Following the CDC's recent announcement that it was adding new steps to its Conditional Sail Order that would help to restart U.S. cruise ship operations by mid-summer, cruise lines are now racing to vaccinate their crew members by the thousands.
The CDC was pressured into codifying guidance and establishing a definitive timeline for the cruise industry's return to sailing after Alaska joined Florida in filing a lawsuit against the agency over its "unlawful" shutdown of the industry. In April, senators also proposed new legislation, which would force the CDC to revoke its ban on cruise-ship sailing in U.S. waters, citing that this was the only economic sector, "completely prohibited from operations by the CDC due to COVID-19."
Since the CDC amended its existing return-to-sailing framework to permit cruise companies to bypass previously required "simulated voyages" if it attests that 98 percent of its crew and 95 percent of passengers are fully vaccinated, cruise lines have begun full-scale efforts to get crews inoculated by July. Ships have begun docking at major U.S. ports in Miami, Port Canaveral and Galveston, which have temporarily transformed themselves into mass vaccination sites to answer the need.
A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean told ABC News that 1,300 of its crew members had received vaccines at Port Miami within a week. The ports themselves are just as keen as cruise lines to get operations up and running again, the outlet reported. "We will continue [these] efforts until we're able to restart cruises," Port Miami communications director Andria Cristina Muñiz-Amador said of the vaccination activities.
Once crews are fully vaccinated, cruise lines will be able to start training them in earnest on the new sets of COVID-related protocols and practices. Cruise Critic editor-in-chief Colleen McDaniel commented, "Having a fully vaccinated crew means that they're able to get to some of the things specified by the CDC and the Conditional Sail Order regarding training, and exercises around that training, and so getting that done just really opens the door to a faster safe return."
If cruise lines aren't inclined to guarantee such high vaccination percentages, they also have the option to earn CDC approval by conducting so-called "simulated voyages" with a set of volunteer passengers, to demonstrate that new COVID-targeted protocols have been correctly implemented and upheld. The CDC's updated policies dictate that carriers that opt for this route must sail at least one test voyage, lasting between two and seven days, carrying a minimum of 10 percent passenger capacity. Volunteers must be 18 or older, and must meet a certain set of requirements in order to participate.
Executive Director of the Space Coast Office of Tourism Peter Cranis said that Port Canaveral lost roughly $90 million in revenue over the past year, while cruise ships carrying more than 250 people were prohibited from sailing altogether. He was there to witness the many workers who were employed in and around the port being laid off over a year ago. "They're hurting," he said. "They want to get back to work. That's the painful part, is that they have a skill. They love what they do. They want to get back to it, and right now, they just can't."
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