Editor's Note: This piece was originally published on April 30, 2021. As of June 17, 2021, the CCD lowered its risk assessment for cruising from Level 4 (very high) to Level 3 (high) and further emphasized the importance of getting vaccinated prior to travel. It's latest statement reads: "Travelers who are not fully vaccinated should avoid travel on cruise ships, including river cruises, worldwide."
After continued calls for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to allow cruise travel to resume from the U.S. as soon as possible, the government agency finally gave a glimmer of hope for resumption starting this July.
“Over the past month, senior leadership from the CDC has met twice weekly with representatives from cruise lines to discuss the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO),” according to a statement from the CDC. “Within these meetings, participants asked questions and discussed the fastest path back to sailing without compromising safety. Today, in response to the industry’s feedback, the CDC announced five key clarifications with the existing CSO framework.”
While the hope from many industry insiders, including Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., was a lifting of the CSO in its entirety, the following five revised rules do make it easier for the cruise industry to resume soon:
First, ships may now bypass simulated voyages and move directly to open-water sailing with passengers if a ship attests that 95% (recently changed from 98% as originally defined) of its crew and 95% of its passengers are fully vaccinated.
In addition, the CDC announced that it would review and respond to applications for simulated voyages within five days, down from the anticipated 60-day waiting period. This puts cruise ships closer to open-water sailings sooner.
The CDC will update its testing and quarantine requirements for passengers and crew to closely align with its guidance for fully vaccinated persons. Fully vaccinated individuals no longer need to undergo Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing (NAAT); they may now take a simple viral test (NAA or antigen) upon embarkation. This testing change is for the restricted revenue sailings in the fourth phase of the CSO.
When it comes to ports, the CDC clarified that cruise ship operators may enter into a multi-port agreement (as opposed to a single-port agreement), provided that relevant port and local health authorities are signatories to the agreement. Such multi-port agreements may be particularly suitable if one port has limited medical or housing capacity and a nearby port is able to supplement these capacities.
Finally, on the topic of quarantine housing, the CDC clarified guidance on ventilation systems and the ability for local passengers to quarantine at home if they are within driving distance.
The Vaccination Requirement Question
Most cruise lines have already stipulated that vaccinations will be mandated of passengers and crew, at least to a large degree (and in some cases, for everyone onboard). But some have stopped short.
In particular, the question of vaccines directly affects children younger than 12. Specifically, if those under 12 are not yet approved to take a COVID-19 vaccine, will they be unable to board a cruise from the U.S.? It would appear that families with young kids could still cruise, provided it’s on a vessel that conducted the aforementioned simulated voyages.
In fact, several cruise lines are beginning to get CDC approval to conduct such simulations, including Royal Caribbean International, which recently released a statement:
“After 15 months of hard work and collaboration, today’s approval of our simulated cruises is the latest promising step in our path to return to sailing in the U.S. We look forward to welcoming our crew, loyal guests and supporters from around the world this summer.”
The latest brand to receive similar approval is Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line aboard its Grand Classica.
Exact Timeline and Additional Details
Even with the remaining hurdles, the industry response to the new CDC guidance is mostly positive. As to when cruising from the U.S. might officially start to move forward, the CDC’s statement pointed to summer:
“CDC remains committed to the resumption of passenger operations in the United States following the requirements in the CSO by mid-summer, which aligns with the goals announced by many major cruise lines and travelers. CDC looks forward to continued engagement with the industry and urges cruise lines to submit Phase 2A port agreements as soon as possible to maintain the timeline of passenger voyages by mid-July.”
However, optimism waned on May 5 when the CDC issued additional details about what is
required to conduct simulated voyages (Phase 2B) and how to obtain a conditional
sailing certification (Phase 3) before regular guests can sail on
“restricted passenger voyages” (Phase 4). This technical guidance
arrived more than half a year after the
conditional sailing order was originally issued in October 2020.
On that path, Carnival Cruise Line has announced that the CDC has granted earlier Phase 2A port agreements for Port of Galveston in Texas and PortMiami and Port Canaveral in Florida, where the brand plans to first operate sailings from the U.S.
“These agreements move us one step closer to sailing with our loyal guests,” said Lars Ljoen, executive Vice President and chief maritime officer for Carnival Cruise Line, in a press release. “We appreciate the support from not just these three homeport partners, but all of our homeports, that are eager to have us back as soon as possible.”
Further down the line, the stipulations of simulated
voyages
include but are not limited to the testing of embarkation and disembarkation
procedures, onboard recreational activities, medical evacuations, isolation and
quarantine (on the ship and off), port tours, mask use and physical distancing
onboard and onshore, even at private islands.
Of course, aforementioned vaccination
standards would allow cruise lines to bypass the simulated voyages, obtain
conditional sailing certification and head straight into operating restricted
passenger voyages.
Additionally, as expected, any
self-serve food or beverage options also need to be removed. And although face
coverings are not required when inside one’s own cabin nor in pools, they are
still mandated at most other times. During dining, masks can only be removed
when briefly eating or drinking, as “removal of the mask for
extended meal service or beverage consumption would constitute a violation of
this Order,” according to the CDC.
The latest guidance, however,
eases most restrictions for fully vaccinated travelers. In regards to face
coverings, inoculated passengers can forgo masks and physical distancing in many areas, including during extended meal service or beverage consumption, which now further permits the return of self-serve buffets. And when onshore, vaccinated guests can take self-guided or independent tours. Additionally, it is now only
a recommendation that those not vaccinated be prohibited
from such independent exploration on land.
In a press release, the CDC said it does not anticipate releasing any
additional documentation regarding Phase 4.
“Instead, CDC will be updating
online documents to incorporate changes to quarantine, testing, color status
and lessons learned from simulated voyages,” the statement read.
Among the further loosening of the CDC order is its pre- and post-cruise COVID-19 testing requirements. Neither embarking nor disembarking passengers who are vaccinated need to receive a test. This is also true of those vaccinated guests on back-to-back sailings. However, viral (NAAT or antigen) testing is still mandated for unvaccinated passengers.
As for protocols locally and abroad, Dondra Ritzenthaler, Celebrity Cruises’ senior Vice President of sales, trade support and service, has indicated that its fully vaccinated passengers will not be required to wear masks onboard, as confirmed for sailings in the Caribbean departing from Florida, as well as St. Maarten. Other regional measures in Greece and the U.K. take precedence.
By contrast, Windstar Cruises plans to still mandate face coverings and other measures on its own fully vaccinated cruises from St. Maarten, at least for now, according to a statement from the line:
“Windstar operates internationally and must follow national and regional regulations and guidance for where our ships are operating, which may differ at times from U.S. and CDC guidance. The health and well-being of our guests, crew, land-based employees and the communities we visit remains a top priority. As a result, Windstar Cruises will continue to require masks, testing and exploration ashore only on Windstar approved shore excursions.”
In either case, Michelle Fee, founder and CEO of Cruise Planners, added her enthusiasm for national options. "We are truly encouraged that we will have ships sailing out of U.S. ports this summer," she said. "With the ongoing communications between the cruise lines, the CDC and the White House, we feel a resolution for safe cruising can be found. As travel advisors, we know there are thousands of people just waiting for the good news that they can sail from a U.S. port very soon."
Fee further indicated that future sales are looking positive, particularly that departures for 2022 are already nearing 60% higher than the franchise’s 2019 levels.
“Ultimately, I am excited about a sense of a return to normalcy for my clients, my family and my community,” said Russ Russel, a Cruise Planners franchise owner in Texas. “Everyone has had the desire to go building up for the past 15 months. Finally there is real hope and a sense of security as updates from the CDC, newly enacted federal legislation and more available options from the cruise lines are becoming available daily.”
Until then, Charles Sylvia, vice president of industry and trade relations for Cruise Lines International Association, encourages travel agents and industry
insiders to take action by going to the association’s action center and asking lawmakers to prioritize the responsible resumption
of cruise travel from the U.S. by this summer.
As he puts it in a recent tweet, “do
not let up the pressure until you see those ships departing U.S. ports with
your own eyes.”
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