CLIA: 500 Cruises Impacted by Suspension of US Cruise Operations
The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the world’s largest cruise industry trade association, said that its members will be temporarily suspending cruise ship operations from and to U.S. ports of call for 30 days as public health officials and the U.S. Government continue to address COVID-19.
“CLIA cruise line members are voluntarily and temporarily suspending operations from the U.S. as we work to address this public health crisis,” said Kelly Craighead, President and CEO, CLIA.
“This has been a challenging time, but we hope that this decision will enable us to focus on the future and a return to normal as soon as possible.”
The temporary suspension took effect on March 14, 2020.
The announcement was preceded by individual decisions of several cruise lines to suspend their global operations in order to combat the impact of the outbreak on their respective operations, including Princess Cruises.
Royal Caribbean said on Sunday, March 14, that it decided to suspend the sailings of its fleet globally at midnight.
“We will conclude all current sailings as scheduled and assist our guests with their safe return home. As with our announcement yesterday regarding U.S. sailings, we expect to return to service on April 11, 2020,” the company said.
Carnival Corporation & plc announced that four additional North American cruise line brands will take a voluntary month-long pause, suspending new cruise voyages.
These include Carnival Cruise Line, Cunard North America, Holland America Line, and Seabourn.
CLIA added that cruise liners are now focused on the safe and smooth return of those currently at sea onboard ships that will be affected by this decision.
Approximately 40 ships and 90,000 passengers were at sea at the effective date and time of the voluntary and temporary suspension, according to CLIA.
Of those 40 ships, 29 were in the midst of their itineraries, and 11 had departed that evening. On March 16, 11 of these 40 ships will complete their sailings; the remaining have various dates of return out to March 30.
Over the 30-day period, CLIA estimates that approximately 500 cruises and 1.2 million passengers will be impacted by suspended itineraries.
The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) and CLIA said that U.S. ports would remain open to returning cruise ships, adding that passengers are able to disembark and fly home as confirmed by a National Interest Exemption issued by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on March 13, 2020.
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