It seems the cruise lines would rather say, "to hell with you, we will sail from another country and ask Americans to fly there."
Porters and staff in the port buildings?
Seems like cruises involve more employees than just "Porters and staff in port buildings", but, as always, we may be mistaken.
Do you really think this? Would they honestly rather sail one or two ships in two itineraries than comply with a process that would allow them to resume full operations?
I mean...that’s what they’re doing.
That's a great point. But I'm pretty sure Celebrity has said that their crew will be fully vaccinated.
I think they have. But again I don’t know how they intend to do that.
www.cruzely.com
We now understand why Chapek said he hopes for cruises in a limited capacity in the fall.Yes, there are no new protocols based on the existence of vaccines. That's because the Conditional Restrictions protocols are still in effect and are sufficient to restart cruises based on the reality that a portion of cruise line guests will *not* be vaccinated.
But, since last November, cruises could still have happened if cruise lines followed the Conditional Restrictions. As far as I can tell, before vaccines, I can't find any reference to a list of further protocols that cruise lines were waiting for. The Conditional Restriction made it clear: Follow the COVID hygiene protocols. These are the same ones states and businesses implemented: reduced capacity, plexiglass, masks, distancing, ventilation, sanitization, etc... The Conditional Restrictions expected the cruise lines to implement these sensible protocols and do a practice run to show the CDC they're working. There is, AFAIK, no other protocol document that the cruise lines are waiting for under the current Conditional Restriction. If someone claims there is, they need to provide that link.
Explained: What Cruise Lines Must Do to Sail Again (According to the CDC Framework)
The big news in cruising is that the CDC has taken the step of letting the 'No Sail Order' expire. But it's not back to sailing just yet. Replacing the ban on sailing is a 'Framework for Conditional Sailing Order.' That framework lays out in detail what the CDC requires cruise lines to do to...
Now, if you claim there should be a new Conditional Order, one that takes into account vaccinations. That's a different story. If cruise lines are waiting for that mythical beast... they're choosing to hold off cruising in order to avoid the current Conditional Order.
They want a pain-free return to cruising with everyone vaccinated. But everyone won't be vaccinated fully (second dose plus two weeks) until mid-June. And even then, children won't be vaccinated. So, unless cruises are willing to run adult-only, vaccine-passport cruises, the current Conditional Order will stand until children are vaccinated (or herd immunity practically wipes out all cases). That's not happening until the Fall (I would guess).
Ah, that very well may be the case (and I wouldn't be surprised by it) - but I honestly have no insight and can't find any sources claiming that one way or the other. Although, one could surmise that they probably haven't if not one line has attempted a simulated cruise yet.
"According to a 2019 economic impact report on the cruise industry from CLIA, Florida accounted for 60.1% of all passenger embarkations in the U.S. in 2019, making it the leading state for cruise activity. Florida businesses received more than $9 billion in direct expenditures last year."
Maybe they should group all the cruiseline workers in with the other people deemed essential. Also, maybe the CDC could add a category 1Dcl. It seems as though you would have to ignore many are non-residents to accomplish this.
In the U.K. you are specifically called up for vaccination, based on GP surgery lists. Only if you’re not registered with a doctor can you contact them directly, and I’ve no doubt you’d be jumping through hoops to get yourself added to the database.
