The path toward a resumption of cruising from U.S. ports continues bumpy as several lines are close to or have received approval to resume sailing with vaccinated crews and passengers, while Florida continues to ban the lines from even asking if potential passengers have been.
Florida is now threatening cruise lines that go ahead and ask anyway with fines of up to $5000 per passenger, while cruise lines that do not guarantee 98% of crew and 95% of passengers are vaccinated will not receive CDC approval to sail without an onerous series of test cruises with unpaid passengers.
The cruise lines, who are trying to mediate the dispute with a seemingly intransigent Florida Governor Ron Desantis, have said that if they cannot get a waiver, they will move their ships to other U.S. ports. Desantis, in turn, has said that for any cruise line that leaves, another will take its place. Florida is home to most of the largest cruise ports.
Another issue is at hand in the dispute; Florida claims that it has the authority to ban vaccine checks, while many attorneys believe that CDC’s mandates take precedence over local authority in matters of health and safety, as has happened many times during the pandemic. But that’s an issue that could only be settled by a company suing Desantis, a move they’d rather not take, both because they don’t want him as an enemy and because litigation could take years.
Meanwhile, several cruise lines have filed and been approved for test cruises and for live fully-vaccinated cruises, so the issue must be resolved soon, one way or another. And, after being roundly criticized for stringent mask and distance rules it initially imposed on cruise passengers, CDC has now said that on all-vaccinated sailings, masks will not be required.
In news from Europe, five more river cruise lines have followed Viking’s lead in re-opening bookings and cruises on European waters. The lines are Scenic, Emerald, Uniworld, AmaWaterways and CroisiEurope. Like Viking, Scenic and Emerald are requiring vaccination; the others will decide country by country.
Image: Miami cruise port, largest single cruise kickoff point in the world
