While The Bahamas continues to smack its chops over the opportunity to become a home port for cruise lines, Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis is threatening legal action against the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in a heavy-handed approach to getting the federal body to allow cruise lines to begin cruising from Florida ports once again, according to various US news sources.
According to an article on abc7.com, representatives from Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International joined DeSantis and Florida’s Attorney General Ashley Moody at Port Canaveral this weekend to voice their concerns over the CDC restricting cruise travel for more than one year now.
The article stated that Moody is exploring the state’s legal options to get the cruise industry – a big money earner for the state – back in business again.
The article mentions the workaround cruise lines have had to put in place in order to resume cruising this summer, namely choosing to home port vessels in places like The Bahamas and Bermuda and having their customers fly from another country to board.
The CDC’s decision to maintain its position of restricting sailing from US ports has emerged as a boon for The Bahamas, as two cruise lines thus far have decided to use Nassau as a home port.
The government and Nassau Cruise Port have hailed this decision as a game-changer for The Bahamas, but that could change if the CDC’s restrictions are lifted or if DeSantis’ lawsuit bares real teeth.
Royal Caribbean recently announced its intention to home port in Nassau in order to restart its business, while Crystal Cruises was first off the line with a similar announcement.
But while Royal Caribbean is still gathering data on its planned itineraries from Nassau, which went on sale Wednesday, Crystal reported that in the first 24 hours of the reservations opening for its new luxury Bahamas cruise starting July 3, almost 4,000 people reserved staterooms or suites on one of Crystal’s seven-night cruises through The Bahamas.
Both cruise lines require that their passengers be fully inoculated against COVID-19 before cruising.
The abc7.com article explained that the cruise executives who met with DeSantis said there has been little movement toward getting the cruise industry back up and running again.
“Let’s get people back to the work. The health situation has changed,” Thomas Mazloum, president of Disney Cruise Line said in the article. “Cruise lines are cruising very successfully outside the United States, proving that with the right protocols, cruising is a very safe and beautiful experience.”
The post Florida governor threatens CDC in bid to restart cruise industry appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/florida-governor-threatens-cdc-in-bid-to-restart-cruise-industry/
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