For some strange reason, the cruise industry has never had a gray area.
Either it has passionate diehards, who think cruising is the greatest thing to happen to travel since the paddle was invented. Or it has its detractors, who are guided by some of the misdeeds of cruise lines in recent memory - running aground, as the Costa Concordia did several years ago; dumping trash overboard; mechanical problems that have left ships adrift at sea; and, even long before the coronavirus, outbreaks of illnesses on board.
For cruising, the thin line between love and hate is practically non-existent.
But mark it down - Sunday, November 1, could be the beginning of an entirely new era in which the cruise industry shines and makes itself over.
And this is coming from the guy who has never taken a cruise before but can't wait to decide for himself.
The Centers for Disease Control has let its no-sail order for cruise ships in U.S. waters expire, meaning cruise lines like Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and more can begin sailing again. Oh, they are going to have to jump through hoops to do so, meeting a stringent set of requirements before it can push away from the dock.
But that shouldn't be a problem and, in fact, should be one of the reasons why the industry can ingratiate itself into the minds of any skeptics. See, the industry has realized its misgivings due to its issues with COVID-19, especially with the proliferation of the virus on cruise ships back in January, February and March. Nobody is saying the cruise lines purposely ignored health and safety protocols prior to the emergence of the coronavirus. Let's just say the idea of deep cleaning and sanitizing and protocols became a priority when people began dying instead of just suffering a bad stomach ache.
Maybe that sounds callous, but reality can smack one in the face very hard.
The upshot, however, is that well before the CDC came up with those requirements before sailing again, the industry - under the leadership of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) - began mapping out its own health and safety protocols. They took the lead on what was inevitably to come. Instead of holding out and capitulating, they became proactive instead of reactionary.
Cruise lines, and travel as a whole, are about to enter a whole new era. Even if a vaccine is forthcoming more sooner than later, the way we travel is never going to go back the way it was. It is my humble opinion that face masks and other cautionary measures are here to stay. But that will allow cruise companies to make a new impression on the doubters, to win over those who have had their doubts about taking a cruise long before 'coronavirus' became the ubiquitous word of the year.
Word of mouth in any era is a rolling stone; word of mouth in the era of social media is a rampage. Yet in a strange way that can help the cruise lines as more and more people trumpet the successes and the changes on cruise ships.
Oh yes, this is not a time to struggle.
This is a time for cruise companies to shine.
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