Cruises from US ports could restart in mid-summer, a USA TODAY report suggests.
The newspaper said it had obtained a letter sent to the cruise industry from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirming the long-awaited return to sailing in American waters.
“We acknowledge that cruising will never be a zero-risk activity and that the goal of the CSO’s [Conditional Sail Order] phased approach is to resume passenger operations in a way that mitigates the risk of Covid-19 transmission onboard cruise ships and across port communities,” Aimee Treffiletti, head of the maritime unit for CDC’s Covid-19 response within its global mitigation task force for the pandemic, reportedly said in the letter.
In a statement about the letter, a spokesperson told the newspaper that companies could begin passenger voyages from the US in mid-July, depending on cruise lines’ pace and compliance with the CDC’s Framework for Conditional Sailing Order.
“CDC looks forward to continued engagement with the industry and urges cruise lines to submit Phase 2A port agreements as soon as possible to maintain the timeline of passenger voyages by mid-July,” the spokesperson said.
The letter follows a month of twice-weekly meetings with cruise industry representatives after more than a year of shutdown from the US.
While the CDC outlined a potential restart date for cruises departing from US ports this summer, that does not mean that the restrictions on cruises are lifted.
The CDC offered clarifications to its guidance based on industry feedback and still expects cruise lines to meet its requirements before sailing can resume.