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.