May 05, 2021
With the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention releasing more guidelines for the cruise industry to restart, it has also published a set of guidelines for so-called volunteer cruises, which will be between two and seven days in length.
Specifics:
Cruise lines will need to test embarkation and disembarkation procedures, as approved by U.S. port and local health authorities as part the cruise ship operator’s Phase 2A agreements, including procedures for terminal check-in.
Cruise lines will need to run all regular onboard activities, including seating and meal service at dining and entertainment venues.
Passengers will take part in medical evacuation procedures.
Cruise lines will have to mandate masks even by the pool and nix buffets for trial sailings without vaccine requirements, CDC says bchang@businessinsider.com (Brittany Chang)
The CDC has unveiled the next two phases of its Conditional Sailing Order.
The new phases detail how a cruise s simulated trail sailings should look.
New requirements include masking up when poolside, and the potential ceasing of buffet services.
On May 5, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines on how cruise lines should go about trial voyages, providing some insight into how cruising could look when it finally returns after over a year of no-sailing.
CDC Says Test Cruises Can Start With Volunteer Passengers to Prove They re Covid Safe
Alerts
An aerial view from a drone shows Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Sea cruise ship docked at Port Miami on March 2, 2021 in Miami, Florida.
Photo: Joe Raedle (Getty Images)
The U.S.-based cruise ship industry will need to prove it can operate safely with test cruises and volunteer passengers before normal operations can begin, the Centers for Disease Control said in a statement on Wednesday. All cruise volunteers will need to be fully vaccinated and must agree to be tested for covid-19 three to five days after their journey.