CDC says "travelers will make their own risk assessment when choosing to travel on a cruise ship, much like they do in all other travel settings".
The CDC announced on Wednesday that they are dropping the travel warning for the cruise industry. In an email, CDC spokesman Dave Daigle said, "While cruising will always pose some risk of COVID-19 transmission, travelers will make their own risk assessment when choosing to travel on a cruise ship, much like they do in all other travel settings".
Daigle added that the CDC's decision was based on “the current state of the pandemic and decreases in COVID-19 cases onboard cruise ships over the past several weeks.” The CDC did not acknowledge that the industry's efforts to make cruising one of the safest ways to vacation had far exceeded any other section of the travel industry.
The Cruise Line Industry Association issued a statement applauding the decision. "Today's decision by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to altogether remove the Travel Health Notice for cruising recognizes 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 prioritized 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".
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