Tag Archives: CDC

The industry is prepping for a comeback. Where is the CDC?

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Cruise industry taps leading health experts for enhanced Covid-19 ...

MSC Cruise has put together a Blue ribbonCovid group to put in protocols for safety.

By Johanna Jainchill

The past week has seen major movement in the shaping of protocols around the resumption of cruising. Last week, the European Union released guidelines for the resumption of cruising. Yesterday, Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. revealed that they had assembled a panel to develop health and safety protocols for the industry to resume operations. MSC Cruises has put together a Blue Ribbon Covid Expert Group that will advise it on sanitation and health protocols.

What’s missing from all of these advancements is any word from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which will ultimately determine when large cruise ships can resume sailing from U.S. ports. The agency has said nothing about the cruise industry since updating its No Sail Order on April 9 to expire on July 24.

The cruise industry has not publicly said that the CDC is being uncooperative, but in a conversation with Travel Weekly last month, CLIA CEO Kelly Craighead praised Europe for enabling the industry to “participate in dialogue about thoughtful resumption protocols” but said that with the CDC it was “having some challenges with having that kind of engagement and dialogue with them.”

CLIA said it had been actively engaged in the development of the guidance published last week by the EU.

UBS analyst Robin Farley said in a note to investors in June that according to her sources, the reason CLIA announced a voluntary suspension of cruises through Sept. 15 is “likely so that [the] CDC would not have to extend its No Sail Order while negotiations continue.”

“It sounds like there needs to be an agreement with the CDC in place about 30 days before ships can restart,” Farley said.

However, Farley also said that according to Royal Caribbean Group management, the company “is in constant communication with the CDC in a constructive dialogue, and at this point, they are going back and forth with iterations of an agreement.”  And one of the co-chairs of the Royal/Norwegian panel, Mike Leavitt, a three-term governor of Utah and former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said that the CDC was “very pleased to know the panel was being proposed. We described the membership and told them how we were going to work and we pledged transparency and they received it warmly.”

But publicly, at least, the CDC has been quiet. And several industry stakeholders have privately said the CDC is being unresponsive and uncooperative with the industry. The CDC did not respond to outreach from a Travel Weekly reporter.

It has been suggested that the CDC has been hamstrung by the Trump administration, such as in a scathing New York Times report in June that detailed the CDC’s failures overall in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In one example of its shortcomings, the article cited the CDC’s No Sail order and reported that the CDC wanted the order to be indefinite, but that the White House intervened, and so the agency replaced it with the order the ends in July.

It’s not the only article on the agency’s failures: the Washington Post this week reported that the CDC’s mishandling of the coronavirus is similar to the mistakes it made with the Zika outbreak in 2016.

CLIA and the cruise industry may not want to rock the boat and cause any further delay, but given the fact that so many travel advisors depend on the ability to relaunch operations in the world’s No. 1 cruise market, ASTA CEO Zane Kerby might have spoken for the industry at large when he called the CDC’s communications about travel “uneven at best.” In a letter to its director, Robert Redfield, on June 9, he said that prioritizing of the restart of the cruise industry is one of four main goals the CDC should tackle.

“In the absence of clear communication, the entire population remains essentially in the dark, left to rely on a patchwork of regional, state and local pronouncements to inform their decision-making with respect to travel,” Kerby wrote. “Airlines, hoteliers, cruise lines, tour operators, car rental companies, insurance providers and others are similarly left to their own devices as to when to restart operations in the face of an unprecedented global pandemic.”

Virgin Voyages unveils Scarlet Lady health plan

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Our Cruise Ships | Virgin Voyages

New cruise line Virgin Voyages has unveiled its health plan for debut ship Scarlet Lady.

The launch of the ship has been pushed back to October amid the coronavirus crisis, and it will now debut with a reduced capacity to allow for social distancing as well as “virus-neutralizing air filters”, virtual queues, thermal monitoring cameras and regular virus testing for its crew.

The Voyage Well plan was created by the Voyage Well Expert Advisory Group, a partnership of advisors, scientists, doctors and clinicians from the likes of AtmosAir Solutions, EcoLab, Dr Heymann with Vikand, Global Public Health Services and was compiled in collaboration with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in line with World Health Organisation guidelines.

“The health and wellbeing of our Sailors is our number one priority, so we rolled up our sleeves with leading experts to further innovate and create an even healthier way to travel and still have an incredible vacation,” said Virgin Voyages chief executive Tom McAlpin. “We appreciate some people will be apprehensive about travelling, so we are committed to being led by science and creating ways to give people the confidence to explore the world while feeling safer, more relaxed and free to enjoy themselves.”

A system has been designed to pump fresh air through the ship’s public spaces and cabins to “effectively remove recirculated air”, which Virgin Voyages says will produce “100% fresh air” through a “bow to stern air purification system”.

“Delivering effective health and safety measures is going to be essential for ensuring consumer trust in the cruise industry,” says Steve Levine, president and chief executive of AtmosAir Solutions. “We’re proud to partner with Virgin Voyages and believe our bi-polar ionization technology will be crucial to creating a safe, clean and sanitized indoor environment throughout the entirety of the Scarlet Lady.”

Other health plans developed by Virgin Voyages include:

Rapid Covid-19 testing for all ‘Sailors’ [passengers] and crew prior to embarking

A post-voyage app-based notification process through which passengers and crew can report on becoming unwell within 14 days of leaving the ship

Pre-boarding health checks and screenings for crew and ‘Sailors’

Thermal camera technology to monitor our crew and ‘Sailors’’ temperatures

Implementing best practices around sanitation, physical distancing, limited occupancy, and health checks on board

Managing ship occupancy to allow physical distancing in public spaces

Using digital technology to limit contact; The Band (for contactless payment), Service Chat (for assistance digitally) and Virtual Queues (for getting in lines for onboard experiences without getting in physical lines)

The line has also introduced a ‘fair and flexible’ booking policy, which includes moving the final payment dates to 60 days, from 120 days, before sailing, and allows guests to cancel up to 48 hours before in return for a 100% Future Voyage Credit for sailings through December 16, 2020.

Cunard extends cancellations until November

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Cunard extends cancellations until November

Cunard is further extending the cancellation of cruises until November, blaming the continued impact of Covid-19.

Flagship Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria will have sailings cancelled until November 1 and Queen Elizabeth until November 23.

The extension follows the sister brand extending its pause in operations until October 15.

Cunard will be communicating with all passengers, and their travel agents, who are booked on affected voyages.

Passengers booked on cancelled cruises will automatically be given a 125% future cruise credit which can be redeemed against any new booking made by the end of December 2021 on any voyage on sale at the time of booking.

Cunard president Simon Palethorpe said: “With many differing restrictions across countries, people’s ability to move freely and safely across borders remains seemingly someway in the distance.

“For Cunard, where we celebrate having a truly international mix of guests and sail all over the world, this becomes particularly impactful. We also need to better understand the implications Covid-19 will have onboard our ships.

“We are therefore working, at the highest level possible, with government bodies, including the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – the CDC – and Public Health England, as well as the industry collective body – Clia – and other expert medical professionals to review every aspect of a holiday with us.”

He added: “Whilst we have always taken pride in having the highest levels of health and safety we are looking at enhanced protocols across all aspects of ship life and experiences onshore.

“We will only return to service when we have a comprehensive restart protocol with the stamps of approval and accreditation from the most trusted and informed sources.”