Tag: cruises

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Health

CDC recommends vacationers with excessive danger of Covid problems keep away from cruises

CDC recommends travelers with high risk of Covid complications avoid cruises

The Royal Caribbean cruise ship will be seen on the Hudson River in New York City, United States, on August 18, 2021 as the region’s first cruise ship docks back in New York Harbor.

Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that travelers at high risk of serious complications from Covid-19 should avoid cruises regardless of their vaccination status.

The updated guidelines also recommended that travelers who are not fully vaccinated should not cruise.

The new council follows several coronavirus outbreaks reported on board cruise lines, according to the CDC.

While the agency doesn’t introduce the same masking requirements that apply to planes, trains, and other public transportation, it suggested that face-covering be worn for cruise passengers in common areas.

“The virus that causes Covid-19 spreads easily between people in close proximity on board ships, and the likelihood of getting Covid-19 on cruise lines is high,” the CDC said in its updated guidance.

The agency advised all travelers, regardless of their vaccination status, to get tested one to three days before a cruise and three to five days after their return. Anyone taking a cruise should be in quarantine for seven days after returning, even if they tested negative for the virus.

The new policy comes just a week after the Belize Tourism Board announced that 27 people on board a Carnival cruise tested positive for Covid.

During Friday’s extended trading, Carnival Cruises shares fell more than 2%, Norwegian Cruise Line shares fell nearly 3%, and Royal Caribbean Cruises shares fell more than 2%.

After the industry closed at the beginning of the pandemic due to multiple outbreaks on board ships, the CDC has enforced strict guidelines to prevent similar events from occurring.

Of the three cruise lines, Royal Caribbean was the first to return to operations and had few cases on board ships, which was the target, according to CEO and Chairman Richard Fain.

Royal Caribbean and Carnival have allowed some unvaccinated passengers on board ships, but Norwegian has not.

Norwegian even filed a lawsuit against Florida surgeon general to halt a state ban that prevented companies from requiring customers to provide proof of Covid vaccination. The cruise company was granted a temporary stay in enforcement, but Florida has filed an appeal.

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Politics

Appeals courtroom blocks CDC restrictions on cruises in win for Florida

Appeals court blocks CDC restrictions on cruises in win for Florida

The Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of The Seas arrives at Port Everglades on June 10, 2021 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images

A federal appeals court on Friday sided with Florida in its challenge against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over federal regulations for cruise ships that the state said were too onerous and were costing it millions of dollars in foregone tax revenue.

The two-page ruling from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals marks an unusual reversal from the appeals panel’s ruling in the matter delivered on Saturday.

The court did not explain the reason for the change, though the latest ruling came just hours after Florida brought the case to the Supreme Court, seeking to reverse the 11th Circuit’s previous move. That action will likely be withdrawn now.

The CDC rules have hampered the cruise industry from returning fully to business amid the nation’s vaccine-driven recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Early in the public health crisis, cruise lines were subject to a number of high-profile outbreaks. The industry was among the hardest hit by the coronavirus.

A federal district court in Florida sided with the state last month in response to a lawsuit filed by Ashley Moody, the Republican attorney general. Over the weekend, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily halted that decision, which allowed the CDC rules to remain in place.

The 11th Circuit decision on Saturday was made by a vote of 2-1. Friday’s decision was unanimous.

Shares of cruise lines Carnival Cruises, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line each fell further than the broader market following the release of the 11th Circuit decision on Monday.

On Friday afternoon, Moody brought the case to the Supreme Court in an emergency filing, asking the top court to reverse the appeals court’s decision.

“The CDC’s Order is manifestly beyond its authority, as the district court correctly concluded in preliminarily enjoining it,” Moody wrote in the filing.

Moody said that the CDC’s rules amount to an “an ever-changing array of requirements” that are posted to the agency’s website.

In addition, she wrote, the CDC rules require cruise lines to “establish COVID-19 testing laboratories, run self-funded experiments called ‘test voyages,’ and comply with social-distancing requirements throughout ships, including in outdoor areas like swimming pools and while waiting in line for the bathroom.”

Moody wrote that only five ships out of 65 subject to the CDC’s cruise rules had been approved to sail at the time the 11th Circuit issued its ruling. She wrote in the filing that the restrictions on cruises have cost Florida tens of millions of dollars in tax and port revenues. Without further action, the restrictions were set to remain in place until November 2021.

The CDC did not immediately return a request for comment.

The 11th Circuit decision comes as the nation is seeing a rise in Covid-19 cases, largely among individuals who have not been vaccinated, attributed to the highly transmissible delta variant.

Moody said Wednesday that she had contracted Covid-19 despite receiving a vaccine. In a post Friday on Twitter, Moody said she was still experiencing mild symptoms and encouraged people to get vaccinated.

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Health

Royal Caribbean CEO Fain praises CDC’s new path to renew U.S. cruises

Royal Caribbean CEO Fain praises CDC’s new path to resume U.S. cruises

Royal Caribbean CEO Richard Fain on Thursday hailed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated coronavirus guidelines for resuming cruises from U.S. ports.

“We’re really very pleased and very excited because it really is an avenue that we believe is achievable, practical and safe,” Fain said on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”

When asked if the CDC guidelines mean Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines will be sailing out of the US again this summer, Fain replied, “I think it can be.”

In a letter to industry on Wednesday, a CDC official said cruise “will never be a risk-free activity” but that the health department is “obliged” to resume passenger operations in the US by midsummer.

The industry has been pressuring the Biden government and CDC for months to provide more specific information on the way back from American ports. The state of Florida also sued federal agencies earlier this month over the cruise stop.

While cruises resumed elsewhere in the world, they have been halted in the US since March 2020 due to coronavirus concerns. In the early days of the global health crisis, there were high-profile Covid outbreaks on ships.

One of the key components of the CDC’s new guidelines is the vaccination rate for passengers and crew. In order to resume sailing, the CDC had previously stated that cruise lines would have to take a simulated trip to demonstrate their Covid safety protocols. However, the CDC now says the test trip can be skipped if a ship shows that 95% of its passengers and 98% of its crew have been fully vaccinated against Covid. This is probably the easiest way to get back to the water.

“Eighty percent of our guests already say they intend to get the vaccines regardless. One way or another, we think this is one route – two routes in fact,” Fain said, referring to the simulated cruise option . Either way, he added, “are feasible until July, so yes, feel no pain today.”

The CDC also announced that it will change the testing and quarantine requirements related to the restart of sailing to align with the agency’s latest guidelines for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.

Experts say a labor shortage could challenge the industry as cruise companies try to speed up trips over the months. Approximately 15% of the occupation are from India, a country struggling with a terrible surge in Covid. Fain told CNBC that he currently does not see a coronavirus situation in India leading to a staff shortage, but admitted that it will increase the challenge.

Earlier this year, Fain told CNBC that Royal Caribbean was surprised by the strength of its early booking dates. “Some of the things we thought [were] will not happen. You are better than we thought, “he said in late February.

Royal Caribbean shares closed 2.9% Thursday afternoon, abandoning earlier gains at the session. Shares in rival cruise line Carnival fell 2.1% while the Norwegian cruise line closed slightly higher. All cruise stocks rose double-digit percentage points in 2021 as investors shopped in hopes of U.S. cruise resumption.

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Health

How Covid protected bubble could be created on cruises

How Covid safe bubble can be created on cruises

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who advised cruise lines on Covid protocols, told CNBC on Friday that he believed a safe environment could be created on the ships.

Gottlieb’s comments came a day after Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said the state had sued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and demanded that the public health agency see cruise ships leave US ports immediately allowed to sail.

Gottlieb, co-chair of an advisory board for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean, told Squawk Box that companies have reasonable guidelines to prepare for when to cease operations after a Covid hiatus that is longer than longer allowed to record one year.

“They are committed to things like mandatory screening of passengers. Norwegian Cruise Line recently announced that they will require vaccination of all of their passengers,” said Gottlieb, who served as the US Food and Drug Administration representative from 2017-2019 – The state was active in the Trump Administration.

Gottlieb also noted that social distancing was possible on the ships, saying “these cruises will not be operated at full capacity.”

“When you start implementing all of these public health recommendations, you start creating an environment that could be pretty safe,” he explained. “I believe you can create a safe bubble around this experience, especially if you compare it to other vacation experiences where you have no control over the surroundings,” he added.

Cruise ships were a hotspot for Covid outbreaks in the early days of the global health crisis last year, leading the CDC to issue their no-sail order in mid-March 2020. While the CDC has issued some guidelines for cruise lines as part of its conditional sailing to help achieve this, the agency has not yet set a date when operators can resume voyage from U.S. ports.

In response to a request from CNBC to comment on Gottlieb’s comments, the CDC said via email that it “has an obligation to work with the cruise industry and seaport partners to continue the cruise on the phased approach set out in the conditional sailing order This goal is in line with the desire for resumption of passenger operations in the United States, expressed by many of the major cruise lines and travelers, hopefully by midsummer. “

However, the cruise industry is growing impatient after companies borrowed billions in debt and issued new shares to fund operations while sailing revenues dried up. Late last month, a trade group asked the CDC to allow a gradual restart in early July. Operators have stated that they are seeing strong demand for bookings, suggesting that people are starting to feel comfortable returning to cruises.

In a CNBC interview on Wednesday, Carnival CEO Arnold Donald pointed out differences between restrictions in America and other countries around the world where cruises have resumed in some locations.

“A person can fly from the US to another country today. Get on a cruise ship and then return to the US, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated or not,” Donald said at Closing Bell. “But here in the US at the time, even if you were vaccinated, you couldn’t get on a cruise ship.”

Donald commended the Biden government for their work in distributing Covid vaccinations in the US, where approximately 20% of the population is fully vaccinated. He believes the cruise industry and CDC can work together to reach an agreement on sailing.

“The government has made great strides on vaccinations and has taken command of this matter,” said Donald. “We are confident that we can work together and come up with something that would be a workable solution and hope we have some more sailing out of the US this summer.”

Richard Fain, CEO of Royal Caribbean, told CBS This Morning on Thursday that he would like the cruise industry to be treated “very much like the airlines” that have been allowed to fly. However, Fain is optimistic about the possible resumption of U.S. crossings in the second half of this year, citing President Joe Biden’s goal of getting society back to normal by July 4th.

– CNBC’s Katie Tsai contributed to this report.

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC employee and a member of the boards of directors of Pfizer, genetic testing startup Tempus, health technology company Aetion Inc., and biotech company Illumina. He is also co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean’s Healthy Sail Panel.

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Business

Florida sues CDC to permit cruises to renew U.S. sailings

Florida sues CDC to allow cruises to resume U.S. sailings

Maiden voyage of the Symphony of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, which was delivered from STX shipyards in Saint-Nazaire to the American shipowner Royal Caribbean Cruise Ltd (RCCL).

Andia | Universal Images Group | Getty Images

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that the state would file a lawsuit against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, demanding that cruise ships resume sailing immediately.

“Florida is fighting back today on behalf of the tens of thousands of Floridians whose livelihood depends on the viability of an open cruise industry,” he announced at a press conference. “We don’t believe the federal government has the right to moot a large industry for over a year based on very little evidence and very little data.”

DeSantis described the CDC’s decision to delay the opening of the US cruise industry as “irrational” and said he believed the lawsuit had a “good chance of success”.

The CDC was not immediately available for comment.

In the first six months of the pandemic, Florida lost $ 3.2 billion to the cruise industry shutdown, including nearly 50,000 jobs that paid $ 2.3 billion in wages, according to a September 2020 report by the Federal Maritime Commission. Since the CDC shut down the U.S. cruise industry last year, the state’s seaports have seen operating revenues decline by nearly $ 300 million. That number is expected to hit nearly $ 400 million in July, the Florida Department of Transportation told CNBC.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to the media about the cruise industry during a press conference in Port Miami on April 8, 2021 in Miami, Florida.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images

The governor signed an executive order on Friday banning so-called vaccination passports, which should also apply to the cruise industry. Corporations and government agencies cannot require customers or clients to provide evidence of vaccination.

In October, the CDC announced in its framework for the Conditional Sailing Ordinance that Covid spreads more easily on cruise ships than in other environments. The agency cited, among other things, a study published in the Journal of Travel Medicine which found that the virus spread at a rate four times higher on the Diamond Princess cruise, spreading an average of one person to 15 people than at the original epicenter in Wuhan, China, where it was divided from one person to four on average.

Cruise ships extend the interruptions to the landing gear

Royal Caribbean announced Thursday that it would be extending the suspension of some of its voyages from US ports.

Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises’ voyages will be suspended until June 30, according to a press release. However, voyages from new home ports in other regions of the world are still going according to plan.

The Silversea extensions exclude Silver Moon, Silver Origin, and Silver Explorer.

“Safety is a top priority and we know cruises can be safe as we have seen in Europe and Asia,” said Richard Fain, Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, in a press release. He remains optimistic about the second half of the year, citing President Joe Biden’s promise that society should return to normal by July 4th.

Disney Cruise Line also announced on Monday that US travel will continue to be suspended until June. This affects the Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy and Disney Wonder sails.

The industry wants to be treated like an airline

Royal Caribbean has carried over 100,000 guests on its ships outside of the United States since the pandemic and seen only 10 cases of Covid, Fain said on CBS This Morning on Thursday. He said he “would like to be treated very similarly to airlines and other modes of transport.”

Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald expressed a similar sentiment in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday. He said cruise lines would “like to be treated in the same way as other sectors such as travel, tourism and entertainment”.

While airlines are able to fly around the world during the pandemic, the cruise industry, which had over 100,000 American jobs before Covid, has struggled for about a year with no travel from its US ports.

“The irony is that an American today can fly to any number of destinations to take a cruise but cannot board a ship in the United States,” the Cruise Lines International Association said in a statement on Monday, calling for it urged the CDC to suspend its terms and conditions, which described a gradual return to US cruise operations with no specified date.

Last week, the CDC released technical instructions for cruise lines, including increasing the frequency of Covid case reports from weekly to daily, creating a schedule for all staff to be vaccinated, and performing routine tests. However, this update did not specify a date when cruise ships would be back in service in the United States

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Arnold Donald is CEO of Carnival Corporation.

Categories
Business

Florida sues CDC to permit cruises to renew U.S. sailings

Florida sues CDC to allow cruises to resume U.S. sailings

Maiden voyage of the Symphony of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, which was delivered from STX shipyards in Saint-Nazaire to the American shipowner Royal Caribbean Cruise Ltd (RCCL).

Andia | Universal Images Group | Getty Images

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that the state would file a lawsuit against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, demanding that cruise lines resume sailing immediately.

“Florida is fighting back today on behalf of the tens of thousands of Floridians whose livelihood depends on the viability of an open cruise industry,” he announced in a press conference on Thursday. “We don’t believe the federal government has the right to moot a large industry for over a year based on very little evidence and very little data.”

DeSantis described the CDC’s decision to delay the opening of the US cruise industry as “irrational” and said he believed the lawsuit had a “good chance of success”.

The CDC was not immediately available for comment.

The governor signed an executive order on Friday banning so-called vaccination passports, which should also apply to the cruise industry. Private and public companies do not need to provide proof of vaccination.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to the media about the cruise industry during a press conference in Port Miami on April 8, 2021 in Miami, Florida.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Cruise ships extend the interruptions to the landing gear

Royal Caribbean announced Thursday that it would be extending the suspension of some of its voyages from US ports.

Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises’ voyages will be suspended until June 30, according to a press release. However, voyages from new ports in other regions of the world are still going according to plan.

The Silversea Cruises that have extended their suspension exclude Silver Moon, Silver Origin and Silver Explorer.

“Safety is a top priority and we know cruises can be safe as we have seen in Europe and Asia,” said Richard Fain, Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, in a press release. He remains optimistic about the second half of the year, citing President Joe Biden’s promise that society should return to normal by July 4th.

Disney Cruise Line also announced on Monday that US travel will continue to be suspended until June. This affects the Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy and Disney Wonder sails.

The industry demands fair treatment

Royal Caribbean has carried over 100,000 guests on its ships outside of the United States since the pandemic and seen only 10 cases of Covid, Fain said on CBS This Morning on Thursday. He said he “would like to be treated very similarly to airlines and other modes of transport.”

Arnold Donald, the CEO of Carnival Cruise Line, expressed a similar sentiment in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday. He said cruise lines would “like to be treated in the same way as other sectors such as travel, tourism and entertainment”.

While airlines are able to fly around the world during the pandemic, the cruise industry, which had over 100,000 American jobs before Covid, has struggled for about a year with no travel from its US ports.

“The irony is that today an American can fly to any number of destinations to take a cruise, but cannot board a ship in the US,” the Cruise Lines International Association said in a statement on Monday, calling on the CDC to repeal its framework for Conditional Sailing Order, which describes a “framed approach” for US cruise lines to return with no strict date in sight.

Last week, the CDC released technical instructions for cruise lines, including increasing the frequency of Covid case reports from weekly to daily, creating a schedule for all staff to be vaccinated, and performing routine tests. However, this update did not specify a date when cruise ships would be back in service in the United States

“Nobody can guarantee that anyone anywhere in America or anywhere else is safe from Covid,” Fain told CBS. “Actually the irony is, when you get on a ship, you will reduce your risk of contracting the virus.”