If you read cruise ship industry forums, many passengers believe the cruise industry has been treated unfairly in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Recent forum posts on the Royal Caribbean Blog (as shown below) have been an outlet for passengers for complain about the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. Naturally, there are some passengers who support the efforts of the CDC to minimize impact of the coronavirus.
Note: The Royal Caribbean Blog is an unofficial fan blog written for other fans of Royal Caribbean International. The Royal Caribbean Blog is not affiliated with Royal Caribbean International.
Unfair Treatment by the CDC
Maybe its just me but does anyone else feel the CDC has singled out the cruise industry? Its been over 4 months and the CDC has yet to say or give any guidelines or protocols for the cruise industry to start sailing again. Now I understand we have a huge issue with cases right now in the U.S. But If you can pack 300 people on an airplane with no social distancing for hours at a time or open up amusement parks and hotels and restaurants you would figure with proper protocols in place we would be able to sail at reduce capacity. I’m just gonna say it but this virus is not going away. The European union and the Asian markets have worked closely with the cruise lines so they can began sailing. Of course the case count is much lower in Europe and Asia but the virus is still there and its not going away. Also why is the CDC asking the general public questions on how to best keep people safe on a cruise ship? isn’t that the CDC’s job? Why is the CDC asking for a public consultation on how to keep people safe on cruise ships but they wont do it for schools, or airplanes, or amusement parks or hotels? It seems pretty bias to me.
This is just how I see it of course I know some people have different opinions and I welcome that. But at this rate we wont get back to cursing anytime soon. Also a point I like to make is that the virus didn’t get here from a cruise ship. It got here from an airplane. But airplanes haven’t stopped flying. I have cruised and traveled all my life and I can tell you that cruise ships are the cleanest way to travel. I sure all you would agree but I would like to here what others think. I don’t see cursing resuming at least until after the 1st of the year. It just seems like the CDC is dragging its feet and no matter what the cruise lines do the CDC simply doesn’t care right now and is in no rush to deal with any of the cruise lines. I hope I’m wrong. Thanks for reading my rant. I hope everyone is staying safe!
Floating Petri Dishes
It all boils down to the “floating petri dish” description that was exploited by the media. I would guess even with CDC approval that RC, Carnival & NCL are hesitant to restart operations because nobody wants to be the guinea pig. I would guess that one major outbreak on a cruise ship (thanks largely in part to negative reporting by news media) would put the last nail in the coffin for the cruise industry. This is going to be a delicate dance and I hope we can all sail again soon. I certainly don’t rule out an implosion of the entire industry though.
Is the CDC to blame?
I don’t think the CDC has been unfair.
When you take the politics out of the equation the science supports restricting many activities including cruising. The CDC does not have direct oversight over all of them, the CDC can only provide guidance for things controlled at the state level. If states don’t follow the CDC guidance that’s within the rights for states to choose to do so, right or wrong will be determined in the history books. The CDC does have the ability to influence cruise ships.
While I wish this wasn’t the case the CDC is right to prevent cruising at this time. Without the ban, cruises would sail, there would be spread and deaths that occur and the media would have a field day all but putting the last nail in the industry coffin. Right now the CDC is saving the cruise lines from themselves and the inevitable outcome if they were to sail today.
Other regions have managed to better contain community spread. As a result some cruising is beginning in a very limited fashion. The US isn’t there yet. It will be at some point. When it gets there the work that cruise lines and the CDC are doing right now will allow us to be prepared for that moment. It won’t be cruising like it was, not for several years.
The CDC isn’t to blame for the ban, Americans are. The CDC is just the messenger delivering a message we don’t like. Don’t shoot the messenger. We The People put us where we are with respect to cruising. We The People can get us to a happy place where cruising can begin in a limited fashion. Politicians will never agree and people who have a political agenda will make it political but at the the end of the day it’s We The People that will ultimately move us to a better place.
The CDC is Doing the Right Thing
An airplane is for a few hours. A cruise ship is stuck out at sea for many days between ports. No need to mention how stateside people are very litigious and how theres this culture of litigating things. 😁 If a cruise goes out with a bunch of asymptomatics and a case breaks out… rest assured the cruise companies legal teams will have a field day. It’s a given fact. As much as i love cruising and as a Canadian where we have successfully mitigated the spread and in BC where we are now looking to Asia as a example… the CDC is doing the right thing. Its be far fetched for any US voyages to resume in 2020 without any therapeutic or vaccine. And cruise lines will not want a repeat of what happened in the spring… guaranteed. The litigation involved should another such case happen and we know it will … it will be a field day especially class litigating. Most of our stateside friends don’t realise this and insist everything else is open. What they don’t realise is a cruise takes a few days to reach various ports not a few hours and it will inevitably lead to a spoiled vacation regardless should there be a case and there will be a case guaranteed. And rest assured countries and jurisdictions will not allow ships to dock with cases on board. It’s a big picture not a let’s cruise now cause everything is open scenario. Think big picture folks.
To read dozens of additional comments in this latest thread about whether the CDC’s guidelines have negatively impacted the cruise industry, visit Royal Caribbean Blog’s Forum section here.
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