Six hundred passengers were onboard Freedom of the Seas for the test sailing, which set sail Sunday at 7 p.m. from Port Miami. The simulation is necessary per CDC guidelines which state that cruises that do not require vaccination of all passengers must hold test sailings.

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