U.S. cruises canceled through mid-September as COVID-19 outbreaks continue
Summer cruising is canceled.
The cruise industry lobbying group Cruise Lines International Association announced Friday that its member lines — including South Florida-based Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, MSC Cruises and Virgin Voyages — will cancel U.S. cruises though September 14. Cruise ships continue to experience COVID-19 outbreaks more than three months after the industry shut down on March 13 as more than 42,000 crew members remain stuck at sea without pay.
Cruise companies had planned to resume operations in late July, when the ban put in place by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expires.
CLIA said in a statement that cruise companies will use the extra time to work with the CDC on health measures to safely restart cruises.
“Although we are confident that future cruises will be healthy and safe, and will fully reflect the latest protective measures, we also feel that it is appropriate to err on the side of caution to help ensure the best interests of our passengers and crew members,” CLIA said in a statement.
Lines affected include Carnival Corporation brands Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, Costa and Cunard; Royal Carribean’s Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises; Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania and Regent Seven Seas; MSC Cruises; Disney Cruise Line; Crystal Cruises; and Virgin Voyages.
Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line is not a member of CLIA and plans to resume cruises on July 25.
Carnival Corporation spokesperson Roger Frizzell said the company does not yet know when it will resume cruises in the U.S. or abroad.
Royal Caribbean spokesperson Jonathon Fishman said the company will be sharing details about the announcement with its customers this week.
Norwegian Cruise Line did not respond to a request for comment.
In a letter to crew members on June 9, MSC Cruises said it is working toward restarting cruises on one of its ships in the Mediterranean in early August. “Our timeline dictates that we must have a full manning back onboard one of our ships currently in Europe by July 15th 2020 and as you are already here, we would like to offer you the opportunity to be part of the startup team and earn your salary again from this date onwards,” the letter said.
MSC Cruises spokesperson Luca Biondolillo said the company “will align with guidelines put forward by the relevant national and international health and other regulatory authorities” in the U.S. and other countries.
Cruise companies are suffering enormous financial losses as cruising remains canceled. On Thursday, Carnival Corporation reported record second quarter losses and said it is burning through $650 million per month. The company will divest of six of its ships in the next 90 days to cut capacity.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez is waiving berthing fees for cruise ships at PortMiami through July 12 as many still come in to refuel and load up on food.
So far conversations between the CDC and cruise companies have focused on preventing outbreaks among crew during the hiatus, a spokesperson for the agency said, and have not yet addressed how cruising will safely resume with passengers on board.
Earlier this month, the CDC unveiled a new color-coded grading system for cruise ships in U.S. waters depending on their level of infection: green for no confirmed cases of COVID-19 or COVID-like illness for 28 days, yellow for one or more COVID-like illness cases pending confirmation, red for one or more cases of confirmed COVID-19 or COVID-like illness within the past 28 days. If the ship is designated green, commercial transportation for crew repatriation is allowed.
One cruise ship is green: Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line’s Grand Celebration. Thirteen ships are provisionally red and 36 are provisionally green, meaning the CDC’s review of the cruise company’s plan to prevent outbreaks or a final sign off on the plan from the cruise company is still pending.
CLIA’s chairman and former Royal Caribbean executive Adam Goldstein said in an interview with the Herald earlier this month that the industry was not able to provide any input on the color-coded system.
“We do want to have a very interactive relationship with them so we can elevate our public health profile,” Goldstein said. “We have not had as much interaction with them as we would have liked.”
Norwegian Cruise Line announced its health protocols for when cruising resumes earlier this month, including having COVID-19 tests on-board, creating a new Public Health Officer position for each ship, taking passengers’ temperatures before boarding and increasing the frequency of cleaning on board.
Virgin Voyages, which has canceled cruises though mid-October, announced this week it is working on developing “a reliable, quick and simple test” for COVID-19 that it can use to test people before they board.
The three other largest cruise companies — Carnival Corp., Royal Caribbean Cruises and MSC Cruises — have not yet announced health protocols for passenger cruises.
The Miami Herald interviewed five doctors, three of whom treated COVID-19 patients on cruise ships, about what cruise companies can do to keep passengers and crew safe if companies resume operations before a vaccine is available. They recommend cruises operate at 50% capacity, test passengers for COVID-19 before boarding, stay within 500 miles of land, and provide ships with more medical staff and ventilators, among other things.
This story has been updated to clarify that Bahamas Paradise Cruise line is not a member of Cruise Lines International Association and plans to resume cruises on July 25.
This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 4:08 PM.
