The Norwegian, despite its name as a U.S. company, sent a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday informing them of their offer. It was America’s first major shipping line planned for the resumption of U.S. shipping.
So on Monday, the Norwegian said: Enough, the company said it plans to vaccinate everyone on board at least two weeks before setting off.
“Vaccination is the main vehicle for Americans to get back to their daily lives,”
; said Norwegian CEO Frank Del Rio. “We believe that with 100% essential vaccinations for guests and crew members as well as scientifically backed public health measures … we can create an environment that is 100% essential to our guests and crew members. “Like a bubble” safe “CDC issued a plan to return to the sea.
The CDC’s statement was not welcomed by the industry.
The Cruise Line International Association, an industry trade group, called the CDC’s statement “disappointing,” “too burdensome,” and “underutilized.” The cruise instead calls for outbreak mitigation efforts, which it says is the CDC’s approach to “every other sector of our society in the United States.”
In response, the CDC said it was committed to working with the cruise industry to continue the cruise along the step-by-step guidelines outlined in the conditional sailing sequence – hopefully by mid-summer.
But Norwegians said they shared the CDC’s view that vaccination could help bring Americans back to normalcy and believe its plan. “Share in spirit and beyond intent” of the CDC’s approach.
The shipping companies under the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands, two of the other major U.S. cruise companies, Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean, have yet to announce their own plans to resume sailing in the U.S.
“We are investigating and studying all options to ensure the health and safety of our guests and crew,” Royal Caribbean said.
No sailing
All three companies suffered major losses last year, totaling $ 6.8 billion between them. All have borrowed a lot of money and cut staff to drive out of the crisis.
But American health officials have yet to sign on the return of the US cruise ship, the world’s largest cruise ship market. The trade group has called on the CDC to announce a precise date for a return to the ship by early July.
“The CDC’s inactivity effectively prohibits all sailing operations in the world’s largest cruise ship market,” the group’s March 24 statement said. “Cruises are the only sector of the U.S. economy that is still prohibited even though most other countries open or continue throughout the outbreak.”
Advice from the CDC blocking US cruises. “It does not reflect the industry’s proven advances and achievements in other parts of the world or the advent of vaccines. “Shipping lines should be treated in the same way as the other travel, tourism, hospitality and entertainment sectors.”
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