CDC: Cruise Ship Covid Rules Will Soon Become Voluntary

This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent out some strong signals that it has become safer to take a cruise, even though the Covid-19 pandemic is not over yet.

First, the agency downgraded its travel health notice for cruise ships from Level 4, which means “very high level of Covid-19” to Level 3, which signifies “high level of Covid-19.”

What difference does one word make? A lot. Level 4 effectively lands a destination or type of travel on the U.S. “Do Not Travel” list, while Level 3 means “make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel,” according to the CDC website, which continues to warn that “the virus that causes Covid-19 spreads easily between people in close quarters aboard ships, and the chance of getting Covid-19 on cruise ships is high.”

And yesterday the CDC extended the industry’s Conditional Sailing Order (CSO), due to expire on November 1, through January 15, 2022. After that date, the agency says it will “transition to a voluntary program” in coordination with cruise lines.

The CSO took effect in October 2020, replacing the Covid-19 cruising ban and laying out the steps cruise operators had to take to sail with passengers out of U.S. ports. In April, the agency announced that ships could only sail if at least 95% of passengers were vaccinated or, alternatively, if the ships performed simulated sailings to demonstrate safety procedures.

Since then, major cruise lines have made it very difficult for unvaccinated people to cruise, with exceptions for children who are ineligible for Covid-19 vaccinations, with strict masking rules and frequent testing protocols. In addition, some ports of call do not allow unvaccinated passengers to disembark for shore excursions.

When it comes to vaccine mandates, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH)—which operates Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises—has gone the furthest, requiring 100% of crew and passengers to be fully vaccinated at least two weeks prior to sailing. The line touts the upsides of an all-vaccinated ship, including no masks or social distancing, as well as fully opened restaurants and entertainment venues.

In early August, a U.S. judge ruled that NCLH-owned cruise lines can require passengers to show proof of vaccination status before boarding their ships in Florida — a blow to Governor Ron DeSantis’ much-hyped but unpopular law banning so-called vaccine passports. In her ruling, the judge agreed that the Florida law jeopardizes public health and is an unconstitutional infringement on Norwegian’s rights.

The CDC keeps a color-coded list of ships where passengers or crew have tested positive for Covid-19. The color-coding is based on both surveillance data collected over the previous 7-day period as well as the findings of any CDC investigations.