The cruise industry has insisted its Covid protocols remain “unequalled” by other sectors as the US health authority released a raft of new voluntary rules for sailing.
Trade body Clia condemned the guidelines for operations in US waters issued on Wednesday by the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as “potentially unworkable”.
Covid-19 quarantine and isolation rules will vary depending on vaccination status, under the latest update from the CDC, which continues to say that cruise travel should be avoided despite the expiry of its conditional sail order.
The CDC’s new Covid-19 proposals add a new “vaccination status” tier that offers a tailored approach for ships that operate with passengers and crew that are almost entirely fully vaccinated and boosted.
Cruise ships are split into three tiers under the new guidelines: “Highly vaccinated” ships have at least 95% of passengers and crew fully vaccinated.
“Not highly vaccinated” ships have less than 95% of passengers and crew fully vaccinated.
Ships that fall under the third and newest tier, “vaccination standard of excellence,” have at least 95% of passengers and crew “up to date” with their Covid-19 vaccines, which would mean full vaccination plus any eligible booster shots.
On vaccination standard of excellence ships, close contacts to people identified with Covid-19 must quarantine until at least five full days after their last exposure. On ships that do not meet the vaccination standard of excellence, close contacts must quarantine at least 10 days.
Isolation on vaccination standard of excellence ships can be discontinued after five days. On ships that do not meet the vaccination standard of excellence, isolation must last at least ten days.
“This programme is designed to ensure health and safety protections for travellers (crew and passengers) in a way that mitigates the risk of spreading Covid-19,” the CDC said.
Cruise companies have been given until February 18 to opt in.
The guidance will be re-evaluated “based on public health conditions and available scientific evidence” no later than March 18, and updated as needed, the CDC announced.
But in a strong rebuttal, Clia insisted: “The protocols adopted by every Clia cruise-line member remain unequalled by other industries.
“Cruise lines are a model for adopting and employing highly effective, layered mitigation measures and have proven their effectiveness in a way that is unmatched by virtually any other commercial setting.”
The trade association described the latest CDC guidance as appearing to be “out of step with the actual public health conditions on cruise ships and unnecessary in light of societal trends away from more restrictive measures”.
Clia added: “We are confounded by the CDC’s imposition of even more complex and unwarranted measures which ignore empirical evidence that the industry’s protocols have provided a greater level of Covid mitigation than most any other setting.
“The CDC’s guidance for multitiered cruises is counterproductive to consumers, creating market confusion between the various tiers, and potentially unworkable in practice.”
Clia said it was “dismayed” by the CDC’s decision to maintain any travel health notice for cruise.
“CDC has long recognised the paramount importance of vaccination in protecting against Covid-19 and the vaccination rate on cruise ships is close to 100%, whereas on land it is only about 63%,” Clia pointed out.
“It seems unnecessarily discriminatory against cruise to maintain that the chances of getting Covid-19 on a cruise ‘is very high’ even if you are up to date with your Covid-19 vaccines. This discounts the importance of what the CDC has otherwise promoted as the single most important touchstone for public health and safety.
“The cruise industry remains one of the most highly regulated sectors even after the expiration of the conditional sailing order.
“Clia cruise line members will continue to comply with all applicable regulations. Clia and its members are committed to continue working with the CDC in mutual, cooperative partnership as part of our shared commitment to putting health and safety first.
“Part and parcel of that goal is seeing signals from CDC that it recognises the lengths the entire cruise industry has gone to and the success it has achieved in guarding against Covid-19.”
Clia added: “Unlike any other travel, tourism, hospitality, or entertainment sector, cruise ships test all persons boarding, have medical, isolation and quarantine facilities on site, implement extensive response plans using only private shoreside resources, and have created an environment where almost every single person is fully vaccinated.
“The result has been a dramatic drop in the number of Covid-positive cases, with hospitalizations being extraordinarily rare – in fact 80 times lower than on land in the US.”