CLIA’s call for the launch of cruises in the United States did not generate a change of course at the Center for Disease Prevention (CDC). The government agency expects cruise ships to resume their itineraries from the United States as of November 1.
Both the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) and the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) issued statements in recent days asking the CDC to allow cruise lines to resume sailing before July 1, however, from the CDC announced that they remain firm in allowing the resumption only for November 1, 2021.
“On October 30, 2020, CDC issued the Framework for the Conditional Navigation Order (CSO) that remains in effect until November 1, 2021,” they said from the CDC in a statement to the digital media TravelPulse . “Returning to passenger navigation is a phased approach in order to mitigate the risk of the spread of COVID-19. Details for the next phase of the CSO are currently under interagency review. “
“Interestingly, [the CSO] asks for a four-phase process, and now we have been four months since its introduction, and we are still in phase one and we don’t know what is required for phase two,” said Royal Caribbean’s CEO, Richard Fain. “Science has anticipated the conditional order not to navigate. In October of last year, we thought it was a very positive move on the part of the CDC, but now is the time. We, our Healthy Sail Panel and others in the industry believe it is time to move on in light of the dramatic changes we have seen in three areas: vaccines, testing and contact tracing. The time has come to recognize the changes in medical science and move on. “
Currently, some cruise lines are finding ways around CDC guidelines by offering Caribbean cruises, sailing from the Bahamas or other ports outside the United States.