Cruising has been hit harder by COVID-19 than any other part of the tourism industry. Between cruise lines voluntary suspensions of sailing, CDC no-sail orders, and CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association) voluntary sailing suspensions, a large cruise ship has not sailed from the United States in over 6 months.
While ALL of the cruise lines are anxious to get back to sailing, they all want to make sure that it is done safely, keeping in mind the health of both passengers and crew.
Last spring, I was listening to a webinar featuring Richard Fain, Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. He told us that he had been in contact with leaders of the other major cruise lines, discussing safety measures that would allow them to cruise again. He explained that they were all in agreement that they did not want to compete on safety, they wanted to make sure that the cruise line industry was safe, no matter which carrier you sailed with.
Soon after Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Lines created the Healthy Sail Panel, a committee filled with experts in many fields. After meeting for several months, they established 74 recommendations that would protect the health and safety of passengers, crew, and ports of call. 
I’m not going to cover all the recommendations, but I’ve listed some of the highlights below. If you’d like to read the full report, you can find it here.
Testing, Screening, and Exposure Reduction
- Passengers should be tested between 5 days and 24 hours before boarding the ship and provide negative results to the cruise operator.
- Additional health screening at embarkation.
- Daily temperature checks for passengers and crew using touchless devices.
- Face coverings will be required for passengers according to CDC standards.
Sanitation and Ventilation
- Reduce transmission vie air management strategies and enhanced sanitation.
Response, Contingency Planning and Execution
- Ships must have sufficient onboard medical personnel trained in infectious disease and response.
- Ensure each ship has the facilities to treat critically ill patients.
- Each ship will have designated cabins for any passenger that needs to be quarantined.
Destination & Excursion Planning
- Cruise lines focus on visiting cruise-line owned private ports
- Passengers are limited to cruise line sponsored or verified shore excursions
- Return to service with shorter length trips.
Mitigating Risk for Crew Members
- Crew members tested before leaving their home and then quarantined on-board for seven days. Crew will then be tested and must have a negative test before beginning any duties.
- Limit crew member close contact with passengers
- Move crew members to single-occupancy cabins whenever possible
These recommendations have been presented to the CDC for their approval. We don’t know how long approval will take, or even how long it will take for these recommendations to be implemented. I do know that with these measures I would feel safe boarding a cruise ship.
Krista Robertson
