Posted on 03/31/2021 10:16:07 AM PDT by Capt. Tom
PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. — Even as a CDC ban on cruises continues, major U.S. cruise lines are accepting bookings for June trips out of Florida ports, a Spectrum News review has found.
What You Need To Know Carnival, MSC, Royal Caribbean, Disney Cruise Line offer Florida bookings for June departure
Bookings come despite order from CDC that keeps passenger cruises docked indefinitely
Carnival tells Spectrum News it's "optimistic" for summer cruises with vaccinations ramping up
RELATED: DeSantis Calls on CDC to End Restrictions on US Cruise Lines Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International, for example, offer on their websites three-day trips from Port Canaveral to The Bahamas beginning June 4, June 11, and June 18, among various other cruises and dates.
Royal Caribbean also offers a seven-night Western Caribbean cruise out of Port of Tampa beginning June 5, plus two July cruises from Tampa.
MSC Cruises is offering four- and three-night bookings beginning June 6 and June 10, respectively, out of Port Canaveral.
Disney Cruise Line's website accepts bookings for four- and three-night Bahamas cruises from the same port beginning June 2 and June 4, respectively.
The June bookings come despite a Conditional Sailing Order from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that keeps passenger cruises docked indefinitely because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
The bookings also come as Norwegian Cruise Line this month canceled all cruises through June.
In a statement Monday to Spectrum News, Carnival made clear it holds out hope for sailing clearance soon from the CDC. The company referred to a recent pledge from President Joe Biden that all U.S. adults would get access to COVID-19 vaccinations by May 1.
“While some cruise lines have announced cancellations for June, we have not made such a decision,” Carnival said in its statement. “With the promise that all Americans can be vaccinated by May, we are optimistic that we will see cruise travel resume in time for summer. In the meantime, we know guests are eager to confirm their vacation plans and we are committed to providing them options.”
The company said customers booked for June can cancel without penalty. It also said it has moved final payment deadlines for June cruises to April 30.
Neither Royal Caribbean nor MSC responded to requests for comment Monday from Spectrum News.
Florida also boasts cruise ports in Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami, the world’s busiest. Port Canaveral touts itself as the world's second-busiest cruise port in multi-day embarkations.
On Friday, leaders from Carnival and Royal Caribbean joined representatives of other major cruise lines in a roundtable conversation on the topic at Port Canaveral, where Gov. Ron DeSantis urged the CDC to rescind sailing restrictions that he said threatened industry workers. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said at the event that the state would consider legal options.
The CDC issued its conditional sailing order in October, replacing a no-sail order from March and directing cruise lines to take steps to protect crews and passengers before they could resume sailing. The CDC said in its order that “unrestricted cruise ship travel would likely exacerbate and amplify the spread” of COVID-19.
Asked to comment Monday on the June bookings, CDC spokeswoman Jasmine Reed said in an email to Spectrum News: “On October 30, 2020, CDC issued Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) that remains in effect until November 1, 2021. Returning to passenger cruising is a phased approach to mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19. Details for the next phase of the CSO are currently under interagency review.”
Yet Carnival said Monday its guest operations remained paused only through May 31.
“The timing for re-start in the U.S. continues to be uncertain,” Carnival said in its statement to Spectrum News. “The industry — through our trade association CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association) — has asked the CDC to amend the conditional sail order and allow cruising to begin this summer.”
This month, sister companies Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises announced they would offer cruise packages for June departure from islands outside the U.S.
In its statement to Spectrum News, Carnival said it didn’t plan to move its ships away from their U.S. home ports.
“We will continue to focus on returning to operations with our current homeport deployment,” the company said.
Are we going to be allowed in June to sail from the USA? YES or NO!
We should know the results of this challenge shortly. -Tom
Dear CDC,
YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!
Sincerely,
an American that understands our constitution.
Mar 9, 2020,08:02pm EDT|365,669 views
COVID-19 Travel Update: Fauci Says Cruising Is OK If You Are Healthy
https://www.forbes.com/sites/douggollan/2020/03/09/fauci-says-cruising-is-ok-if-you-are-healthy/
My first thought is a money grab by the various cruise lines then file for bankruptcy leaving many people in dry dock.
The CDC needs to be dismantled. No one elected anyone at the CDC. The CDC should have zero authority to unilaterally make laws. It is unconstitutional. So, go eff yourself CDC.
I read somewhere that cruises to Alaska are on hold because Canada won’t allow any stops in Victoria or Vancouver.
No.
The Green New Deal does not make allowances for cruising. There is a lot of green passing through hands to make population control a reality.
The industry is what, 65billiions? Archegos fund blew up at 10billions this past weekend and it was a little ripple across the financial sphere.
Biden and team think the country can absorb sailings loss as the industry makes new home ports around the world.
IMVHO
Only American ships can sail from a US port to another US port.
Cruise ships are rarely American ships, so they can’t go to Alaska from Seattle - which is why Vancouver stop is necessary to make it an international itinerary.
I’ve been wondering about that. Does CDC have jurisdiction over cruise lines so they can dictate schedules? Does FTA? Does any federal agency?
That’s an American law, no?
Make an exception for Alaska cruises!
The CDC doesn’t make law.
The cruise lines along with ALL businesses need to ignore their edict and get on with it. What can the CDC do to them anyway? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! F em!
Some people think it is a continuation of their bait and switch tactics the Lines have used for the last year.
Something I have described as a form of PONZI scheme.
Economically the Cruise Lines are really up against it now and some drastic action has to be taken soon.
How many more BILLIONS can they borrow now with no way of paying it back, except to use borrowed money to meet their obligations. A business like the AIRLINES don't have to worry because the Governments will bail them out - as they have gotten bailed out in the past.
The Cruise lines are on their own.
Something has to give shortly. -Tom
Two words I remember from the last article you sent out...”unsecured loans”.
The only way they’d get deposit money from me at this point would be if those funds went into some sort of trust acct and they’d be immediately dispersable back to the psgr in the event of bankruptcy.
Basically this is the cruise lines finally telling the CDC to F-— themselves. The straw that broke the back might have been the CDC Director going all doom & gloom Drama Queen the other day.
IMHO I believe that sums it up.
Can you believe the millions these Cruise Lines have spent on doctors and other people to deal with the CDC only to find out last week that the final decision on allowing them to sail will be a committee decision with other bureaucratic agencies.
The Cruise Lines should have uncovered that last year and made their moves then.
Can these CEOs of these big 3 cruise lines be this incompetent and naive? -Tom
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