Gov. Ron DeSantis' bid to get cruise safety rules from the U.S. Centers for Disease and Prevention thrown out has hit another bump. On Thursday, DeSantis' office said the two sides failed to come to an agreement during mediation as part of the governor's lawsuit against the agency.
A federal judge in Tampa will now decide whether to invalidate the CDC's conditional sail order — a set of rules and recommendations cruise companies are using to get cruises restarted in the U.S. as soon as June 26. Even if the judge rules in DeSantis' favor, a recently passed Florida law championed by DeSantis that bans companies from requiring patrons be vaccinated against COVID-19 will still prevent cruises from Florida to take place as planned.
Vaccine requirements are part of some companies' safety protocols meant to prevent outbreaks and deaths that plagued ships last year. DeSantis sued the CDC on April 8, arguing that the agency's conditional sail order unfairly targeted the cruise industry and should be thrown out. None of the cruise companies have joined DeSantis' lawsuit.
In a press release Thursday, DeSantis falsely claimed that the CDC is requiring cruise passengers to be vaccinated. In reality, the CDC recommends, but doesn't require, that all cruise passengers, crew and port personnel be vaccinated. The CDC allows cruise ships that decide to require at least 98% of their crew members and 95% of their passengers to be vaccinated to restart cruises from U.S. ports. Ships that don't meet those thresholds can restart after doing a two-day test cruise to make sure COVID prevention protocols are working in the vaccine's absence.
Legal experts have called DeSantis' lawsuit a "political stunt," noting the CDC's broad authority to regulate ports of entry and international commerce.
So far Royal Caribbean Group's Celebrity Edge and Celebrity Equinox ships are cleared to restart seven-night Caribbean cruises from Port Everglades on June 26 and July 4, respectively. Royal Caribbean Group is requiring all crew members and passengers who are 16 years old or older be vaccinated, in violation of the Florida law, which will fine companies $5,000 each time they require vaccination proof from a patron. Eight other cruise ships will do test cruises from Florida and Texas ports beginning on June 20, including several other Royal Caribbean ships that will require everyone 16 years old or older to be vaccinated, but will not meet the CDC vaccine thresholds.
Despite the CDC's approval of cruises starting this month, DeSantis blamed the CDC for preventing cruises from restarting at a press conference Thursday in Key Biscayne.
"Who's the one suing CDC to open the ports?" he said. "Under current Florida law they are absolutely able to do it...The problem on this the whole time has been the CDC."
While the governor's legal dispute with the CDC continues, vaccination requirements are at the top of the list of new protocols cruise companies have put in place while cruises in the U.S. have been halted sine March 2020.
The new plans aim to prevent life-threatening missteps made in the early days of the pandemic. In one case, a ship that had a passenger test positive for COVID-19 after a previous cruise was allowed to unload thousands of passengers without any screening in Miami. In another, a passenger with serious respiratory distress died in a local hospital after waiting hours for an ambulance at the pier.
For the worst case scenario — an onboard outbreak — companies have reserved in advance and will cover the cost of evacuating any sick passengers or crew members, depending on their condition.
PortMiami's agreements with Royal Caribbean Group and Carnival Corporation — submitted to the CDC and reviewed by the Herald — show companies will primarily use embarkation day health declarations and testing to prevent the virus from getting on board cruise ships. They differ on vaccination: Royal Caribbean will require all crew and passengers who are 16 years old or older to be vaccinated, while Carnival will encourage everyone to get the vaccine, but not require it.
If an outbreak happens, the companies will isolate sick passengers and crew in designated cabins and wards in their ships' medical centers to keep them away from others. The companies have contracts in place with transportation companies to transfer the sick, several local hotels to house them and hospitals to treat them if necessary. PortMiami will be in charge of cleaning cruise terminals, but if there's an outbreak, that duty will fall to the cruise company.
If an infection happens outside the CDC's jurisdiction, the agency's guidance says the ship should submit a health declaration form to the port with jurisdiction.
