The world’s two largest cruise lines, Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Line, both posted statements regarding the CDC’s decision to stop the COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships.

Now that the CDC’s voluntary COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships has been canceled, what does that mean for cruises leaving from the US? While it is likely that some of the travel restrictions will be loosened for cruises, cruise lines have yet to make any changes.

Cruise lines are waiting for the CDC to publish guidance before they make any changes. Both Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Line posted statements on their websites regarding this. The statements can be read below.

Carnival Cruise Line: “Carnival welcomes the CDC’s decision to replace its current public health protocols with a new set of guidelines for health operations on cruise ships. We will review these once they’re available, but there are no immediate changes to Carnival’s COVID-19 protocols. While planning an upcoming cruise, guests should continue to follow this page, as well as any pre-cruise communications from Carnival.”

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RoyalCaribbean: “On July 18, the US CDC announced that the COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships is no longer in effect. Going forward, the CDC will continue to publish guidance for the cruise industry. We are waiting for these revised recommendations, which we expect in the coming days. Upon review, we will adjust our current protocols and provide guidance to our guests. For now, our current protocols remain in effect for cruises departing US homeports.”

Cruise Fever will have all of the updates that cruise lines make once those decisions have been announced.