The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has canceled a program that allowed the public to see COVID-19 levels on cruise ships sailing in U.S. waters.
The CDC announced Monday that it would phase out the program, saying it has “determined that the cruise industry has access to the necessary tools (e.g., specific recommendations and guidelines for cruises, vaccines, testing instruments, treatment modalities, and non- to prevent and mitigate COVID-19 on board “.
The move comes when the omicron BA.5 subvariant spreads across the United States. The variant is now estimated to account for more than 78% of new cases, according to the CDC.
Pandemic-era politics designated ships with a color-coding system based on testing and vaccination rates, which allowed the public to control the spread of the virus to ships. The CDC said the system was phased out because “it depended on each cruise line having the same COVID-19 detection test standards, which can now vary between cruise lines.”
The CDC said it will continue to publish guidelines for cruise ships to mitigate and manage the transmission of COVID-19. He also said that each cruise will “determine its own specific requirements related to COVID-19 for cruise travel, as well as safety measures and protocols for passengers traveling on board.”
The Royal Caribbean cruise ship Freedom of the Seas uses the turnaround basin as it prepares to dock in Miami on May 6, 2022.
Joe Raedle / Getty Images, FILE
“It’s still too early to say exactly what it means for cruises, as cruise lines now have to figure out what their guidelines will be,” Chris Gray Faust, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic, told ABC News. “The previous CDC order covered a wide variety of requirements, including pre-cruise testing, vaccine requirements, masking guidelines and quarantine requirements. Now all of this is back to the level of the cruise line.”
Currently, coronavirus protocols vary between cruise lines and also depend on the local mandates where ships sail.
Royal Caribbean requires that all passengers 12 years of age or older present a complete vaccination test against COVID-19 with the final dose administered at least 14 days prior to departure.
Carnival Cruise Line offers vaccinated cruises, allowing guests who have received their final dose of a COVID-19 approved vaccine at least 14 days prior to the day of sailing (not counting the day of boarding) and have a proof of vaccination. Carnival offers some exceptions for unvaccinated guests from the age of 5, which require these passengers to present a negative COVID-19 PCR test, done between 72 and 24 hours before the departure date at the time of check-in. entrance.
Norwegian Cruise Line requires that all guests 12 years of age or older be fully vaccinated at least two weeks prior to departure in order to board.
If passengers want to find out about outbreaks on ships, the CDC advises that they contact the cruise line directly.
“It’s very important to be up to date with what your cruise line requires. Read the emails sent to you by cruise lines so things could be changing. If you have a travel agency, check it out,” Faust said.