The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has been effectively in charge of the cruise industry since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Their original No Sail Order prevented any cruise lines from taking to the ocean, and their more recent Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) has made an industry restart tricky and slow. Many have criticized their choices as being overly restrictive. However, the CDC recently loosened up on many of their rules. This seemed like it would signal the end of the CDC’s involvement, but there is still plenty of recent cruise news related to the organization. Here’s everything that you need to know.
New warning level for cruises
The CDC has had a COVID-19 warning for cruises on their website for a long time now. It has been at the max level (level 4) until June 16th when they decided to lower the warning to level 3. Level 3 denotes that cruise ships feature a “high” level of the coronavirus. This sounds pessimistic, but it should be noted that the warning is specifically for non-vaccinated travelers. Per the updated warning, the “CDC recommends that people who are not fully vaccinated avoid travel on cruise ships, including river cruises, worldwide.” Their main advice to combat COVID on cruises is to get vaccinated.
Florida wins court case
In case you forgot, the state of Florida got so fed up with the Conditional Sailing Order back in April that they actually sued the CDC. A ruling has no been issued in favor of the state, meaning that they will no longer be forced to abide by the CDC’s order. The CDC’s next step will be to come up with a less restrictive order in place of the CSO to give to the state of Florida. That one will be legally binding just as the CSO originally was. Florida and the CDC are going to be meeting to discuss cruise safety at some time before July 2nd, at which point a new order will likely be decided upon.
DeSantis chimes in
After winning in the courts, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida made a public statement about the impact this would have on the cruise industry. He said that “the CDC has been wrong all along, and they knew it.” Further, he said, “Today, we are securing this victory for Florida families, for the cruise industry, and for every state that wants to preserve its rights in the face of unprecedented federal overreach.” DeSantis has been a big advocate for the industry throughout the pandemic, and this is a ruling he has been looking to hear for quite some time.
There’s all the latest on the CDC! The trend seems to indicate that the organization’s involvement in the cruise industry is waning, but it all depends on the progression of the pandemic. Still, we expect to see a smooth return to normalcy as summer goes on.