USAToday is reporting, “Cruising could restart in mid-summer in American waters, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said late Wednesday in a letter to the cruise industry that USA TODAY obtained.
“We acknowledge that cruising will never be a zero-risk activity and that the goal of the CSO’s phased approach is to resume passenger operations in a way that mitigates the risk of COVID-19 transmission onboard cruise ships and across port communities,” Aimee Treffiletti, head of the Maritime Unit for CDC’s COVID-19 response within its Global Mitigation Task Force for COVID-19, said in the letter.
In a statement about the letter, spokesperson Caitlin Shockey gave USA TODAY a more specific timeline. Cruises could begin passenger voyages from the United States in mid-July, depending on cruise lines’ pace and compliance with the CDC’s Framework for Conditional Sailing Order.”
It’s beyond me why it’s taking so long for the CDC and the cruise industry to get on the same page about safely resuming cruising.
Some cruise lines have stated they are mandating that both crew and passengers must be vaccinated before sailing. Daily temperature checks and wearing of masks in certain areas are also areas of agreement, so what’s the hold up?
As I’ve said during my recent tv interview below, all-inclusive resorts in Mexico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic are open now.
I hope that cruising will resume this summer. Florida is losing billions in tourism revenue, over 100,000 travel-related workers are anxious to get back to their jobs, and many of us are ready to cruise.
It’s up to our government to move quickly to give the cruise industry the green light to sailing once again.
I look forward to being one of the first people to step onboard the Carnival Ecstasy which is homeported only 15 minutes from my home in Jacksonville!
Click on the link below for the full USAToday story:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2021/04/28/cdc-cruises-could-restart-july/4883450001/
