Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order last month banning the use of Covid-19 passports in the state. (snip) Senate Bill 2006 was signed into law Monday making that executive order official.
Florida's new law prohibiting businesses from asking whether employees or customers have been vaccinated against Covid-19 may take a toll on its cruise business. The CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. said Thursday it could cause the company to suspend Florida departures and move its ships elsewhere.
Norwegian Cruise Line had previously hoped to resume cruises on July 4, and said it was willing to require all passengers and staff to be vaccinated in order to gain CDC approval. That's no longer possible, [CEO] Del Rio said Thursday.
While I mostly like what Gov. DeSantis has done in FL, in this case I side with the cruise ship operators. Here is why.
The DrsC have done scores of cruises, including several on Norwegian. In retirement, we were both cruise ship lecturers for several years. And we have continued to cruise as paying passengers. We have much first hand experience.
We love cruising but I’m sure the other DrC would agree that we’ve been more likely to contract respiratory or gastrointestinal illnesses at sea. A cruise ship is a semi-closed environment where it is easier to catch communicable diseases.
Rocking of the ship means holding onto hand rails and bannisters, steadying yourself against the roll of the deck. Plus much of the dining is done at tables seating the occupants of more than one cabin. The buffet is another place where you touch things others have touched. Seating in the entertainment venues is often theater-like in density too.
For these reasons cruise lines need to be (and are) extra careful that their (mostly older) passengers don’t share communicable diseases. Requiring Covid-19 vaccination of all passengers and crew seems a very prudent step, one FL has banned.
Pre-Covid-19, Florida likely saw more cruise ship departures than the rest of the world combined. Florida makes many millions from ship passengers boarding and disembarking there. They might want to consider an exception to the new rule for ship passengers and crew.
