Cruise industry calls for CDC review of pre-cruise COVID testing rules

The cruise line industry was hit harder by the COVID-19 pandemic than almost any other tourism industry. It also had a long road to get back to normal.

The entire cruise industry had completely shut down by the summer of last year, and were only able to reopen cautiously and slowly.

Even when cruises reopened, with many ships undergoing multimillion-dollar renovations to ensure guest safety, the Centers for Disease Control still listed cruise ships as Level 4 high risk as of earlier this year. Activity was labeled.

But after the CDC established a set of rules for cruise lines to follow if they wanted to continue operating, it began reducing the level of risk, and eliminated it entirely in early March. Gave.

In response, the three major players in the cruise industry, Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) – Get Carnival Corporation Report, Royal Caribbean (RCL) – Get Royal Caribbean Group Report and Norwegian (NCLH) – Receive reports from Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd, all recently returned to sailing at full capacity.

The CDC has a great deal of authority over the cruise industry, as ships sail all over the world, and every country has different safety standards. That’s why the major cruise lines err on the side of being as safe as possible.

But a new travel requirement change for airlines has prompted the cruise industry to ask for a rethink on one of the main pre-cruise safety requirements.

What is the cruise industry asking for?

The US recently dropped COVID-19 testing requirements for international travelers. This means people will no longer have to test negative before flying.

The move was taken partly because many Americans are reportedly not traveling internationally for fear that they will test positive and be stranded abroad.

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In response, the Cruise Lines International Association, which represents much of the cruise industry, praised the CDC’s decision and called for a rethinking of the pre-cruise testing requirement.

“As CDC oversees improvements in the health landscape and works with airlines to support a smooth transition by lifting the pre-arrival testing requirement, we believe there is a need for pre-arrival testing for cruise passengers. A review of the ascent test requirements is also in order.”

As noted by the Royal Caribbean Blog (which is not affiliated with Royal Caribbean), there were no requests to change the vaccine requirements for travelers.

The point is that getting a trial a few days before a cruise can make travel planning for the holidays difficult and stressful. As the Royal Caribbean Blog explains, “No other form of leisure travel subject their customers to a COVID test as an entry requirement. This includes casinos, hotels, theme parks or zoos.”

But on the other hand, Royal Caribbean issues post-cruise surveys for guests to measure customer response after the ship returns. In the latest survey, customers were asked to give their thoughts about the current set of protocols, and several guests indicated they wanted pre-cruising tests to remain in place.

Image Source : Dante Fernandez / AFP via Getty Images

Viking Cruises has already passed away from the test

As previously reported by The Street, cruise line Viking has decided to end pre-cruise tests.

In a public statement, Viking president Torstein Hagen said, “Viking highly recommends, but no longer requires, a pre-departure Covid-19 test – unless one requires a destination. June 10, As of 2022, pre-departure COVID-19 testing will continue to be required for select sea voyages on Viking Orion and expedition voyages on Viking Octantis in the United States and Canada.

But as we noted, Viking is a relatively small cruise ship, while Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line, and Norwegian are all the more popular, and therefore under scrutiny. Therefore, it is unlikely that they will take similar steps, and will instead wait and see what the CDC decides.

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