Cruise ships due to set sail after year of coronavirus restrictions

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Cruise ships are preparing to sail again from Florida after a ruling against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s calls for Covid restrictions on cruises.

On Friday, a federal judge ruled that the CDC cannot force the cruise industry to follow its Covid restrictions, that required 95 per cent of passengers and 98 per cent of crew to be fully vaccinated before sailing.

The CDC’s rules will be nonbinding from 18 July – allowing cruises to restart for the first time in more than 15 months, after a CDC ban in March of last year, without asking for proof of vaccination.

Florida’s attorney general, Ashley Moody, called the ruling a “victory for the hardworking Floridians whose livelihoods depend on the cruise industry”.

The CDC’s restrictions, announced in October as part of a four-stage framework for the resumption of cruises, were also criticised by Florida governor Ron DeSantis for burdening firms.

“The CDC has been wrong all along, and they knew it,” said Mr DeSantis.

In May, industry figures called out Mr DeSantis for banning “vaccine passports” in Florida, forcing cruise lines to chose between following the CDC, or Florida law, as NBC News reported.

From midnight on 18 July, firms will be able to follow the CDC’s requirements for vaccinated passengers and crew, or not – although Florida law could apply.

Firms, including Royal Caribbean, are asking passengers before boarding whether they are vaccinated, to avoid falling foul of the ban.

But two of the world’s biggest cruise lines, Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line, say they are asking passengers for proof of full vaccination before departure, despite Mr DeSantis’s ban on doing so, The Hill reported.

On Sunday, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship sailed from Florida as part of a two-day “simulation” with hundreds of volunteer passengers aboard, a majority of whom were reportedly staff.

The CDC continues to recommend that only fully vaccinated Americans should sail on a cruise, due to the ongoing dangers of Covid.

So far, 56 per cent of US adults are fully vaccinated, and 65.5 per cent have received a first dose.

Additional reporting by Associated Press.