Carnival Cruise Line said Friday that the cruise giant will now be able to lift some pandemic-era restrictions for passengers as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reduces some of the requirements for cruise passengers amid heightened COVID-19 vaccination rates.

The cruise line said that the changes will be made in phases, and they include:

• No pre-cruise testing requirements for those passengers who are fully vaccinated and are on cruises lasting five nights or less
• For passengers with cruises lasting six nights or longer, passengers can test up to 3 days before departing on their trip with Carnival.
• Unvaccinated guests will not be able to access in-terminal testing on their departure day
• Guests 2-years-old and older will need to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test that is lab-administered or a supervised self-administered antigen COVID-19 test that was taken at least 3 days before departing on the cruise.

Carnival said in an announcement that the first changes will be made starting on Aug. 4, focusing on cruise itineraries that are 5 nights or less.

For passengers who need to keep up-to-date on changes with their cruise, Carnival asks that they go to their webpage, which will continue to be updated as needed.

GALVESTON, Tx. — People are hungry to see their towns come back to life with summer travelers, and now that cruises are starting to sail again over the holiday weekend, it seems travel is fully back on.

If you visit Galveston, Texas, it’s easy to see: summer vacation is in full swing, even before the cruises take off.

“Right now, it’s just packed. It's wall-to-wall people,” said the Port of Galveston CEO Rodger Rees.

Travelers are enjoying and family businesses are thriving.

“I don't even know how this place can get any busier, but I think it's going to be great,” said Gracie Bassett, who runs Gracie’s gift shop with her family.

“My parents have had Gracie’s for 24 years, and they've been in retail for 29 years,” said Bassett. “I've just grown up in the store.”

They worried COVID-19 would cut this family legacy short, but this stop for trinkets and treasures never went quiet.

“Because Galveston is so close to Houston, it's one of the fourth largest cities in the country. People were able to drive, and they just wanted to get away from the craziness of COVID, so they'd come to the beach,” said Bassett.

Her family has been so busy, they were able to expand and open a second shop right down the street. But, the success here is a stark contrast to the emptiness just blocks away.

“From the cruise business standpoint, we really we really have been injured,” said Rees. “We've, we lost about $44 million in revenues over the last 16 months.”

Galveston’s biggest attraction has been docked for more than a year. The businesses supporting the cruise industry almost sunk, too.

“We were always sitting idle and that was really hard on us,” said Jason Hayes, who owns several cruise parking lots in Galveston.

The business he’s built with his mom since 2003 barely survived. He said he’s always saved money for a rainy day and was thankful he could lean on that over the last year.

“We didn't turn off our Comcast. We didn't stop our insurance on our buses,” said Hayes. “We kept paying our bills. If we have known that we're going to be out of business for 16 months, you know, I probably would have sold my buses.”

But this man, much like this town, lives and breathes cruising. He even got married on a ship.

“That's what we do. That's who we are. We're cruise ship parking family,” said Hayes.

That love kept his hope alive that the ships would return.

“We can feel it. It's in the air. People are gearing up. People are calling. People are excited,” said Hayes.

Cruises are set to take off all throughout July, with more ships docking in Galveston in the months ahead.

But, this time off from cruising showed travelers across the nation: there’s more here than just a port.

“What proves that is when you go out and see the cars and you see Oklahoma, you see Michigan, you see Kansas, you see Iowa,” said Rees, of the tourists here from different states coming just to enjoy the beach.

“Galveston is so rich in history and it's a little bit like, you know, a small New Orleans, it's got a lot of character. So, you know, there's a lot of upside potential here,” said Rees.

Because even when the cruises come back, these families still want travelers to come and stay in the place they call home.

Related video above: First cruise ship since pandemic is set to depart Venice

The first major cruise ship open to North Americans since the industry paused over a year ago due to the coronavirus pandemic set sail on Sunday.

Celebrity Millennium, part of the Celebrity Cruises line owned by Royal Caribbean Group, sailed from Philipsburg, St. Maarten with paying passengers on Saturday at 10:30 p.m. Royal Caribbean has not held cruises since March 2020.

"Today, we sail, again! This is such a significant moment for our company, our industry and the Caribbean. That this day has finally arrived for our guests and our crew is truly special — beyond words, really," Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, President and CEO of Celebrity Cruises, said in a statement. "What an honor to now be the first to enthusiastically say, once again — 'Welcome Aboard!'"

The 7-day cruise from St. Maarten will include port stops in Barbados, Aruba and Curacao.

About 500 passengers are on board, over 95% who are fully vaccinated. Children who could not yet receive vaccinations were required to show negative COVID-19 tests.

All ship crew members are also fully vaccinated.

"More than 80% of our passengers said they would prefer to sail on a ship with fully vaccinated people," Colleen McDaniel, the editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic who is aboard Celebrity Millennium, told CNN. "It's like traveling in a bubble."

"This is the first big ship sailing in the Caribbeans so it feels pretty special," she added. "The energy and excitement is here is so powerful. The crew is so eager to have people finally on board. So many people were clapping, you can tell this finally feels normal again and it's making everyone very happy."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that for cruise lines to recommence sailing in U.S. waters, they must either complete "trial" cruises to replicate real-world cruising conditions, or comply with the CDC vaccination requirements.

Celebrity Cruises has opted for the latter, which involves submitting an attestation to the CDC stating "that 95% of crew (excluding any newly embarking crew in quarantine) are fully vaccinated and submit to CDC a clear and specific vaccination plan and timeline to limit cruise ship sailings to 95% of passengers who have been verified by the cruise ship operator as fully vaccinated prior to sailing."

While the ship usually sails from a port in the U.S., it is sailing from St. Maarten because there are still a number of hoops cruise lines have to pass through with the CDC to be allowed to sail.

However, Celebrity Edge is poised to be the first major cruise ship to sail from the United States in June 2021. This re-inaugural Celebrity cruise will depart from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on June 26, with all crew and all passengers over the age of 16 required to show proof they have been fully vaccinated before boarding.

And that regulation won't be going away — after August 1, the vaccination rule will expand to include travelers over the age of 12.