Last month, COVID-19 continued to have a massive impact upon the sector. The stories we have picked for Cruise industry news Dec 2021 reflect that. Read about an extension to Australia’s cruising ban, plus a new CDC cruise warning in the US. Then hear what the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has to say on the matter.
This article is on Australia’s decision to extend the human biosecurity emergency period for 2 more months. Published by our friends at Seatrade Cruise, it centres on the reaction from CLIA Australasia MD Joel Katz. Understandably frustrated, Katz described the move as a ‘devastating blow’ to Australians working in cruise tourism.
This Cruise Industry News piece details the latest travel warning against US cruising. The CDC also updated its warning from Level 3 to Level 4 – the highest level. As the Omicron variant of the virus grows, they urged that “fully vaccinated travellers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants.” They went on to advise passengers who are not fully vaccinated to self-quarantine for 5 days after cruise travel.
The story above has been received with a degree of surprise by those who know the cruise sector. Seatrade Cruise ran with CLIA’s response to the CDC warning in this article. CLIA called it ‘particularly perplexing’, then pointed out some key facts:
- Cases identified on cruise ships are a slim minority of the total populationThose of us within the cruise industry can see the painstaking efforts being made to ensure cruising is safe. In the US, nearly 10 million tests are carried out each week – that is 21 times the rate of testing in the US. Then consider these numbers from Royal Caribbean: Since the US June restart, 1,745 passengers tested positive out of 1.1 million (a rate of 0.02%).
What are your views on the CDC’s actions? It is disappointing when you think about some of the facts but of course, safety is the most important factor. As specialists in IT for cruise, our teams will continue to do what they can to bring the sector back to its best. On a final, positive note… Happy new year to our readers and all the best for 2022!