Cruise lines starting to get good news but will it help in 2021?
By Brian Miller
The cruise industry was devastated by the COVID pandemic that continues to circle the globe and there is no real end in sight leaving cruise line companies in the dark.
President Biden recently signed legislation that will lift a long-overdue law. The Cabotage Law prohibits ships from ferrying passengers or goods between two U.S. cities if that vessel is registered outside of the U.S. This had completely shut down cruises to Alaska.
Most cruises to Alaska begin in Seattle, Washington, and due to the cabotage laws, the ships would visit ports in Canada before heading to Alaska. Thus circumventing the law since another stop to a foreign country was made. The problem though is that Canada has shut down their ports due to COVID and cruise lines can’t stop.
This new legislation will allow cruise ships to leave Seattle for Alaska without having to stop. The window for cruising, however, is small. Most Alaskan cruises run from May to September. With the industry having been shut down, ships have not been scheduled like they normally do and staffing could be an issue as well as many of those working on the ships are from other countries.
The news at least is good for the Alaskan lines but in Florida, they continue to be up in the air.
A recently passed law in Florida says that companies can not ask a guest if they are vaccinated but the cruise line industry has made it a requirement to board a ship. Many of the cruise lines that port in Florida have opted not to run any cruises.
One company began using Bermuda as an embarking port but they didn’t find many U.S. travelers willing to pay for the airfare to get to Bermuda.
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There is good news on the horizon. Celebrity Edge will be the first ship cleared to leave a Florida port. The ship’s first sailing will be on June 26th from Ft. Lauderdale. The CDC has cleared the ship but the Florida law could make it harder for other cruise ships to return.
For now, it’s a wait-and-see situation. Cruise liners are returning to other parts of the world but the U.S. remains one of the biggest client bases.