MIAMI _ Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has canceled cruises on its three brands _ Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas _ until December.
The announcement comes just days after the White House overruled a plan by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ban U.S. cruises until February 2021. Instead, the agency extended its "no-sail order" through Oct. 31. Cruise operations stopped in the U.S. in mid-March amid COVID-19 outbreaks on several ships.
Carnival Cruise Line canceled all U.S. cruises for November and December except for those that will leave from PortMiami and Port Canaveral, which are on track to restart Nov. 1. Royal Caribbean Group and MSC Cruises continue to sell cruises for November. Disney Cruise Line and Virgin Voyages are still selling cruises for December.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean Group teamed up to hire a group of medical experts who published a list of recommendations for how to resume cruises last month, including testing all passengers for COVID-19 between 24 hours and five days before boarding.
At a meeting with Miami-Dade county commissioners last month, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings CEO Frank Del Rio said cruise ships are no more dangerous than airplanes, a claim that has been refuted by the CDC, which has repeatedly noted the unique challenge in preventing COVID-19 spread at sea.
After most passengers had been evacuated and repatriated from cruise ships in March and April, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings continued to house crew members in shared cabins with shared bathrooms until July, according to the CDC, and took more than two weeks to sign the required form confirming the company has a complete and accurate plan to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among crew. At least 10 of the company's 27 ships have been affected by COVID-19, according to a Miami Herald investigation, and at least three of its crew members have died from the disease.
In August, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings moved all but three of its cruise ships out of U.S. waters. Only Norwegian Jewel, Pride of America and Oceania Regatta remain in and around U.S. waters and continue to report COVID-19 illnesses to the CDC. A few of its ships are docked in Curacao; others are in ports in Europe.
