The CDC today eased restrictions on wearing masks outdoors and on shore excursions, but otherwise made no major changes to the rules on cruise lines with 100% of passengers and crew vaccinated.
The CDC’s Operations Manual for Restarting Cruises now states that vaccinated passengers will not need to wear masks outside of crowded rooms, while unvaccinated passengers will still have to wear masks, even when sunbathing on lounge chairs two meters apart and between bites and swallows during outdoor meals.
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The CDC’s ban on independent land exploration for all passengers has been changed from a requirement to a recommendation, regardless of whether passengers are vaccinated or not. It is now said that cruise lines can alert passengers and crew that when fully vaccinated they can “conduct self-guided or independent explorations during port stops if they wear a mask indoors”.
It is also recommended that independent exploration by unvaccinated passengers and crew members during port stops be prohibited and that unvaccinated passengers should always wear a mask and keep physical distance on shore excursions.
Earlier this month, the CDC’s Cruise Restart Guidelines stated that cruisers must be masked outside, even while eating or in the distance on the pool deck, whether vaccinated or not. The guidelines for eating inside have still not changed and still say that regardless of whether passengers are vaccinated or not, “removing the mask for an extended meal service or drinking is a violation” of the current mask policy Agency would represent.
Frank Del Rio, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH), last week expressed disappointment in these regulations, particularly in light of NCLH’s plan to operate ships with 100% vaccinated crew and passengers.
“Between bites of your meal and between sips of your drink, you have to put your mask on, take your mask off. So nobody should order soup because your mask could get sloppy,” he said. “That’s just absurd for me.”
