Court Upholds CDC’s Right To Regulate Cruise Ship Operations Amid COVID-19

Travel Pulse ^ | JULY 18, 2021 | LAURIE BARATTI

[Capt. Tom]

A panel of judges of the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals last night ruled in favor of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s position in its ongoing legal battle with the state of Florida over the agency’s right to impose COVID-19 regulations on the cruise ship industry.

Yesterday’s decision stays Federal District Judge Steven Merryday’s previously June 19 injunction order against the CDC, which would have prevented the public health agency from enforcing its Conditional Sail Order (CSO) in Florida. This would have rendered the comprehensive framework of regulations set out in the CSO, intended to steer the safe restart of cruise ship operations, mere recommendations for cruise lines to follow, rather than requirements.

USA Today reported that the panel’s two-to-one vote was handed down Saturday night only minutes before midnight—just before Florida’s injunction against the CDC was set to go into effect.

Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis first filed a lawsuit against the CDC back in April over what he called the “unlawful” shutdown of the cruise sector amid COVID-19, arguing that the federal agency had overstepped its authority and angry at the prospect of losing state revenues generated by the multi-billion-dollar cruise industry as the summer season approached.

He also issued an executive order creating a law that prohibits Florida businesses, including cruise lines, from requesting evidence of vaccination from their customers. This forced multiple major cruise lines, which had originally announced that they would require all eligible passengers to be vaccinated prior to sailing when cruises restarted, to alter their rules for Florida departures.

That is, except for Norwegian Cruise Line, which declared that it would transfer its operations out of Florida if DeSantis persisted in his efforts to cripple the CDC’s Conditional Sail Order. Norwegian had actually filed court papers in support of the CDC’s rules, which were developed in close cooperation with major cruise lines. And, only days ago, Norwegian actually filed its own lawsuit against Florida to retake the right to require that eligible passengers be fully vaccinated when it resumes operations in August.

The CDC lodged its appeal against Merryday’s injunction against its framework for the safe restart of cruise operations on July 6, defending the CSO and saying, "It does not shut down the cruise industry but instead provides a sensible, flexible framework for reopening, based on the best available scientific evidence." It argued, “undisputed evidence shows that unregulated cruise ship operations would exacerbate the spread of COVID-19 and that the harm to the public that would result from such operations cannot be undone.”

The agency also warned against the potential dangers of DeSantis’ new law forbidding cruise lines to request proof of vaccination, explaining: “Cruise ships are uniquely situated to spread COVID-19, due in part to their close quarters for passengers and crew for prolonged periods, and stops at foreign ports that risk introducing new variants of Covid-19 into the U.S."

[tenthirteen]

Going on a cruise is great.....just ask the folks on the Titanic or Lusitania

[Flick Lives]

This is going to get interesting. Presuming this CDC injunction holds, then the cruise chips can enforce their rule to allow only vaccinated passengers. What if Covid still breaks out onboard? How to spin it.

[Amendment10]

Hmm. The federal government organization that later became the CDC evidently got started as a bona-fide (imo) military support originization in WWII.

But like other post-FDR federal government agencies, it doesn't surprise me that institutionally indoctrinated, state sovereignty-ignoring judges don't seem to understand that CDC was later wrongly given constitutionally indefensible, politically correct powers over the states without the required constitutional Article V consent of the states imo.

"From the accepted doctrine that the United States is a government of delegated powers, it follows that those not expressly granted, or reasonably to be implied from such as are conferred, are reserved to the states, or to the people. To forestall any suggestion to the contrary, the Tenth Amendment was adopted. The same proposition, otherwise stated, is that powers not granted are prohibited [emphasis added]." —United States v. Butler, 1936.

The remedy for unconstitutional CDC...

Trump's red tsunami of 80 million (Mike Lindell said so) patriot supporters need to primary federal and state lawmakers who don't clearly promise to do the following.

Not only do new patriot lawmakers need to clearly promise to make the non-elected CDC either a toothless advisory federal agency, or get rid of it, within their first 100 days in office, but also to help remove bad-apple judges from the bench in their first 100 days in office.

Insights welcome.

[entropy12]

Could not agree with you more AC86UT89.
Capt. Tom spends lots of time and effort posting threads about cruise news. If you hate cruises, why are you lurking and posting on Capt. Tom’s threads? You are annoying to us cruise fans. Just go away and post something positive.

[Justa]

Glad I sold my Carnival stock last Tuesday.

[Pollard]

LOL, I lived in FL for 25 years and bought a sailboat for $800 that I sold for $2,000

It was not a blue water boat. At 22 foot, you'd have to have some courage to go to the Bahamas. Now 32/36 foot or bigger and yeah, Bahamas no problem if you know what you're doing. Else you better stay where you can see land. Still fun though. Sail for a while and then find a cove to anchor in and bbq a meal. My 22 footer had a cabin and I slept in it many times. Wife and I spent our anniversary night in it. It was actually the perfect FL sized boat because with the sails dropped, boom laid back and center board pulled up, we could go down rivers and canals and in some cases, go from one lake to another with the 10hp outboard. There are bars and restaurants right on the shores of many lakes and the gulf coast in FL. Many have bands/music.

That's a Rhodes 22 which is what I had, though mine didn't look quite as nice. Still sailed and was solid. We had a toilet and a bed and a grill we hung off the side. The two of us plus the kids, when they were single digit age, could sleep in it. Prices have gone up since then but I could find the equivalent for under $3k. I figured prices had gone up which is why I said one or two cruises. I paid $800 for mine and put a little into it. It didn't come with a trailer or the 10hp outboard. I think I had $1300 into it when I was done. I could find the equivalent for $2,800.

Here's one that's cute and ugly at the same time for $1,500(extra $400 for the outboard). https://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/boa/d/saint-petersburg-ensenada-20-sailboat/7348849221.html. Awesome FL boat. 1 1/2 foot draft with the keel up. Roomy inside for it's size.

Guess it's in the genes/blood. My dad and his uncle were lobstermen. My 4x great grandfather was a captain of a wooden sailing merchant ship. We like to feel the water/waves. If I'd have gotten into it when I was younger, before kids, I might have gotten a 40 footer and went to the Bahamas with some shipmates. Here I sit in MO now with the only decent sailing lake being Lake Stockton, 3hrs and 160 miles away. Lake of the Ozarks might not be bad either but Stockton is the official sailing lake of MO due to steady winds that don't change direction every several seconds.

I see a few trailer cruisers that sleep four in my local craigslist right now for $2000-3000 with trailer and outboard. If we were closer to Stockton or Lake of the Ozarks, I'd have one already. Great for teaching kids some hands on and slightly complex and at times, dangerous stuff if you screw up.

[entropy12]

No need to spin anything. Vaccines are NOT plastic airtight bubbles around you. If you inhale a load of virus from nearby infected person, there is nothing stopping the virus from establishing residence in your lungs. And you could test positive for covid.

The difference the vaccine makes is......your body is less likely to mount an over-the-top response to the unknown virus multiplying like crazy in your lungs. Because the vaccine would have introduced your immune system of the protein signatures of the virus. This over-the-top response of white cells attacking the virus has resulted in destroying the lung tissue permanently where the virus is residing. In addition to that, the vaccine would have created anti-bodies and those are additional ammo for your body to subdue the virus before you get so sick you end up in the isolation ward of a hospital. Your body will simply create more copies of the anti-bodies and win the fight.

So yes, even on a ship with 100% vaxxed passengers and crew, latent infections could surface and some could test positive for covid. But the good news is most of them will be asymptomatic, and not likely to get seriously sick. No worse than getting catching a cold on the ship. No need to freak out.

[entropy12]

CDC has protected Americans from pandemics before, and will do so in the future. I am OK with CDC. I am more concerned of people getting seriously sick with covid and exporting big loads of virus in the air.

[mewzilla]

Not a saga.

It’s a war.

Deep State’s against DeSantis and Florida.

[entropy12]

Not correct, ask the 50,000,000 Americans who have done cruises and enjoyed them. I am booked on my 37th cruise in September on the beautiful ship MSC Divina and plan on enjoying every minute there.

https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/msc-divina

[Capt. Tom]

Not a saga.

It’s a war.

Deep State’s against DeSantis and Florida.

Below is an excerpt from the Cruise Industry News that has just picked up this story. -Tom

Excerpt-"In short, it’s a win for the CDC and a loss for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who nearly prevailed in his lawsuit against the CDC’s treatment of the cruise industry in Florida."

[entropy12]

I think the judiciary have the authority to decide what is constitutional and what is not.

Because the US Constitution is a brief document. It does not say anything about CDC or it’s role or every issue which occurs in the country. That is what the courts are here for.

[Amendment10]

"CDC has protected Americans from pandemics before, and will do so in the future. I am OK with CDC. I am more concerned of people getting seriously sick with covid and exporting big loads of virus in the air."

I agree with you to an extent.

The problem is that today's CDC has been weaponized by the "Orange Man Bad" desperate Democratic elite imo, is consequently helping to confuse good health practices, and is therefore in dire need of a constitutional overhaul.

Let's see what new patriot lawmakers can do with CDC in their first 100 days in power after midterm elections.

[entropy12]

It is not the CDC scientists and medical people who are the main problem, it is mainly the leadership at CDC which is using it as a political weapon.

Ditto with FBI, GOJ, FED and a few others.

No need to throw out the baby with the bath water.

[Brian Griffin]

Florida Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico beaches have lovely warm salt water this time of year.

Why sleep in a cramped cruise ship cabin when you can sleep in a large bed in a Florida hotel room?

Here in Florida, Third World wages are illegal.

[digger48]

I don’t believe I hate cruises or tell anyone how they should should think about...anything

I’m sure there are aspects of it I would enjoy. But, personally for me, the downsides outweigh the benefits

And, what would this site be without the negative Ned’s and Nancys

[Brian Griffin]

“Sec. 2. Immediate Action to Require Mask-Wearing on Certain Domestic Modes of Transportation.

“(a) Mask Requirement...the Secretary of Transportation (including through the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)), the Secretary of Homeland Security (including through the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard), and the heads of any other executive departments and agencies (agencies) that have relevant regulatory authority (heads of agencies) shall immediately take action, to the extent appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to require masks to be worn in compliance with CDC guidelines in or on:

“(i) airports; (ii) commercial aircraft; (iii) trains; (iv) public maritime vessels, including ferries...

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/21/executive-order-promoting-covid-19-safety-in-domestic-and-international-travel/

“Masks are required on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within, or out of the United States...”

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html

Biden’s mask order now comes into play in the cruise industry.

[Brian Griffin]

Fully enjoy every breath taken in a Florida restaurant or hotel room.

[Brian Griffin]

It is very, very common for a restaurant in Florida to be owned by an individual or a family.

Patronize small businesses.

[entropy12]

I can tell you this with honesty. After everyone of my past 36 cruises, I came back 1-3 Lbs heavier but physically stronger because I always walk minimum 3 miles every day on ship. On a recent cruise from port Canaveral on Oasis of the Seas ship, the walk from cabin to assigned restaurant and back to cabin was 1/2 mile on my pedometer. So 1.5 miles every day just to go eat 3 meals in dining room. We avoid buffets for various reasons.

And neither me or my wife or the 2 kids (who did 16 cruises with us before going to college) never got sick with anything. My main reason for a cruise is that wonderful all I can eat cuisine, not have to shop for food or cook or clean, not have to drive to a Vegas style show every day or gamble in casino, and try a new bar every day on ship, again without driving or parking.

It is the most carefree, safe, and amazing value for the money, holiday/vacation for us.