The number of Covid cases among passengers prove the cruise industry’s pandemic response was “much better than land”, Carnival Corporation’s outgoing boss has said.
Speaking during a Travel Weekly webcast, chief executive Arnold Donald explained how regulatory bodies – such as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – treated cruise lines in a far more “stringent way” compared with other sectors.
He said: “I guess what disappoints us is our industry numbers – certainly our nine Carnival brands’ numbers – will show that were much better than land.”
Donald added he felt that decisions were not always based on science, adding: “We think this is unfair.”
To strengthen his point, he explained how “millions” of people who depend on the cruise sector for their livelihood, like travel agents, port workers, and even waiters in land-based restaurants suffered during the industry shutdown.
He added: “In some cases, entire nation states are really dependent on cruise for their livelihood.
“We think that is terribly unfair to them that you would carve out one industry that demonstrated its performance and hold it to a much more stringent standard and requirement.”
Other cruise firm executives echoed his comments, added Donald, who will step down as president and chief executive of the world’s largest cruise company on August 1. He will be replaced by chief operations officer Josh Weinstein.
Donald went on to explain how the cruise sector has previously dealt with a myriad of viruses.
“This wasn’t the first virus we’ve had to deal with Ebola, SARS, MERS, Zika… I mean, a host of things,” he said. “And we’ve had to do it for decades.”
He insisted that cruise lines would always stop operating if a virus was “threatening”.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings chief executive Frank Del Rio recently said he believe the CDC had made mistakes and had moved on from decisions it took during the pandemic. Del Rio has been a regular critic of the CDC for shutting down the cruise sector.
Donald added guests had been “very cooperative” and generally supported Carnival’s primary objective which was to protect the health, safety and well-being of everyone.
But he stressed the operational difficulties that cruise lines currently faced, adding: “The protocols vary around the world, every destination has their little twist; you need a test, you don’t need one; you have to show vaccination, you don’t have to show vaccination; you need to mask in these areas, you don’t need to mask in these areas.
“It varies all over the place.”
He described the ongoing requirement for crew to wear masks in public spaces as “an extra measure”.