CDC to Make Masks Mandatory in Cruise Terminals, Cruise Ships in the U.S.

:-)

We usually drive to the beach.

Or, for our fave beach....HI....it is an 8 hour n/s flight.

We do NOT do well with the thought of being a floating petri dish....for days. We also don’t like being limited to just the ship’s food choices.

We can handle the 8 hr flight....knowing we’ll be on the ground, in HI, for a couple of weeks. Exploring on our own time and dining at different places that we love.

Since HI is still on crazy lock down, for the most part, we’ve avoided. FL beaches would be our first choice, now. Not a bad drive, at all.

Just a matter of personal preference, I guess.

A couple highlights from the industry plan, Recomendations from the Healthy Sail Program . Not likely the CDC dictates will be easier.

To prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, cruise operators should require guests and crew to wear cloth face coverings/face masks in accordance with CDC recommendations.
Recommendation 13: Cruise operators should conduct once-daily temperature checks for guests and crew on board.
Specifically, guests should wear face coverings in any indoor, congregate setting regardless of physical distancing measures, but should not be required to wear face coverings in their own cabins. A notable exception is indoor dining. Seating in restaurants and bars/lounges should allow for physical distancing, so guests can eat and drink without needing face coverings while seated. Face coverings are not required in outdoor settings as long as physical distancing is feasible. However, if physical distancing is not feasible in certain outdoor settings, masks/face coverings among guests should be required in those locations.
There are several scenarios on board where crew members may come in close contact with guests for longer periods of time (e.g., spa staff giving guests a spa treatment), where it is impossible for crew members to maintain physical distancing from each other or guests to perform their job function and/or maintain the safety of the ship (e.g., watch standing officers, mooring stations). In such scenarios, cruise operators should ensure that crew members are equipped with the necessary and additional PPE, such as gloves, to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and other infectious illnesses.
CDC guidance states that outdoor activities and events should be prioritized over indoor activities to mitigate against the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission.52 Given that indoor excursions may lead to crowding, make it difficult for guests to properly physically distance, and significantly increase the risk of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2, cruise operators should be very careful about which indoor excursions are permitted for guests. If cruise operators can ensure that onshore locations have comparable safety and public health measures to those being taken on board the ship, cruise operators can consider permitting indoor excursions.
In the startup phase, cruises itineraries should be as simple as possible, utilizing private, cruise line-owned and operated destinations or ports where there can be tight control of the onshore experience. During the initial return to sailing, cruise operators should only allow guests debarking from a ship at a destination port to participate in cruise line-sponsored or verified excursions as a way of limiting potential exposures in the destinations they visit.
There are two essential prerequisites that need to be satisfied in order for a ship to sail to a given port:
1) Approval from the local government to visit a port.
2) Agreement to allow safe passage to SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals and their close contacts to debark and travel home.

Masking requirements and even a vaccine requirement are likely givens, and something that will be accepted by a large number of guests. In itself not much different from daily life in urban areas.

Massages with gloves, I suspect that may be an issue for many people.

Outdoor activities prioritized. That will be interesting in Europe and Asia. Museums and such can't be controlled by the cruise lines. Exclusive use is difficult to impossible. I'm told independent on shore time will be discouraged. That kind of moving bubble environment won't be appealing.

And a requirement that countries visited allow debarkation and travel home strikes me as a non starter. Most countries won't be pleased to have covid positive individuals disembark And is the CDC really saying airlines must board covid positive patients.

These are industry recommendations, and imo they won't allow profitable operation. At least not this year. And you'll recall last summer most lines indicated they'd secured financing to allow a year, perhaps a bit more, of zero revenue operation. We're there. And haven't addressed the question of occupency levels. Or shorter cruises. Or pricing, which hasn't come down. I fear, for share and bond holders, reorganization may be the only long term solution. For tourists, the lines will survive under different ownership.

I'm told independent on shore time will be discouraged. That kind of moving bubble environment won't be appealing.

I am in that category.

When I take a Bermuda cruise in October, I keep a low profile as my wife is demented. But one thing we enjoy is getting off the ship and walking over to the ferry and taking it the lengh of Bemuda to St. Georges and having lunch at the Wahoo restaurant. Afterwards we take the ferry back to the Cruise ship.

That seems to be out the question now -so we won't be going. -Tom

Thank you! Good to see you.