Norwegian Cruise Line and its Regent Seven Seas Cruises brand will ask all crew members to receive the COVID-19 vaccine prior to departure, cruise line spokespeople told Insider in an e-mailed statement.
It’s just the latest sign that cruises won’t be leaving anytime soon.
Cruise ships first gained their reputation as critical hotspots for the coronavirus in February 2020, after Princess Cruises’ Diamond Princess left thousands of passengers stranded and hundreds infected with the virus. Shortly thereafter, dozens of cruise ships around the world began to experience coronavirus-related disruptions, leaving ships and their passengers stranded, infected or killed.
Thereafter, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced – and later extended – their boarding ban order, as COVID-19 continued to increase across the United States. And after months of waiting, in October 2020, the CDC replaced its pause button on all boat trips with the “Framework for Conditional Sailing Order”, a list of strict protocols needed for cruise lines to continue sailing again.
Despite this new request from the CDC and the imminent disclosure of several long-awaited cruise ships, the return of the cruises remains unknown. As of now, no major cruise in the United States will be embarking until May, with the proviso that cruise lines are constantly extending this suspension schedule.
However, a ray of hope shines at the end of the tunnel without a candle: the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We are exploring all vaccination options for guests and crew and it is our intention that all crew members are vaccinated before boarding our ships to begin their duties, subject to the availability of the vaccine,” say statements by Norwegian and Regent Seven Seas. “We will continue to partner with global and national authorities and the Healthy Sail Panel, our team of leading expert consultants, to explore all options necessary to protect guests, crew and visited communities.”
Read More: For cruise lines, ‘2020 is a lost year’. Norwegian Cruise’s CEO defines when the industry can make money again.
Norwegian’s other brand, Oceania, did not immediately respond to a comment asking whether it would follow the same approach to requiring crew vaccination.
Norwegian is not the only cruise company to take actionable measures as the vaccine launch continues. British cruise company Saga – which targets passengers at least 50 years old – has announced that it would require all passengers to receive the vaccine two weeks before departure, a spokesman said on Thursday.
Several other cruise companies – such as Carnival and its Holland America line – are “reviewing” different vaccines, but have not announced any mandatory vaccination decisions for their passengers, according to emails sent to Carnival and Holland America’s Insider.
Even with the news of a vaccine, from now on, some experts do not have high hopes for a quick resumption of the cruise. According to a note obtained by Barron’s, Patrick Scholes, an analyst at Truist Securities, believes that July may be the best time for the return of cruises, although at the end of 2021 it is more promising.
However, the full return of the cruise is yet to be seen.