FL Governor tells CDC to get its act together

Kingdom Konsultant

Kingdom Konsultant

WDWMAGIC Board Sponsor
Premium Member
WDWMAGIC Sponsor
My husband and I have been on zoom calls daily for the past year with RCCL to keep up to date on this. A team of cruise line industry advisors which included the head of RCCL have been working for months to put together guidelines to bring to the CDC to get cruising up and running in the United States again. One of the things that they were pushing back on was how it would be handled with the different ports of call and their handling of someone testing positive for the virus.
I am happy that things are starting to look up for the industry. It's good news for both cruise lines and travel agencies.

Pam
 
D

DCBaker

Premium Member
"If Florida won’t allow Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for passengers and crew, the company’s CEO says it will take its ships elsewhere.

CEO Frank Del Rio made the threat during an earnings call Thursday, just days after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill passed by the Republican-controlled state Legislature that bans businesses, schools and government entities in Florida from asking anyone to provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccination."

“At the end of the day, cruise ships have motors, propellers and rudders, and God forbid we can’t operate in the state of Florida for whatever reason, then there are other states that we do operate from. And we can operate from the Caribbean for ships that otherwise would’ve gone to Florida,” Del Rio said.

"Del Rio reiterated the company’s commitment to guarantee that everyone on its cruise ships will be vaccinated when cruises restart in the U.S. Competitors Royal Caribbean Group and Carnival Corporation will require 100 percent vaccination for upcoming cruises in other countries like the United Kingdom and Israel but have not yet announced whether U.S. cruises will have the same requirement."

 
MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
DCBaker said:
"If Florida won’t allow Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for passengers and crew, the company’s CEO says it will take its ships elsewhere.

CEO Frank Del Rio made the threat during an earnings call Thursday, just days after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill passed by the Republican-controlled state Legislature that bans businesses, schools and government entities in Florida from asking anyone to provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccination."

“At the end of the day, cruise ships have motors, propellers and rudders, and God forbid we can’t operate in the state of Florida for whatever reason, then there are other states that we do operate from. And we can operate from the Caribbean for ships that otherwise would’ve gone to Florida,” Del Rio said.

"Del Rio reiterated the company’s commitment to guarantee that everyone on its cruise ships will be vaccinated when cruises restart in the U.S. Competitors Royal Caribbean Group and Carnival Corporation will require 100 percent vaccination for upcoming cruises in other countries like the United Kingdom and Israel but have not yet announced whether U.S. cruises will have the same requirement."

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Thus spaketh the third largest cruise operator (by passengers).
 
MarkTwain

MarkTwain

Well-Known Member
DCBaker said:
"If Florida won’t allow Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for passengers and crew, the company’s CEO says it will take its ships elsewhere.

CEO Frank Del Rio made the threat during an earnings call Thursday, just days after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill passed by the Republican-controlled state Legislature that bans businesses, schools and government entities in Florida from asking anyone to provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccination."

“At the end of the day, cruise ships have motors, propellers and rudders, and God forbid we can’t operate in the state of Florida for whatever reason, then there are other states that we do operate from. And we can operate from the Caribbean for ships that otherwise would’ve gone to Florida,” Del Rio said.

"Del Rio reiterated the company’s commitment to guarantee that everyone on its cruise ships will be vaccinated when cruises restart in the U.S. Competitors Royal Caribbean Group and Carnival Corporation will require 100 percent vaccination for upcoming cruises in other countries like the United Kingdom and Israel but have not yet announced whether U.S. cruises will have the same requirement."

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Good. Let's see if other cruise lines will follow, and maybe DeSantis will be forced to recede. There's no way cruise lines will be able to perform well financially if vaccinations aren't enforced.

I would guess one more outbreak/quarantine incident like the few that happened last year and the cruise industry will be damaged permanently, maybe beyond repair - and I'm sure the cruise lines know this.
 
Archie123

Archie123

Well-Known Member
DCBaker said:
"If Florida won’t allow Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for passengers and crew, the company’s CEO says it will take its ships elsewhere.

CEO Frank Del Rio made the threat during an earnings call Thursday, just days after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill passed by the Republican-controlled state Legislature that bans businesses, schools and government entities in Florida from asking anyone to provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccination."

“At the end of the day, cruise ships have motors, propellers and rudders, and God forbid we can’t operate in the state of Florida for whatever reason, then there are other states that we do operate from. And we can operate from the Caribbean for ships that otherwise would’ve gone to Florida,” Del Rio said.

"Del Rio reiterated the company’s commitment to guarantee that everyone on its cruise ships will be vaccinated when cruises restart in the U.S. Competitors Royal Caribbean Group and Carnival Corporation will require 100 percent vaccination for upcoming cruises in other countries like the United Kingdom and Israel but have not yet announced whether U.S. cruises will have the same requirement."

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Good for Del Rio. He is absolutely right for doing this and he knows that either Ronnie will fold and not forfeit millions of dollars in revenue or Ronnie will double down and some if not all of the cruise lines will pick up and leave Florida altogether.
 
monothingie

monothingie

Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop
Premium Member
Since a vaccine passport is a no go. Maybe the cruise line industry should take the carrot and stick approach.

How about an industry wide effort to entice people looking to get on a cruise to be vaccinated. Perhaps you get $XXX of onboard credit per cabin for voluntary showing everyone in your party has proof of being vaccinated.

I know if I wasn't vaccinated, I'd gladly take a couple hundred bucks of onboard credit to get vaccinated.
 
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Bob Harlem

Well-Known Member
Cruises from the US looking very likely now for July, enough so the cruise from Bermuda that Royal was planning was just cancelled (The one from Nassau still remains, though) because they are shifting focus back to the US. They cancelled the Israel sailings for the brand new Odyssey of the Seas ship too (mainly because of the unrest), and now looking to do its maiden passenger voyage in Florida on it in July instead.

This was just sent this morning to those who booked the Bermuda cruises:

While the past few weeks have certainly been tumultuous, we remain encouraged and excited about our progressive return to sailing. Recent conversations have led to promising movement for the cruise industry and are the necessary steppingstones to get Royal Caribbean® back to what we do best – delivering the most memorable vacation experiences to both you and your clients!

As a result of these developments, the likelihood of cruises setting sail from the U.S. this summer is greater each day, and with that, U.S. travelers are increasingly showing a preference for more direct access to ports of departure. Regrettably, the decision has been made to cancel Vision of the Seas®’ summer season from Bermuda. While we are no longer homeporting from Bermuda, we still look forward to visiting the beautiful island nation with several ships across the Royal Caribbean fleet as we have for many years. We continue to work in close partnership with the Ministry of Transport and the Bermuda Tourism Authority towards our common goal of reviving local tourism as part of our larger return to service scope.

We understand that this news may be disappointing to your impacted clients. For those currently booked on Visions of the Seas this summer and not previously canceled under our Cruise with Confidence program, the compensation options are as follows:

125% Future Cruise Credit
· To compensate for the disruption to your clients' vacation plans, they are eligible for an elevated 125% Future Cruise Credit (FCC) which is based on the total cruise fare paid per guest and will be automatically issued on or before June 18, 2021. Taxes and fees, as well as any pre-purchased amenities or onboard packages, will be automatically refunded to the original form of payment within 45 days from the cancelation date.

Refund
 
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aliceismad

aliceismad

Well-Known Member
With no cruise lines joining the lawsuit and the judge sending lawyers to mediation, DeSantis' lawsuit against the CDC does not appear to have a very strong position right now.

I am hopeful that the cruise lines can put their measures in place and get back to business from U.S. ports this summer.

Crew from a Holland America ship were vaccinated in San Diego yesterday, and in the UK, an MSC ship sailed today.

www.cruiseindustrynews.com

Crew from Holland America Koningsdam Get COVID-19 Vaccines at San Diego - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News

Holland America Line crew members from Koningsdam received their first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination today at the Port of San Diego in California, according to a statement. Arranged in partnership with Sharp HealthCare, a not-for-profit regional health care group, 118 crew came ashore...
www.cruiseindustrynews.com www.cruiseindustrynews.com

www.cruiseindustrynews.com

MSC Virtuosa Becomes First Ship to Resume Cruising in UK - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News

Cruising from the UK is back after a 14-month hiatus as the MSC Virtuosa is set to cast off from the port of Southampton for a four-night sailing on Thursday. Gianni Onorato, CEO, MSC Cruises, said: “We are very proud that MSC Virtuosa’s first ever sailing marks the resumption of…
www.cruiseindustrynews.com www.cruiseindustrynews.com
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
G00fyDad said:
What law?
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The Florida law that dipstick rushed through a couple months ago...campaign/publicity stunt.

Florida’s stance has done nothing but hurt the cruiselines/tourism.
They are willing to go if they can insist on vaccines...which any liability conscious company would conclude is needed. They’re freaking boats in international waters.

ask any travel agent or someone who works for a cruise line what the issue is...they’ll tell you.
 

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