Tag Archives: Covid-19

Return to Cruising: CDC Approves Royal Caribbean Sailing in June

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MS Celebrity Edge. Photo: Jjerome78/CC BY-SA 4.0

The Centers for Disease Control said it had approved one cruise ship from Royal Caribbean to resume sailing in June, more than a year after U.S. cruising was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Edge will depart from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale on June 26, the cruise company said. It will be the first U.S. departing cruise in more than a year with paying passengers.

“Cruising from the U.S. is back!” Richard D. Fain, Royal Caribbean Group chairman and the chief executive officer said in a statement.

The CDC said it is committed to working with the cruise industry and ports to resume cruising in a phased approach.

“CDC and the cruise industry agree that the industry has what it needs to move forward and no additional roadblocks exist for resuming sailing by mid-summer,” the agency said on Wednesday.

The ship will skip a simulated voyage because it requiring crew and passengers to be vaccinated, the CDC said.

Royal Caribbean said all sailings will depart with a vaccinated crew and everyone over 16 must present proof of vaccination against COVID-19. From August 1, all guests ages 12 and older must present proof of vaccination.

The inaugural sailing sets the stage for Royal Caribbean Group to announce additional itineraries, the company added.

The state of Florida, which was later joined by Alaska, sued President Joe Biden’s administration in federal court in April, seeking to overturn the CDC’s decision to prevent the U.S. cruise industry from immediately resuming operations. A federal judge sent that lawsuit to mediation last week.

Norwegian CEO Frank Del Rio: ‘Let Us Cruise’

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“Just let us cruise, CDC,” said Frank Del Rio, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH), on the company’s Thursday earnings call, expressing his frustration with what he called ridiculous regulations and overreach by the agency.

“But is it not just the CDC (holding the industry back),” Del Rio added. “To be fair, the rest of the world has to open up as well – Europe, Asia and South America.

“How quickly we can return to normal will depend on travel restrictions being lifted and borders being opened.

“There are 50 million people who have not been able to cruise for the last year and a half and now want to cruise. There is pent up demand setting us up for a beautiful scenario to improve pricing.”

Forward bookings and pricing are up compared to 2019 which was a record year, Del Rio said. 

Part of Del Rio’s frustration comes from Norwegian submitting an “ironclad proposal” to the CDC on April 5 and has not yet received an answer, which also puts the mid-July return to service in jeopardy.

Among the impractical and onerous requirements, the CDC has released is that passengers must wear face masks onboard all the time, only lifting the mask to take a bite of food or a sip of a drink, according to Del Rio. He said he was hoping these requirements would not be applicable to fully vaccinated ships.

NCLH will require 100 per cent vaccinations of passengers and crew wherever the ships are sailing and do not plan to participate in the simulated sailing program of the CDC, Del Rio noted.

He said he was outraged that the cruise industry is being treated differently than airlines, casinos, etc. and said that cruise ships will be the safest place on earth.

“We will have 100 per cent vaccinated passengers and crew in addition to our SailSAFE program,” he said.

CDC Releases Instructions for Trial Voyages in Path to Service Resumption

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released the next two phases of the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) for cruise ships operating or seeking to operate in U.S. waters.

The CDC has published technical instructions for cruise ship operators preparing to conduct simulated voyages in advance of restricted passenger voyages under a COVID-19 Conditional Sailing Certificate.

“CDC expects to quickly approve applications that are both complete and accurate,” the agency said. 

The guidelines are complex, and there is one key workaround: if 98 per cent of crew are fully vaccinated and 95 per cent of passengers are vaccinated, a cruise operator does not need to conduct simulated sailings. 

The CDC said a cruise line operator should notify them and request approval to conduct a simulated voyage at least 30 calendar days prior to the date on which the cruise ship operator proposes to conduct the simulation but also noted it will respond to submissions within five business days.

With the issuance of these next two phases, cruise ship operators now have all the necessary requirements and recommendations they need to start simulated voyages before resuming restricted passenger voyages and apply for a COVID-19 conditional sailing certificate to begin sailing with restricted passenger voyages, according to a statement from the CDC.

Cruise lines will need to submit information to the CDC such as the dates and location of the voyage, as well as documentation that the cruise line has a written agreement (or a multi-port agreement) with all U.S. port and local health authorities where the cruise ship intends to dock or make port during a simulated voyage.