NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Cruise lines have reached a critical step in their effort to jump start the industry, with the completion of the sector’s COVID-19 protocols for presentation to US regulators.
The recommendations outlined yesterday, from a panel of globally recognized medical and scientific experts, call for heightened protocols for the healthy return of sailing.
The Healthy Sail Panel submitted its recommendations yesterday to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in response to a CDC request for public comment that will be used to inform future public health guidance and preventative measures relating to travel on cruise ships.
The panel was formed in June by Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd,.and consisted of globally recognized experts in medical practice and research, public health, infectious diseases, biosecurity, hospitality and maritime operations that have applied the best available public health, science and engineering insights to their recommendations.
The Healthy Sail Panel’s 65-plus-page report includes 74 detailed best practices to protect the public health and safety of guests, crew and the communities where cruise ships call.
Recommendations include testing, the use of face coverings, and enhanced sanitation procedures on ships and in terminals. The Panel was chaired by Governor Mike Leavitt, former US Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Dr Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration.
“The Healthy Sail Panel spent the last four months studying how to better protect the health and safety of guests and crew aboard cruise ships,” said Gottlieb.
“Taken as a comprehensive approach, we believe the Panel’s robust public health recommendations will help inform strategies for a safe resumption of sailing.”
Leavitt said: “This panel undertook an ambitious, cross-disciplinary, public health examination to develop standards and guidelines that create the highest level of safety in the complex environment of a cruise ship.
“We studied the industry’s experiences combating the pandemic –and we then incorporated the many lessons learned and advances made by medicine and science over the past six months. The panel’s recommendations are grounded in the best scientific and medical information available and are intended to meaningfully mitigate public health risks to those who sail.”
For his part, Richard D. Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, said: “We understand our responsibility to act aggressively to protect the health and safety of our guests and crew, as well as the communities where we sail, and we asked the panel to help us learn how to best live up to that responsibility. We were inspired by the depth of the Panel’s work and their determination to help us establish the strongest protocols in the travel industry.”
Frank Del Rio, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., called the recommendations robust and comprehensive.
Del Rio said: “We know that both authorities around the globe and consumers expect cruise lines to provide the safest, healthiest vacations we can, and this work demonstrates our commitment to doing just that.”
Fain and Del Rio said each company will use the Panel’s recommendations to inform the development of new, detailed operating protocols, which will be submitted to the CDC and other authorities around the globe for review and approval–an important milestone in the process of resuming sailing around the world.
For the initial return to sailing, recommendations indicate cruise operators should only allow guests debarking from a ship at a destination port to participate in cruise line-sponsored or verified excursions as a way of limiting potential exposures in the destinations they visit.
It has also been recommended that all guests joining a ship, regardless of method of travel to the ship, should be tested for SARS-CoV-2 between five days and 24 hours before boarding and receive a negative result that is shared with the cruise operator, before coming on board.
At embarkation, it has been recommended that all guests and crew boarding the ship should undergo health screening to identify any symptoms consistent with COVID-19 (or other infectious diseases) and any contact with individuals suspected or confirmed to have a SARS-CoV-2 infection prior to the cruise.
It was also recommended that cruise operators should conduct once-daily temperature checks for guests and crew on board.
It’s important to note that the headline here is misleading. As the body of the piece points out, these are a set of recommendations produced by a group of people paid by many, but not all, of the major players in the cruise line industry. The most explicit absence — by design — is Disney Cruise Line, which is creating its own guidelines that will almost certainly be more strict than these, and be implemented later. Moreover, the return of cruise lines to Nassau or any of the private islands, depends more on the public health status of the populations from which passengers are drawn, mainly the United States, which isn’t even on the cusp of improvement. It is much better for the tourist industry in Nassau to work with the government and other stakeholders to receive the support they need for a sustainable return in 2021, one that promotes authentic, local culture, history, and entertainment that cannot be found at exclusive resorts that cater to a narrow slice of visitors.