waters reported 162 cases of COVID-19 to the CDC. "Unfortunately, there are few reliable and accurate sources of information where families thinking of taking a leisure cruise during a pandemic can go to locate candid information which could affect their family’s health and safety."Īccording to USA Today, from Nov. ports and are under the CDC’s jurisdiction under yellow or orange warnings, but the average number of positive cases per ship has increased," Walker said in a recent blog post. "Not only are the vast majority of cruise ships which are sailing from U.S. Walker has termed cruise ships as "super-spreaders" of COVID-19, and cited as an example New Year's Eve parties aboard the ships, with many unmasked passengers. market." Maritime attorney's criticismĪmong those highly critical of the cruise industry is Miami-based maritime lawyer Jim Walker, who has represents passengers and crew members injured or assaulted on cruise ships. However, the cruise line noted that "sailings for the second half of 2022 continue to be booked within historical ranges, at higher prices with and without future cruise credits, with strong demand from the critical U.S. Load factors for sailings in the first half of 2022 remain below historical levels, as expected." The cruise line also said it had "experienced a decline in bookings and increased cancellations for near-term sailings, but to a lesser degree than that experienced with the delta variant. The company expects these disruptions to continue in the near term, and then decline as the world adjusts to the current trends." The Royal Caribbean Group on Thursday reported that "the company is experiencing service disruptions at selected destinations and, to date, has canceled or significantly modified 16 destination calls out of 331. Those affected by those breakthrough cases were either asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, and we followed CDC protocols for managing cases on board."ĭisney said it was the only such COVID-19-related itinerary change the line has experienced. Thomas last week, due to both an increase in COVID-19 cases on the island and a small number of fully vaccinated crew members and guests - less than 1% of those on board - who were in isolation for COVID-19. In a statement, Disney Cruise Line said: "The Disney Fantasy did not call on St. The Port Canaveral-based Disney Fantasy, for example, did not allow passengers ashore at a scheduled stop in St. The virus that causes COVID-19 spreads easily between people in close quarters on board ships, and the chance of getting COVID-19 on cruise ships is very high, even if you are fully vaccinated and have received a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose." "This reflects increases in cases onboard cruise ships since identification of the omicron variant," the CDC said in a statement on its website. "Even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants. The CDC on Thursday updated its COVID-19 "travel health notice" level for cruising from Level 3 to Level 4, the most severe level, advising people to "avoid cruise travel, regardless of vaccination status." Additionally, Carnival's Liberty is scheduled to join the lineup on Jan. The Port Canaveral lineup now includes Carnival's Elation, Magic and Mardi Gras Disney's Dream and Fantasy MSC's Meraviglia Norwegian's Escape and Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas, Independence of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas. The CDC does not publicly disclose the specific number of cases on a ship, and Port Canaveral officials said they do not get the such details from the cruise lines, either. "Red" status means that a ship has sustained transmission of COVID-19 or that has the potential for COVID-19 cases to overwhelm onboard medical facilities.