Tensions continue to rise as the cruise industry fights for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to permit cruises from the U.S. to safely resume sailing. The government agency’s Conditional Sailing Order (CSO), issued last October, has yet to be rescinded or modified to permit cruise travel from U.S. shores.
Now, legal action by multiple U.S. governors (from Florida and Alaska) and senators (also from Florida and Alaska) is being taken against the CDC to help spur results, and the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) has also come out in support of Florida governor Ron DeSantis’ lawsuit.
“Despite more than 170 million vaccines administered, falling infection and mortality rates in most states, political inquiry and pressure, including a lawsuit from Florida’s Governor, the CDC has taken little substantive action and, by all appearances, maintains that cruising cannot be resumed safely,” said Zane Kerby, ASTA’s president and CEO, in a statement.
"We find the CDC’s position singling out cruising perplexing, given that nearly every other group activity one can envision — from attending sporting events to dining indoors in restaurants, to visiting movie theaters and gyms, not to mention traveling by air and staying in hotels — has already resumed safely with masking requirements and social distancing protocols in place.”
We find the CDC’s position singling out cruising perplexing, given that nearly every other group activity one can envision … has already resumed safely with masking requirements and social distancing protocols in place.
This week, after the senate reviewed U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Rick Scott’s (R-Fla.) Careful Resumption Under Improved Safety Enhancements (CRUISE) Act — which would overturn the CDC’s Conditional Sailing Order — it was initially rejected. Key to its opposition was senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who blocked the call to action.
“Cruise ships require specific focus and protocols in place to prevent future outbreaks,” Murray said. “While I am as eager as anyone else to see a return to travel, we cannot cut corners. Doing so risks lives and will only further delay returning to normal, hurting our economy more in the long run.”
“We must trust the science and we must allow the CDC to continue its work to help us return to what we love as safely as possible,” she added. “So, I will continue to work with the CDC and the administration as they develop the next phase of their cruising guidance, but for now, I object.”
Along with DeSantis, Alaska’s Governor, Mike Dunleavy, expressed his concerns and intent to pursue the resumption of cruising.
“The CDC’s arbitrary decision to stop cruise ships placed Alaska businesses and communities in jeopardy,” he said in a series of tweets. “Alaska has joined Florida in legal action to stop these destructive policies. Thank you, Senator Dan Sullivan, for pushing back on the CDC’s unfair halt of an Alaskan cruise ship season. We will continue to fight for this vital piece of Alaska’s tourism industry.”
In response to Dunleavy’s CDC pushback, as well as his endeavor to temporarily waive the Passenger Vessels Services Act to further allow cruises clear of Canada’s restrictions, the Alaska Travel Industry Association (ATIA) backed his efforts and remains optimistic.
“The tourism industry has pulled together like never before to make the most of the upcoming summer without large ship cruises, but there is just no way to replace more than a million travelers and the economic support those visitors bring to so many travel and tourism small businesses,” said Sarah Leonard, president and CEO of ATIA, in a press release. “Facing another year without large ships was going to mean loss of jobs and entire businesses, but with the Governor’s proposal to rescue the 2021 Alaska tourism season, there is hope.”
One small glimmer of such hope came recently when the CDC adjusted its technical instructions to rewrite the expectation that “disembarking and embarking passengers do not occupy the same enclosed or semi-enclosed areas (e.g., gangways, terminal waiting spaces, check-in areas)” from “within the same 12-hour period” to “the extent practicable” — no longer with restrictive timing.
In the meantime, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. has not heard back from the government organization regarding its proposal to securely restart voyages from the U.S. by July.
“It is frustrating that, to date, we have yet to receive even an acknowledgment of this proposal,” Frank Del Rio, president and CEO of Norwegian, said in a letter to Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC.
“Over the past year, we have worked tirelessly and invested heavily to create a path to resume cruise operations, including enlisting the guidance of the nation’s top scientific and public health experts,” he said in a press release. “We are confident that with our science-backed Sail Safe program, we will offer a uniquely safe and healthy vacation experience which protects our guests, crew and communities we visit.”
Norwegian believes that the CSO from October is both “impossible to operationalize” in its current form, and obsolete, with zero recognition of COVID-19 vaccines. Norwegian believes its exhaustive health and safety measures, including mandatory vaccinations for all guests and crew, establish a current actionable solution.
As the CDC continues to stall, cruise lines are increasingly taking business elsewhere, as several plan to resume voyages internationally, from Greece to the Caribbean. Carnival Corporation’s Seabourn Cruise Line was the latest to announce it will start sailing again from Barbados this summer, and vaccinated Americans are welcome to join.
Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, during a recent television interview
Credit: 2021 Carnival Cruise LineCarnival’s namesake Carnival Cruise Line brand, however, is hesitant to abandon its U.S. homeports.
“We really do not want to have to move our ships out of U.S. homeports,” said Carnival president Christine Duffy, in a recent television interview. “There are several cruise lines that have already begun doing that because, at some level, we will have no choice if we can’t gain clarity and alignment on what it will take to restart cruising from the U.S. What doesn’t make sense is that somebody can get on a plane, book a cruise out of the Caribbean for June, fly to that cruise, take the cruise and come right back into the U.S.”
What doesn’t make sense is that somebody can get on a plane, book a cruise out of the Caribbean for June, fly to that cruise, take the cruise and come right back into the U.S.
ASTA is equally dumbfounded by the CDC’s exclusionary treatment of cruising compared to other forms of travel, especially when most of the cruise industry has proposed returning with only inoculated passengers.
"The CDC announced that those who have been vaccinated are at low risk to spread infection and can resume domestic travel as long as they adhere to social distancing and masking protocols,” Kerby said. “Why this pronouncement applies to the 1.5 million airline passengers flying every day, but does not apply to those who would choose to cruise, is arbitrary and capricious. It is long past time for the CDC to issue the guidance needed to permit sailing to resume or rescind the order in its entirety.”
Always at the front of the association’s mind are travel agents, and the organization remains committed to fighting on their behalf.
“[About] 150,000 American travel advisors are the worldwide sales channel for the cruise industry,” Kerby said. “Accordingly, we stand with U.S. Senators Rubio, Scott, Murkowski and Sullivan and our partners at the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) urging immediate action, and express our support for the legal action being taken by Governor DeSantis to immediately rescind the CDC’s Conditional Sailing Order.”
Make Your Voice Heard
Travel agents wishing to have their voices heard by the Biden administration can reach out via CLIA’s action center.
The Details
American Society of Travel Advisors
www.asta.org
