To cruise or not to cruise? That is the question. The Centers for Disease Control’s Conditional Sailing Orders for cruise ships expired over the weekend. That means cruise lines can voluntarily follow CDC COVID-19 guidelines, but they don’t have to. That expiration came within weeks of a CDC recommendation that no one should cruise regardless of vaccination status.
Several major cruise lines have already docked ships until the end of January with the surge of the omicron variant. At the time of the expiration of the Conditional Sailing Order, every ship monitored by the CDC reported at least one COVID-19 case. According to a CDC official, over the past two weeks, coronavirus cases on cruise ships increased 300-fold.
With spring break just around the corner, many families have to make the difficult decision of sailing or postponing. So what’s the answer to that cruise or not to cruise question? Our best advice after our WRAL Investigates producer cruised over the holidays is to do your research.
The CDC uses a color-coded chart to track ships with known COVID-19 cases. Cruise lines that choose to stop following CDC guidance will be shown in gray going forward. While most cruise lines have not announced their official intentions, websites still show vaccination requirements for staff and passengers.
“Well, the CDC’s travel advisory does not prohibit cruising,” says Brian Salerno, with the Cruise Lines International Association. “Cruise ships are operating, people are still free to take cruises, and I would tell people to take a hard look at all of the protocols that are in place.”
WRAL Investigates producer Randall Kerr and his family were on a Norwegian cruise ship when the CDC’s recommendation came down that no one should sail, including the fully vaccinated.
“It certainly made me feel a little more uneasy,” he said.
Despite omicron’s quick spread, Kerr felt comfortable during much of his trip. “[There was] pre-board testing of everybody, hand sanitizer every where. Every time you walked into a room there were hand sanitizers, [people] telling you to wash your hands, staff was always fully masked,” he said.
There were some pre-boarding head scratchers that his family witnessed. “People that had check-in times that they were still waiting for their test results, they were allowed to board the ship before the results came in,” he said.
On board, one of his biggest concerns was the use of tenders, or water taxis, to get to land. Despite stickers on seats promoting social distancing, the staff packed the boats making people sit shoulder to shoulder and even waiting 15 to 20 minutes on board until each tender was completely full. Kerr said once he was cleared to exit the ship, he tried to wait off of the water taxi until it was ready to depart but wasn’t allowed to. And during the waiting game, he said there were other water taxis standing by that would have allowed the ferry boats at limited capacity to promote social distancing.
Kerr also witnessed traditional trouble spots, just like you see on land. “Any bar situation, night clubs, not a lot of people wearing masks and not a lot of enforcement. There certainly weren’t walking around reminding you to put your mask up,” he said.
Once the cruise ended, the crowded sardine-can feeling repeated itself in the customs area.
Following the trip, Kerr voiced his concerns to Norwegian Cruise lines, especially about the taxi boat situation. He only got a generic statement. It read:
“As a result of our comprehensive health and safety protocols, we believe that vacationing onboard any one of our 28 cruise ships is safer, and guests are better protected from contacting COVID-19, than in any other general population setting.”
When WRAL Investigates asked for data on COVID-19 cases to compare to the general population, Norwegian declined.
Professional cruise reviewer Billy Hirsch told NBC News that won’t stop him from sailing with people he feels are more protected than people on land.
“All cruise lines that are operating right now require at least 95% of all persons on-board are vaccinated. All crew must be vaccinated,” Hirsch said.
In general, Kerr agrees, saying cruise line protocols are above and beyond what we see in our daily lives. He just wishes the cruise line tweaked their safety plan.
“Some of the fixes they could make are very simple that wouldn’t disrupt the fun of the cruise or the enjoyment of it, so why not do it,” he asks.
Within days of returning from the cruise, which included a 12-hour car ride home, three of the five Kerr family members tested positive for Covid. A fourth person tested positive a week later. The family was fully vaccinated, other than two younger children who recently became eligible for the booster. All of the infected members had mild, cold-like symptoms. For what it’s worth, the only family member who wasn’t infected is also the only person who was vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine.