The most recent ban on cruise lines is expected to remain in effect until November 1st at the earliest.
What We Know:
- The Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) actions arrive after they extended their previous “No Sail Order” on cruise ships went into effect last year in July. The mandate includes all cruise ships carrying more than 250 passengers and was supposed to stay in place through September 2020. The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) remains critical of the CDC and claim it hasn’t issued any additional guidance after the initial “No Sail Order”. The order was originally intended to help the cruise industry incorporate safety measures that would allow operations to continue.
- Amidst the pandemic, the CDC is requiring cruise companies to come up with their own plans to deal with COVID-19. The plans must be detailed and specific before becoming subject to review by the CDC and U.S Coast Guard. CLIA argues that the CDC’s current stance on cruise operations did not reflect the accelerated rollout of vaccines or cruise operator’s safety advancements. They believe that the previous mandate is outdated and does not reflect the industry’s success of operating in other parts of the world.
- Shares of cruise operators Carnival Corp, Royal Caribbean Cruises, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings fell in afternoon trading.
“Cruise lines should be treated the same as other travel, tourism, hospitality and entertainment sectors,” asserts Kelly Craighead. Craighead was appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer of the CLIA in 2019.
- As of now, cruising is the only sector in the American economy that remains shut down due to the coronavirus epidemic. The CLIA further asserts that reopening cruise lines in July would align with President Joe Biden’s plan to have things “back to normal” by July 4th. International cruise lines have already resumed operations in other parts of the world including Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific.
- In response to CLIA’s criticism, CDC spokesperson Caitlin Shockey said in a statement that, “Returning to passenger cruising is a phased approach to mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19”. Several cruise lines have revealed that they will require passengers and crew to be vaccinated in order to travel. Royal Caribbean cruises recently announced a fully vaccinated seven-night cruise due to set sail from Cyprus and Greece. The current protocols for the trip state that all persons over 18 years must be vaccinated while those under 18 must show a negative test result.
The CDC is facing pressure from a variety of different avenues and hopefully can offer a more concrete timeline on when cruises may set sail from the United States again.
