Cruises planned with vaccinated passengers, crew

Norwegian sends letter to CDC seeking clearance

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., parent company to Norwegian Cruise Line, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises, announced that it would require all passengers and crew on its ships to be “100% vaccinated” two weeks before boarding.

“That one-two punch is ironclad,” Frank Del Rio, the company’s president and CEO, told USA TODAY on Monday, pointing to the new vaccination requirement and health and safety protocols the company has said will be implemented on board. “No one can argue that being on a cruise ship under those conditions is not the safest place on Earth.”

The requirement comes on the heels of additional guidance for cruise ships released by the Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention on Friday as part of its Framework for Conditional Sailing Order, initially published in October, which is meant to help guide cruise lines as they return to sailing.

Norwegian shared a letter written by Del Rio, the company’s president and CEO, addressed to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Monday outlining its plans to resume sailing with intent to have vessels depart with vaccinated passengers and crew starting in July.

The intention, Del Rio said, is for the vaccination policy to apply to all ships, no matter the port of departure. No age group will be exempt from the vaccination requirement.

“Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is simply taking a cue from the CDC and putting together a comprehensive, robust, scientific-based plan that allows us to operate just like airlines are operating, casinos, resorts, theme parks, ballparks are now operating,” Del Rio said, referencing Friday’s announcement from the CDC that fully vaccinated people can travel at low risk.

In his letter to Walensky, Del Rio laid out plans for resumption including:

h All passengers embarking or disembarking at a U.S. port show proof of being fully vaccinated no less than two weeks before departure.

h All crew must be vaccinated at least two weeks before their duties onboard are scheduled to begin.

h Norwegian cruise lines will incorporate safety protocol developed by the Healthy Sail Panel, a task force put together with Royal Caribbean. Protocol includes testing, mask-wearing, sanitizing and more.

h Norwegian lines will start sailing on July 4 with limited capacity starting at 60% and ramping up by 20% every 30 days.

“By requiring full and complete vaccinations of guests and crew, we believe our extensive health and safety standards share in the spirit and exceed the intent of the CDC’s existing Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) to advance public health goals and to protect guests, crew and the communities we visit,” Del Rio wrote in the letter, requesting that the CDC lift its order for Norwegian vessels departing from U.S. ports starting July 4.

“We’re asking to cruise 90 days from today,” Del Rio told USA TODAY. “Ninety days from now in COVID-19 world is a lifetime, and we believe that lifetime will evolve for the positive.”

He said that while there has been “great discussion” on how to use technology to prove someone’s vaccination status, that kind of database isn’t ready yet and won’t be for some time.

“In the meantime, we’ll use paper,” Del Rio said, noting Norwegian will accept “paper-driven” proof, including vaccination cards, certificates and letters from physicians.

Norwegian isn’t the only cruise line that has said it will require proof of vaccination to board. In March, Royal Caribbean announced that on certain sailings it will require passengers and crew to be vaccinated. Crystal Cruises and Virgin Voyages have also announced a vaccine requirement.