The cruise industry received several good news lately starting with CDC allowing the industry to restart by July. Cruises can skip simulated voyages as long as they fully vaccinate 98% of their crew and 95% of their passengers. If they can’t meet the number of vaccinated passengers and crew, then there are still the simulated voyages. Late Friday, the CDC announced that fully vaccinated cruise passengers no longer have to get tested. This includes during embarkation and disembarkation. They will only get tested if they are showing COVID19 symptoms or exposed to the virus within 14 days.
On the other hand, those who are unvaccinated will have to show a negative COVID19 test result. The agency explained that antigen testing will be allowed. However, PCR is still ideal. The agency also lets cruises decide whether they are allowing vaccinated passengers exposed to the virus but with no symptoms to go onboard.
On Saturday, Royal Caribbean President and CEO Michael Bay posted on Facebook that the latest CDC update increases his optimism. The cruise industry has been on hold since March 2020 when the pandemic began. The conditional sailing order that followed the no-sailing order in October 2020 still kept the industry on hold.
For more than a year, only small ship operators were able to sail thanks to the conditional sailing order. That’s because smaller ships meet the condition of having less than 200 people on board.
For large cruises, that’s a different story. Industry leaders, lawmakers, and states struggled to convince the CDC to allow the cruise industry to operate again. Florida and Alaska even sued the federal government for initially prohibiting cruise operations.
So what can passengers expect if they go on a cruise? One, social distancing will be maintained. Second, there will be no buffets. And third, they might as well get vaccinated not only for their safety but also for convenience sake. Though passengers can still expect a different cruising experience in July, this is a good step that could encourage passengers to book their trip.
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