Federal Maritime Commissioner Takes a Closer Look at Cruise Lines’ Cancellation Policies

Federal Maritime Commissioner Louis Sola sat down with CNBC to discuss several topics that affect the cruise industry.

Federal Maritime Commissioner Louis Sola discussed his Fact Finding 30 investigation regarding the cancellation policies of cruise operators. The Federal Maritime Commissioner launched an investigation this month to improve FMC’s regulations. This includes a closer look at the refunds for canceled voyages and nonperformance.

According to Sola’s suggestion, passengers deserve a full refund within 60 days under two conditions. One, the sailing is canceled. And second is if the cruise has been delayed by 24 hours as long as it is not because of a government order.  If the cancellation or delay is due to a government order, the cruise operator will have to issue a full refund within 180 days.

Sola said that the update will be due around early this week. Sola wants to have a standardized refund policy like what the airline industry has. He said that “Every cruise line had a different policy so we wanted to create a standardized system”.

According to Sola, “Once published, public will have 60 days to comment on the proposal”. After the comments, the commission will take a closer look at the suggestions and adjust if necessary.

Federal Maritime Commissioner Expects Near-Term Cancellations

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently warned high-risk groups to avoid cruises. This included those who are fully vaccinated. The guidance was because of the recent outbreaks of COVID19 on cruises despite the present safety protocols.

Though bookings for next year are high, there is a chance that near-term cancellations will be more common. In addition to this, some travelers might find the additional safety protocols to be too burdensome while others will consider cruises too risky at this time.

Alaska as The Most Affected Cruise State

The Federal Maritime Commissioner also talked about different topics surrounding the cruise industry. He discussed how Alaska was the most affected of all the cruise states. Sola said that it was $3.3 billion worth of lost revenue and over $1 billion paid in unemployment. The state and local governments also lost $55 million in lost taxes.