Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has given orders to extend the no sailing for cruises regulation. This order, however, has met travel advisors’ objections. Being said so, the U.S. government has reported back that they have decided to veto this agency’s recommendation to extend the order through February 2021.
Vicky Garcia, co-owner of Cruise Planners mentioned this matter as an unjust order, “the cruise industry should be able to voluntarily suspend operations and this was the right decision to make, but now the industry is being butchered by the mandatory extension. What we see is that the cruise industry is being singled out by the CDC because resorts, hotels, theme parks, restaurants, and airlines are not included in this caliber.”
She added that by the ASTA study, 73 percent of tourists who have taken a cruise in the past year are willing to go on a cruise again, even now. “Eventually, it is the individual travelers who have to determine their own risk when it comes to any type of travel.”
Marcy Zyonse from Live the Dream Travel opposing to the subject says that “the cruise lines have already come up with an accurate and extensive plan. There has to be a starting point to resume cruising. It could take a while before ships get back to full capacity, but right now, a partnership between the government and the cruise lines with low capacity, short sailings, strict guidelines, and contingency plans looks like a rational first step.”
Richard Turen also believes that lines are ready to resume operations. He is the travel expert of Churchill & Turen. “It seems weird to me that the media has not reported nor mentioned that during the height of the COVID outbreaks earlier this year, the world’s top-10 rated cruise lines operated without any reported major COVID outbreaks.”
Traveling has become a deep desire for those who have been faithfully respecting the quarantine rules. Though in many countries businesses have resumed their work, by executing the health and safety regulations, some industries seem to suffer more. If one is ready to hit the road –the sea in this case- again, they must consider the prohibitions while listening up to the facts that travel advisors are giving.