So two out of the three major cruise lines (Norwegian & Carnival) will not offer unvaccinated cruises from Florida. The third, Royal Caribbean and it subsidiaries, is using its booking system to ensure 95% vaccinated passengers on every ship out of Florida. These Cruise Lines Will Still Require Vaccination Despite Florida’s New Laws Against It https://www.traveloffpath.com/these...ination-despite-floridas-new-laws-against-it/
Biden Administration takes cruise ship fight with Florida to appeals court Motion asks for stay of injunction while appeals process moves forward https://www.clickorlando.com/news/2...ise-ship-fight-with-florida-to-appeals-court/ A battle between Florida and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about cruise-industry restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic went to an appeals court Tuesday, as federal-government attorneys also argued that a lower-court ruling should be put on hold. U.S. Department of Justice attorneys filed a notice of taking the case to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after a federal district judge last month sided with Florida and issued a preliminary injunction against the restrictions. The Department of Justice attorneys also requested a stay of the injunction while the appeal moves forward. The injunction involves blocking a CDC “conditional sailing order,” which has set requirements for cruise-ship operators to meet before they can sail. “The conditional sailing order is an important tool in ensuring that cruise ship operations do not exacerbate the spread of dangerous (COVID-19) variants during this inflection point in the pandemic,” Tuesday’s motion for a stay said. “It does not shut down the cruise industry but instead provides a sensible, flexible framework for reopening, based on the best available scientific evidence. Here, the 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. 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 United States.” U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday on June 18 issued a 124-page ruling that said the CDC overstepped its legal authority as it tried to prevent the spread of the virus. Merryday’s ruling was a victory for Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody, who filed the lawsuit in April. “With the advent of highly effective vaccines, with more than half of adults fully vaccinated, with infection plummeting, with death from COVID-19 asymptotically approaching zero; with the benefit of effective therapeutics for COVID-19; with masks, safe distancing, and sanitation; and with the successful and safe reopening of business, including airlines, sporting events, and other high capacity venues, COVID-19 no longer threatens the public’s health to the same extent presented at the start of the pandemic or when CDC issued the conditional sailing order,” Merryday wrote. Merryday said the preliminary injunction would take effect July 18. The federal government’s motion for a stay Tuesday, if approved, would put off that effective date while the case is pending at the Atlanta-based appeals court. The CDC last fall issued the conditional sailing order, which included a phased approach to resuming cruising, with ship operators needing to meet a series of requirements. The order came months after the industry was idled early in the pandemic following high-profile outbreaks aboard ships. In addition to arguing that the CDC overstepped its authority, DeSantis and Moody have focused heavily on the economic impacts of cruise ships not being able to sail from Florida. But in the motion for a stay Tuesday, Department of Justice attorneys wrote that ships have been approved or conditionally approved to begin passenger voyages. The motion also took aim at a new state law, pushed by DeSantis, that bans what are known as COVID-19 vaccine “passports”. Under the law, businesses, including cruise ships, cannot require that customers show proof of vaccination against COVID-19. (More at above url)
Nobody wants unvaccinated plague rats on their ship including the cruise lines. On Cruises That Allow Them, the Unvaccinated Are Second-Class Citizens A way forward has emerged for some cruise companies. And few people are happy about it. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...em-the-unvaccinated-are-second-class-citizens Royal Caribbean’s 4,275-passengerFreedom of the Seas has restarted sailings from Miami to the Bahamas with two classes of passengers on board—those who’ve been vaccinated against Covid-19, and those who have not. Jabbed guests, identified with special wristbands, get full run of the ship; those unprotected from the virus won’t even be able to walk into the sushi bar, casino, or spa. Freedom is the first ship to depart the U.S. without a vaccination requirement, and it’s also the first to depart from the nation’s cruise capital of Miami. For all the city’s influence on the cruising industry, it’s also proved to be a difficult place to restart business, given that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has barred businesses from requiring vaccine cards. “The cruise experience benefits from being impromptu,” says Jukka Laitamaki, a tourism marketing expert and professor at the NYU School of Professional Studies Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality. Cruisers are typically free to hang out where they want, do what they want to do, and make friends. But unvaccinated cruisers on Freedom will find much of that restricted. “It is the cruise lines’ worst nightmare to have to have separate areas for the vaccinated and unvaccinated,” Laitamaki says. The system has proved necessary. Even on cruises with strict Covid-19 vaccine requirements for adults, issues have already cropped up. In late June, Royal had to pay to repatriate two unvaccinated teenagers who tested positive—and their families—from the Bahamas. Sister line Celebrity also had an incident of two asymptomatic guests testing positive on a sailing from St. Maarten. (Remember, you can still carry the coronavirus even when vaccinated.) Two-Class System The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s rules for cruise companies require lines to enforce mask-wearing and social distancing when unvaccinated cruisers are on board. But companies have some discretion about the finer points. Royal Caribbean’s list of restrictions forFreedom, issued in mid-June, is a long one. It applies to all sailings on the ship in July—and likely to four other ships the line plans to launch from Florida this summer, with capacities of up to 6,680 passengers. Those with a hole punched in their SeaPass—indicating that they haven’t been jabbed or declined to show a vaccine card—will be segregated to one deck of the main dining room and will be banned from some of the better, more intimate for-a-fee dining venues. (That includes families with unvaccinated kids, too, so long as they’re sticking together.) Off limits will be the popular maritime-themed Schooner Bar pub and Viking Crown nightclub, the casino, art auctions, and the indoor Solarium pool and bar. Gatherings such as the 1970s-themed party will be open only to vaccinated guests. If you aren’t immunized and want to see a show, you’ll sit in a segregated area in the back of the theater. And you can only use the gym during specified hours. At least for now, mask wearing is required indoors (but not outdoors) of everyone on boardFreedomwhen not eating or drinking—though some venues that are only open to vaccinated guests will be able to nix the rule. The trip will cost more for unvaccinated guests, too. Anyone over the age of 12 who doesn’t voluntarily show proof of vaccine will have to provide a negative result from a Covid-19 PCR test taken within three days of departure. They’ll also have to pay for a second test at the pier and a third upon disembarking on the last day—totaling $136 or $178 per person, depending on the sailing. In addition, Royal is requiring unvaccinated travelers leaving from Florida to purchasetravel insurance—at least $25,000 per person for medical expense coverage and $50,000 per person for medical evacuation—from Aug. 1 through the end of 2021. On a one-week cruise, this can add $200 or more to the combined fare of an unvaccinated family of four. And that’s just on the ship. Each port of call has its own constantly changing rules, some requiring guests without immunity to stay on board or limit themselves to select shore excursions. Economic Impact For cruise lines, which have already lost billions of dollars in the pandemic and are just getting back to business, the two-class system may have an impact on the revenue stream. Onboard spending accounted for 28.3% of Royal Caribbean’s total revenue in 2019, according to Bloomberg Intelligence senior analyst Brian Egger. If there are many unvaccinated passengers, those figures may end up suppressed. So far that’s not the case. Only 7% of the passengers on the first Freedom cruise are unvaccinated, and most are kids. At that rate, onboard spending losses may tap out at about $50,000—a drop in the bucket on a ship that, say, rakes in $1.5 million per trip. Mark Tamis, senior vice president of hotel operations for Royal, said lost revenue didn’t even enter into the equation. But the line is currently only sailing at 40% capacity to allow for social distancing and put new health protocols to the test—with plans to ramp up capacity throughout the summer. What’s more, immunized guests may not want to co-mingle with the un-jabbed, potentially hampering ticket sales or driving cancellations, which have been high since Royal announced its protocol. “The people who are not vaccinated don’t want restrictions,” says Mindy Breitman, a travel adviser withCruise Planners, who has been busy fielding cancellation requests. “And the people who are vaccinated don’t want to wear masks because of the non-vaxed on board,” she says. Executives Sound Off Both cruisers and cruise executives agree that a vaccine requirement would be the ideal way to go. The CDC recommends at least 95% of passengers and crew be vaccinated. And in fact both Royal’s sister line Celebrity Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line are appearing to put DeSantis’s decree to the test, with carefully worded policies that boil down to vaccine requirements for anyone on board. In places like Alaska and Galveston, Texas, where they’ve been given the choice, major cruise lines have also only allowed inoculated guests on board—making exceptions only for children. Norwegian Cruise Line says its ships only will sail with vaccinated passengers through October. And all the lines are aiming for 100% crew vaccinations. Richard Fain, chairman of Royal Caribbean Cruises, parent of both Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises, has said repeatedly that he’d prefer that all guests get the jab—adding that surveys show that more than 90% of the line’s customers are vaccinated. Micky Arison, chairman of Carnival Corp. (parent company of brands such as Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, and Holland America Line), has taken to Twitter to urge vaccines. Cruisers don’t need much persuading. Most are showing a strong desire to sail with other vaxed passengers—a survey of 5,000 readers of the popular website Cruise Critic found last month that 89% would cruise if vaccines are a requirement. But there has also been some pushback. When Mike Bayley, president and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean, explained policies for unvaccinated guests on Facebook recently, the hundreds of responses he received included both applause and vitriol from opponents espousing anti-vax rhetoric. “My only request is please share your opinion or comments in a polite way,” Bayley said in a follow-up. “If you could read some messages I have received! It’s scary!”
Unvaccinated Trump supporter throws a temper tantrum after cruise boots her off over positive COVID test An unvaccinated Trump supporter recently filmed herself throwing an epic temper tantrum after the cruise she was supposed to be on booted her off after she tested positive for COVID-19. A TikTok user who goes by the name of Amethyst216 last week posted a video in which she documented what she said was an unjust removal from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship due to her positive COVID test. At the start of the video, she claims that she already had COVID once three months ago, which she says gives her "high positive antibodies." As the hazmat suit-clad ship workers try to remove her and her luggage from the vessel, she grows more and more agitated and starts screaming at the top of her lungs. "I'm tired of Royal Caribbean telling me what I've gotta do when you've been f*cking lying to us!" she screamed. "They're f*cking lying!" In previous TikTok videos, Amethyst216 expressed her devotion to former President Donald Trump, including a video last year in which she donned a red MAGA hat and said that Trump "loves us and he proves it to us every single day."
Well Yes.... DeSantis is absolutely screwing up the Florida cruise line recovery. Is Florida Fumbling the Cruise Line Recovery? Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and NCL have been slow to come around this summer. https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/07/13/is-florida-fumbling-the-cruise-line-recovery/