Cruise Injury Blog

As the number of vaccinated Americans continues to rise, travel restrictions are relaxed, and cruises are ready to set sail on the ocean blue. Cruise lines have been encouraged to go to great lengths to ensure that COVID-19 outbreaks will be stamped out at first sight through cruise safety protocols.

COVID-reducing protocols include but are not limited to social distancing, limited capacity, mask policies, and COVID-19 testing. These have been implemented to curb an outbreak from the start. While cruise lines are expected to do their part, you are also expected to keep in mind your own safety and the safety of those around you.

In this post, we will go over everything you need to know to optimize your safety on a post-COVID-19 cruise ship.

The CDC’s Guidelines on How to Stay Safe on a Cruise

The CDC’s general message about attending cruise

Cruising is starting to come back! While this is great news for people who work in the cruise industry and folks who enjoy cruising, the landscape of cruising has changed in the post-COVID world.

How have things changed?

Some cruise lines are requiring all passengers over age 12 to be fully vaccinated. With some lines, children under 12 who cannot yet be vaccinated are not allowed to cruise.

Other cruise lines have enacted policies that make unvaccinated people feel like second-class citizens. Some lines are relegating unvaccinated individuals to certain parts of the ship and letting those who are fully vaccinated go where they please.

One thing is for certain: if you plan to cruise any time soon, you may want to get COVID travel insurance, just in case. For some cruise lines, you may even be required to have it if you’re not

It’s not news that the governor of Florida has been at odds with the CDC over their conditional sail order. What is new: something that recently happened regarding the state’s lawsuit against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A U.S. District Court Judge in Tampa granted a preliminary injunction against the sailing order issued by the CDC, pushing it out to July 18. After that, the conditional sailing order set forth by the CDC will remain, but some of the non-binding aspects of it will not apply.

What does this mean for the future of cruise ship sailing, and what is in the CDC conditional sailing order, anyway? Read on to find out more.

The Conditional Sailing Order

The CDC lifted its cruise ship ban for North America last fall, but that obviously doesn’t mean cruising simply picked up where it left off

Cruise ships are ready to be back – but the state of Florida wants to have a say in how that happens, specifically when it comes to COVID-19 vaccination.

According to CNN, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has come out against what is commonly referred to as a “vaccine passport”. This has put him at odds with policies that major cruise lines want to implement in order to start cruising again – safely.

What does this potential legal battle mean for the future of cruisers? Read on to find out.

Governor DeSantis’ Position

While DeSantis acknowledges that the cruise industry is key to Florida’s tourism, he seems to be betting on the fact that cruise line operations are too large to flee or fail. How so? He has prohibited businesses in Florida, including cruise lines, from verifying the vaccination status of customers.

DeSantis signed

If you’re someone who loves cruises, this past year (and change) has likely felt torturous. For the past 15 months, cruises have essentially been cancelled — and with no clear end in sight.

The closures made complete sense. After all, at one point 17% of all COVID cases in the U.S. could be linked back to cruises.

Now, however, much of the country seems to be reopening and getting back to normal — or at least the “new normal.” Will cruises follow suit?

They already are.

Back in April, the CDC released a letter to the cruise industry saying that cruises could restart provided that 98% of the crew and 95% of the passengers were vaccinated. Then, in May, Royal Caribbean became the first cruise line to receive approval from the CDC for “test cruises” that allow people to sail without a vaccination requirement.

After all that people went through in 2020, 2021 is shaping up to be a very kind type of year. One of the ways it’s going to be different? Travel. That’s right – travel is back!

Not only do more and more people want to travel – and, more importantly, are willing to travel. Travel companies like cruise lines are also enticing travelers with great deals and discounts.

Of course, this doesn’t always work out – especially with the cruise restrictions in place.

Even the best-laid plans can get canceled. Princess Cruises, for example, canceled several sailings through August of 2021 and others through the end of the year.

To help protect you from losses related to cancellations, you need travel insurance.

Here are some of the benefits offered by travel insurance, plus how travel insurance companies are helping people to feel more confident

Cruising is on its way back. Well, with restrictions, anyway.

Some cruise lines plan to set sail from certain ports in the summer of 2021. However, due to COVID-19, some significant restrictions will form part of the cruise experience for both passengers and employees.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has mandated cruise lines to sail smaller passenger loads with a vaccination requirement.

This begs the question: if passengers must be vaccinated, what about employees? Can cruise lines require vaccination for them as well? Read on to find out more on this issue.

Can Employers Require Vaccination?

Right now, COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States have been approved for emergency use.

That means the Food and Drug Administration has not yet given its full approval to the vaccine – but that’s right around the corner. An employer cannot require a vaccine until