The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidance Friday, cruises will eventually be able to fully resume in US waters, although no date has been included for when ships will be allowed to sail.
The CDC first issued a no-sail order in March 2020 and the the industry, which has been operating under a “conditional sailing order” (CSO) since late October, is crying out for a date to resume sailing.
Instead, the agency issued technical instructions on Friday on how to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and how to deal with outbreaks at sea.
According to the CDC, this phase of the conditional sailing assignment includes simulated voyages that allow crew and port personnel to practice new COVID-19 operational procedures with volunteers before sailing with passengers.
The CDC update includes a requirement to increase the reporting frequency of COVID-19 from weekly to daily. It also updates a color-coding system used to classify ships with respect to COVID-19 and handles routine crew testing based on a ship’s color status.
“Cruising safely and responsibly during a global pandemic is difficult,” the CDC said in a statement. While cruising always carries some risk of COVID-19 transmission, following the stages of the CSO will ensure passenger operations on cruise ships are conducted in a way that protects crew members, passengers and port personnel, especially with emerging COVID -19 variants of concern. “
The update comes after the cruise industry last week called on CDC to resume cruises from US ports in early July.
The Cruise Lines International Association industry group said a July reboot would bring the industry in line with President Biden
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“In fact, the CDC’s lack of action has banned all sailings on the largest cruise market in the world,” the group wrote. “The outdated CSO, released nearly five months ago, does not reflect the proven progress and success of the industry in other parts of the world, nor the advent of vaccines, and treat cruises unfairly differently.”
Companies have announced the resumption of cruises in other parts of the world. Royal Caribbean announced in early March that it will be one “fully vaccinated” cruiseThe cruise line’s newest ship, Odyssey of the Seas, will first launch from Haifa, Israel in May.