CDC Extends Conditional Sail Order Until 1/15/22

[Ken the cruiser]

CDC Extends Conditional Sail Order Through January 15, 2022; Voluntary Program After That - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News

 

CDC Extends Conditional Sailing Order Until Early 2022 (cruisehive.com)

 

CDC extends conditional sailing order Jan. 15, then becomes voluntary (seatrade-cruise.com)

 

Transition to fewer than 95% vaccinated passengers

One change is that ships operating with 95% of crew and passengers fully vaccinated may transition to operating with fewer than 95% vaccinated passengers without first conducting a simulated voyage, with several provisions. They must have a 60-day transition period with the 95% level and continue to have 95% of crew fully vaccinated.

 

They'll also need to incorporate additional mask use, distancing and other measures. They additionally must have procedures for notifying passengers who booked a 95% passenger vaccinated cruise that their sailing will no longer operate as such.

 

Ships that have been operating outside US waters and intend to transition to operating with fewer than 95% vaccinated passengers will need to follow these same procedures but also must conduct one simulation of embarkation screening and testing at the terminal it intends to use in the US —  unless the ship will be operating at the terminal already in use by the same cruise line for passenger operations.

[Syracusefan44]

CDC extends conditional sailing order to Jan. 15, then it's planned to become voluntary.
 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/legal-regulatory/cdc-extends-conditional-sailing-order-jan-15-then-its-planned-become-voluntary

[c-boy]

my guess is they're (CDC) looking for fall out from holiday gatherings. 

[Cruise Raider]

14 minutes ago, Syracusefan44 said:

CDC extends conditional sailing order to Jan. 15, then it's planned to become voluntary.
 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/legal-regulatory/cdc-extends-conditional-sailing-order-jan-15-then-its-planned-become-voluntary

 

Well, we all fell for that 2 weeks of lockdown to 'flatten the curve'.  🤣  I don't think there is any way shape or form that they will give up their control over the cruiselines in January.  My guess is they will just keep extending it for as long as they possibly can.  

 

[ebeluga]

Well, CDC is not Wall Street, their decision is not based on projection to the future but rather is based on collected data!

[ebeluga]

39 minutes ago, c-boy said:

my guess is they're (CDC) looking for fall out from holiday gatherings. 

The first hint would be 3 weeks after Thanksgiving...

[Ken the cruiser]

Was it the CDC or the cruise lines that came up with the requirement for negative pre-cruise antigen/PCR tests for passengers to present during the final check-in process prior to boarding? First, the requirement was for within a 72 hour window, then it was changed to 3 days, and now 2 days prior to embarkation.

 

I know Celebrity initially tried but ultimately failed to start administering them to all passengers prior to the Edge's 7/31 cruise, but then on the next cruise required passengers to present proof of a negative test prior to boarding. Was that an individual cruise line or CDC inspired decision?

 

I tried looking through the CSO Technical Order updates and couldn't see where the CDC ever "required" cruise lines to do that starting the end of July. If you think it was the CDC, would you please post the section in the CSO TI where it says that?

Edited October 25, 2021 by Ken the cruiser

[CineGraphic]

We're sailing on January 9th, and happy to sail with everyone being vaccinated.

[Bgwest]

We’ll that didn’t take long, did it!

[PrincessLuver]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

Well, we all fell for that 2 weeks of lockdown to 'flatten the curve'.  🤣  I don't think there is any way shape or form that they will give up their control over the cruiselines in January.  My guess is they will just keep extending it for as long as they possibly can.  

 

 

I think you are correct and the fact that it was announced today that unvaccinated American travelers are going to face tighter COVID testing requirements in new US travel system starting November 8th, 2021 things are probably only gong to tighten more.

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2021/10/25/unvaccinated-american-travelers-face-covid-testing-upon-return-us/6173830001/

[CruisinFinsUp]

Princess had extended its Covid protocols to Feb 28, 2022 already. 
 

Are there any inconsistencies with the new CDC requirements? 

[Earthworm Jim]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Was it the CDC or the cruise lines that came up with the requirement for negative pre-cruise antigen/PCR tests for passengers to present during the final check-in process prior to boarding? First, the requirement was for within a 72 hour window, then it was changed to 3 days, and now 2 days prior to embarkation.

 

The CDC came up with it. See:

 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/covid19-operations-manual-cso.html

(Under the subheading "Testing of Embarking and Disembarking Passengers for Restricted Voyages")

 

Fully vaccinated passengers must present a SARS-CoV-2 negative viral test result at the time of embarkation. The specimen must be taken no more than 2 days before boarding.

 

However, there's a rather large exception to that requirement:

 

As of July 23, 2021, the CSO and accompanying measures, such as technical instructions, are nonbinding recommendations for cruise ships arriving in, located within, or departing from a port in Florida. CDC is continuing to operate the CSO as a voluntary program for such ships that choose to follow the CSO measures voluntarily.

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/covid19-cruiseships.html

 

So it's not required for cruises operating from Florida, which is a lot of them. There the cruise lines are following the CSO voluntarily, though the CDC still was the one who came up with the testing timetable.

[Ken the cruiser]

43 minutes ago, Earthworm Jim said:

 

The CDC came up with it. See:

 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/covid19-operations-manual-cso.html

(Under the subheading "Testing of Embarking and Disembarking Passengers for Restricted Voyages")

 

Fully vaccinated passengers must present a SARS-CoV-2 negative viral test result at the time of embarkation. The specimen must be taken no more than 2 days before boarding.

 

However, there's a rather large exception to that requirement:

 

As of July 23, 2021, the CSO and accompanying measures, such as technical instructions, are nonbinding recommendations for cruise ships arriving in, located within, or departing from a port in Florida. CDC is continuing to operate the CSO as a voluntary program for such ships that choose to follow the CSO measures voluntarily.

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/covid19-cruiseships.html

 

So it's not required for cruises operating from Florida, which is a lot of them. There the cruise lines are following the CSO voluntarily, though the CDC still was the one who came up with the testing timetable.

Thanks Jim!! That's it! I had a pretty good feeling it was the CDC, but just couldn't find where they had put their "recommendation" in writing. So this pretty much confirms we're going to have to provide a negative antigen/PCR test, whether it's done prior to arrival or at the cruise terminal, prior to embarking on a cruise from the US until at least 1/15/22. 😎

 

 

Edited October 26, 2021 by Ken the cruiser

[suekel]

3 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

We're sailing on January 9th, and happy to sail with everyone being vaccinated.

We'll be on that cruise with you.  So looking forward to it.  

[Buckeye10640]

5 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

CDC Extends Conditional Sail Order Through January 15, 2022; Voluntary Program After That - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News

 

CDC Extends Conditional Sailing Order Until Early 2022 (cruisehive.com)

 

CDC extends conditional sailing order Jan. 15, then becomes voluntary (seatrade-cruise.com)

 

Transition to fewer than 95% vaccinated passengers

One change is that ships operating with 95% of crew and passengers fully vaccinated may transition to operating with fewer than 95% vaccinated passengers without first conducting a simulated voyage, with several provisions. They must have a 60-day transition period with the 95% level and continue to have 95% of crew fully vaccinated.

 

They'll also need to incorporate additional mask use, distancing and other measures. They additionally must have procedures for notifying passengers who booked a 95% passenger vaccinated cruise that their sailing will no longer operate as such.

 

Ships that have been operating outside US waters and intend to transition to operating with fewer than 95% vaccinated passengers will need to follow these same procedures but also must conduct one simulation of embarkation screening and testing at the terminal it intends to use in the US —  unless the ship will be operating at the terminal already in use by the same cruise line for passenger operations.

"They'll also need to incorporate additional mask use, "

 

I am not sure this is possible on Princess short of requiring masks outdoors as well as indoors.....

[MishelleMcc]

Our cruise sails 1-16-22.  So I am thinking the 60 day transition comes into play then?  Depending on the status of the virus, I hope some precautions stay in place for a while...  Personally,  I want us ALL to be able to sail AND be safe! 

 

Edited October 26, 2021 by MishelleMcc
add info

[brisalta]

 

The complete document is located at https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/pdf/CDC-CSO-Extension-10-25-21-p.pdf

 

[Jadn13]

6 hours ago, brisalta said:

 

The complete document is located at https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/pdf/CDC-CSO-Extension-10-25-21-p.pdf

 

Pages 20-22 are worth reading. 

Edited October 26, 2021 by Jadn13

[Jadn13]

7 hours ago, pris993 said:

you really believe decisions are based on data???  

See pages 20-22

[NavArch64]

Very revealing ... 1359 COVID19 cases on cruise ships in restart in US ... now we know why so many ships were/are YELLOW.

[Bgwest]

🥱

[NavArch64]

For complete info ... CDC-CSO-Extension-10-25-21-p.pdf

[Daniel A]

Is anyone surprised by this?  How many times does someone go back on their word and still remain credible?  The Supreme Court took CDC at their word this summer and CDC reneged then as well by trying to extend their unlawful Eviction Moratorium until this month.  The Supreme Court stopped CDC in their tracks with that one.  I think the Supreme Court learned the meaning of "Fool me once, shame on you, Fool me twice, shame on me..."

 

Lets see what CDC's word means in January.   😒 

[Steelers36]

Where did all these cases occur?  If so many, wouldn't we hear?  Princess not affected as much as others?

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, Jadn13 said:

Pages 20-22 are worth reading. 

Thanks for pointing those pages out. Quite an informative section.