The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Covid-19 guidance will soon become optional for many cruise ships, CNN reported.
A CNN story said, “When the CDC’s extended conditional sailing order expires on Saturday, the agency is transitioning to a voluntary program for foreign-flagged cruise ships operating in US waters.
“The transition comes about two weeks after the agency bumped cruise travel up to the highest-risk level in its regularly updated travel notices, advising travelers to avoid cruises regardless of vaccination status.
“As of January 12, all of the ships carrying passengers that are currently monitored under the agency’s cruise ship color status system were listed as yellow, indicating that the volume of Covid cases reported has met the CDC’s threshold for investigation.
“Green, orange, yellow and red designations indicate a ship’s Covid situation from best to worst. A gray designation is reserved for ships that the CDC has not reviewed for Covid safety.
“Starting January 15, participation in the CDC program will be voluntary, the agency confirmed Thursday. Those ships choosing not to participate will be designated gray.
“The voluntary program only applies to ships operating in US waters and sailing on international itineraries. Cruise ships sailing only in US waters that choose not to participate will not be included on the color status list.
“The cruise ships that choose to participate in the program “agree to follow all recommendations and guidance issued by CDC as part of this program,” the agency said. “These recommendations are aimed at reducing the introduction and spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.”
“Industry group Cruise Lines International Association said the CDC’s move to a voluntary program “recognizes the cruise industry’s unwavering commitment to providing some of the highest levels of Covid-19 mitigation found in any industry.”
You can read the full story here on CNN.
The 2022 Bermuda draft cruise ship schedule was recently released, which shows 104 contract cruise ship visits and 77 occasional visits, for a total of 181 visits to Bermuda during the year, with the first cruise ship supposed to arrive later this month.
