Update: Royal Caribbean (including its Celebrity and Azamara brands) has now extended its suspension of cruises through June 11, 2020
On April 9, the CDC Extended Its Do Not Sail Order for 100 Days, to July 18, 2020. Yet Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Carnival, including their portfolio of brands such as Celebrity (Royal Caribbean), Oceania and Regent Seven Seas (Norwegian) and Seabourn (Carnival) are defying these orders, continuing to assert that they'll recommence cruising on May 11, 2020 (Oceania); May 12 (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity); May 15 (Regent Seven Seas, Norwegian); June 27 (Carnival); and July 1 (Seabourn).
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What Does the CDC Do Not Sail Order Mean for Cruise Lines?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) originally mandated a Do Not Sail order on March 14, 2020, which was to last for 30 days. On March 17, 2020, the CDC also issued a Level 3 warning to avoid nonessential cruise travel and to stay home for 14 days after returning from a cruise.
The No Sail order orders all commercial, non-cargo ships with the capacity to carry 250 (passengers and crew) that anticipate an overnight stay to not sail in U.S. territorial waters until the earlier of:
- The Secretary of Health and Human Services no longer declares COVID-19 a public health emergency;
- The CDC director modifies or rescinds the order based on public health or other considerations
- 100 days after April 9, 2020 (=July 18, 2020)
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Cruise Lines That are Defying the Order with Planned Cruises
Although the order is very clear, some cruise lines seem to be engaging in magical thinking, defying the No Sail order and keeping May and June cruises as scheduled. For example:
- Oceania (Norwegian) May 25 Vancouver to Seattle cruise
- Oceania (Norwegian) June 4 Seattle to Seattle cruise
- Royal Caribbean's multiple May and June sailings from Orlando, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Baltimore, New Orleans to the Bahamas
- Royal Caribbean's multiple May and June sailings from Cape Liberty, New Jersey to Bermuda
- Royal Caribbean May and June sailings from Galveston, Texas to the Caribbean
- Regent Seven Seas May 17 Miami to San Francisco cruise
- Regent Seven Seas May 22 Miami to Montreal cruise
- Regent Seven Seas June 4 San Francisco to Vancouver cruise
- Regent Seven Seas June 5 Montreal to New York cruise
- Regent Seven Seas June 15 New York to Reykjavik cruise
- Seabourn May 31, June 12, June 26 Vancouver cruises to Alaska
- Seabourn June 19 Juneau to Vancouver cruise
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Why Cruise Lines are Defying the No Sail Order
Cruise lines are all under enormous pressure given the moratorium on sailing, the petri dish-like spread of coronavirus on the Diamond Princess and several other ships, and the sheer volume of refunds right now that threatens to bankrupt the industry. Carnival (CCL)'s stock has dropped from over $51 per share in mid-January to less than $13 per share, and the story is similar for Norwegian (NCLH), which has fallen from over $59 in mid-January to just over $12.
Since as soon as the cruise line cancels a cruise, passengers will be able to file for a refund, the cruise line's interest is in delaying as long as possible a decision to cancel or significantly change a given sailing.
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While it's understandable from a financial perspective that the major cruise lines are still keeping May and June cruises scheduled, in defiance of the No Sail order, it's irresponsible from the perspective of passenger and crew health. It's already apparent that the coronavirus can easily spread in warm and humid conditions (such as Singapore) absent strong social distancing measures, contradicting Norwegian call centers' egregiously wrong assertion that “Coronavirus doesn't exist in tropical climates.”
Bottom Line: If you have a cruise touching U.S. territorial waters booked for May, June, or early July 2020, we recommend pressing your cruise line to cancel it, in keeping with the CDC's Do Not Sail order. But don't cancel it before the cruise line does, as that will likely disqualify you from a refund once the cruise line does cancel it.
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