The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has dropped its cruise ship travel health notice.
The notice, first put in place back in March 2020, provided guidance to passengers on restrictions on cruising and graded systems and safety protocols.
In a statement, CLIA said: “Today’s decision by the CDC to altogether remove the travel health notice for cruising recognises the effective public health measures in place on cruise ships and begins to level the playing field, between cruise and similarly situated venues on land, for the first time since March 2020.
“From the onset of the pandemic, CLIA’s cruise line members have prioritised the health and safety of their guests, crew, and the communities they visit and are sailing today with health measures in place that are unmatched by virtually any other commercial setting.”
Virgin Voyages CEO Tom McAlpin also welcomed the news, saying: “We’re absolutely thrilled to see that the CDC recognises that it’s time to remove the travel health notice website.
“While we feel this was a long time coming, we recognise this move as a demonstration of all of the hard work this industry has done to ensure that we’re offering the safest way to travel.
“It’s refreshing to see them meet us where we’re at, and clearly where our consumers are at considering the major uptick in demand we’ve seen.”
According to reports in The Guardian, CDC spokesman Dave Daigle said: “While cruising will always pose some risk of Covid-19 transmission, travellers will make their own risk assessment when choosing to travel on a cruise ship, much like they do in all other travel settings.”