Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says he isn’t going to relax the Covid test requirement for cruises

[CruisingSteve]

Scroll to the 21 minute mark of the video and play to the end.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1389657860708179968?s=20
I'm pretty sure there will be more cancelled cruises, test cruises and 2 Covid tests to sail from Florida

[0_0]

Mark your calendar for May 12th. The hearing for the preliminary injunction in Florida's lawsuit is being held that day. The outcome of that hearing and potential ruling will likely make or break many of the policies being debated, and for many it will likely make or break their scheduled July cruises. It's a very real possibility a federal judge could rule in favor of Florida within hours or even days, to lift the CSO and allow ships to sail immediately. If that does happen the vaccine passport issue in Florida will be a moot point.

Edited May 5, 2021 by 0_0
Reworded for clarity

[twangster]

So odd.  DeSantis has no say in test cruises.  That's purely a CDC thing.

The video above didn't play for me but if DeSantis is now introducing a new state test cruise requirement on the industry that's unreal.  

[0_0]

I only watched the last 4 min. What I gleaned from his comments:

-Cruise lines have been able to operate safely overseas, without vaccines, for a year.
-He sees requiring any kind of vaccine for passengers as a condition to re-open the cruise industry to be unnecessary.
-He also states that the message being sent by the CDC is conflicted in that they are telling people who are fully vaccinated to restrict themselves in similar ways to unvaccinated people. In his opinion this is conveying the message that vaccines don't work and you aren't protected by getting it. This message is driving the demand down for the vaccine which he believes is not in the countries (or Florida's) best interest.

[JeffB]

Desantis sees the requirement for vaccination to board a cruise ship as "unnecessary." That's it at this point. He's not crossed the bridge yet of saying he will or will not hold the cruise lines operating from FL ports to the no vaccine passports required to get service law in FL.

Keep in mind it is the the CDC that has put up all the barriers to a restart and then defined two restart pathways: Vaccinated and skip the test sailing protocols or unvaccinated and do the test sailing protocols.

Props to 0_0 who notes the importance of May 12th. All of this discussion will be moot if the federal Judge that is hearing the case issues an injunction invalidating the CSO.

Fingers crossed. 

[twangster]

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/05/05/florida-governor-doesnt-think-cruise-lines-need-ability-require-vaccine-proof-passengers

[smokeybandit]

Some new case law that fits right into Florida's arguments to overturn the CSO

 

 

 

[JasonOasis]

I'm not sure if NCL is grandstanding or if they are 100% serious but yesterday NCL's CEO suggested the line my have no choice but to temporarily move all their cruises out of Florida and homeport them in other states or even at ports outside of the US as a result of Florida's new law.   

 

NCL's Frank Del Rio reportedly told Wall Street he hope this does not become a political football and although he is not a lawyer NCL's lawyers believe federal law not state law applies to cruise ships because they spend most of their time in international waters. While NCL's lawyers continue to wrestle with this conundrum created by Florida's law Del Rio is standing by his cruise lines decision to require all passengers be fully vaccinated to cruise through October 31st.  He believes temporarily requiring vaccines is the only way to safely resume and rebuild confidence in the cruising industry in this country but the vaccine requirement should go away on November 1st.

Question: If NCL's lawyers conclude that Florida's law does indeed apply to cruise lines and begin moving ships out of Florida at least through the end of  October will we see Ron DeSantis cave and exempt cruise lines from the law?  Or will it take a cruise line like Royal Caribbean or Carnival to begin moving ships out of Florida to get DeSantis's attention?  I think it is fascinating that not even the lawyers know for sure who has the authority over cruise lines until they hit international waters.

 

https://thepointsguy.com/news/norwegian-could-pull-ships-from-florida/

[jticarruthers]

26 minutes ago, JasonOasis said:

I'm not sure if NCL is grandstanding or if they are 100% serious but yesterday NCL's CEO suggested the line my have no choice but to temporarily move all their cruises out of Florida and homeport them in other states or even at ports outside of the US as a result of Florida's new law.   

 

NCL's Frank Del Rio reportedly told Wall Street he hope this does not become a political football and although he is not a lawyer NCL's lawyers believe federal law not state law applies to cruise ships because they spend most of their time in international waters. While NCL's lawyers continue to wrestle with this conundrum created by Florida's law Del Rio is standing by his cruise lines decision to require all passengers be fully vaccinated to cruise through October 31st.  He believes temporarily requiring vaccines is the only way to safely resume and rebuild confidence in the cruising industry in this country but the vaccine requirement should go away on November 1st.

Question: If NCL's lawyers conclude that Florida's law does indeed apply to cruise lines and begin moving ships out of Florida at least through the end of  October will we see Ron DeSantis cave and exempt cruise lines from the law?  Or will it take a cruise line like Royal Caribbean or Carnival to begin moving ships out of Florida to get DeSantis's attention?  I think it is fascinating that not even the lawyers know for sure who has the authority over cruise lines until they hit international waters.

 

https://thepointsguy.com/news/norwegian-could-pull-ships-from-florida/

I think theres a lot of posturing going on with the cruise lines trying to get a break that they can work with.

Pretty sure NCL thought they could "beat" the CDC by throwing down 100% vaccination as the standard to sail .. CDC didnt bite and came back with their latest pile of garbage.

If cruises cant start until the CDC is caged/emergency ends then does NCL still want 100% vax? I would guess not ... in which case Florida refusing to allow a vax check doesnt really matter anymore ..

At this point i think its the court case this week or kiss 2021 goodbye (unless you are willing to leave the US to cruise).

[twangster]

15 minutes ago, jticarruthers said:

At this point i think its the court case this week or kiss 2021 goodbye (unless you are willing to leave the US to cruise).

I tend to agree however I think the cruise lines have to show their investors they are doing everything in their powers to resume operations.

If the injunction doesn't bear fruit they'll have little choice but to get some ships queued up to work under the CSO using the CDC imposed 98/95 clause.  It won't be the full US based fleet but they have to show that they are trying or investors will fry them.   I'm betting on short FL cruises where the silly onboard CDC protocols can be tolerated for a short cruise.

[JeffB]

Private vaccine requirements are legal. The position that vaccine passports infringe on personal liberties in private settings doesn't hold water. Every one of you have, at one time or another, been required to show proof of vaccination to go to school.  It is important to distinguish between public and private settings. Federal mandates for them, as in a requirement for "vaccine passports", not in a private setting, would most likely not survive a court challenge on the basis that mandating them broadly and at the federal level would abridge constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties.  

OTH, private businesses can legally require vaccination as a condition of employment. The EEOC has greenlighted vaccine requirements as long as appropriate exemptions that protect personal liberties and allow for disabilities are part of the requirement (e.g. religious or health related exemptions, tele-working).

Governor Desantis' or any other state governor's EO based order banning "vaccine passports" isn't legal. State Governors do not have the power, even under those granted by declaration of a PHE. State legislatures appear to have the authority to legislate bans of vaccine passports within their boarders or requirements for them to obtain service in a place of business. There are gray areas, however. They involve several issues: First, the role of federal over-sight and the responsibility of the feds to provide guidance. Second, the EAU, third, the ethical challenge imposed by vaccine distribution inequity. IOW, such bans, even when codified into law by state legislatures are not going to survive court challenges. 

Even though there are some gray areas in the law governing state's right to legislate vaccine passport bans, it is clear that Desantis does not have legal authority to waive vaccine requirements that private cruise lines might wish to impose as a requirement for boarding a cruise ship. That is because Desantis runs afoul of federal oversight of cruise ships operating both in federally controlled waters bordering the states and in international waters. 

The bottom line for those worried about a vaccination requirement by the cruise lines becoming a show-stopper for cruises originating in FL ports is that won't happen. The CDC's power to regulate the cruise industry is another matter altogether. Some legal authorities say they do (the US Justice Department), some say they don't (e.g., the FL and TX State's attorneys). This question gets resolved next week.  

[cruisinghawg]

Here is the important part of the bill that we may be overlooking

 

The Bill text: (Florida SB 2006)

381.00316 COVID-19 vaccine documentation.— 
(1) A business entity, as defined in s. 768.38 to include any business operating in this state, may not require patrons or customers to provide any documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination or post-infection recovery to gain access to, entry upon, or service from the business operations in this state. This subsection does not otherwise restrict businesses from instituting screening protocols consistent with authoritative or  controlling government-issued guidance to protect public health.

 

Notice the last line. The bill will not shut down cruises because of controlling-government guidance. Not a lawyer and I did not sleep in a Holiday Inn last night.

[CGTLH]

12 minutes ago, cruisinghawg said:

Here is the important part of the bill that we may be overlooking

 

The Bill text: (Florida SB 2006)

381.00316 COVID-19 vaccine documentation.— 
(1) A business entity, as defined in s. 768.38 to include any business operating in this state, may not require patrons or customers to provide any documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination or post-infection recovery to gain access to, entry upon, or service from the business operations in this state. This subsection does not otherwise restrict businesses from instituting screening protocols consistent with authoritative or  controlling government-issued guidance to protect public health.

 

Notice the last line. The bill will not shut down cruises because of controlling-government guidance. Not a lawyer and I did not sleep in a Holiday Inn last night.

Don't think asking for documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination is classified as a screening protocol. Maybe asking for documentation instead of a PCR test would be valid (along the lines of the Bahamas Health visa). If my assumption is incorrect the law would still require the controlling government to issue guidance requiring documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination. So far no controlling government forced the requirement as being the only option.

[JeffB]

The bottom line is that Desantis would be committing political suicide if, after a separate and distinct injunction against the CDC's CSO allowing cruise lines to re-start revenue sailing, he were to tell them they can't require proof of vaccination to sail from FL ports. Think about this. Wrapping oneself around language that might tell us that he will or he won't enforce his "anti- vaccine passport rule" on the cruise lines is sheer folly.

Not going to happen. Period. Full-stop.

[CGTLH]

17 minutes ago, JeffB said:

The bottom line is that Desantis would be committing political suicide if, after a separate and distinct injunction against the CDC's CSO allowing cruise lines to re-start revenue sailing, he were to tell them they can't require proof of vaccination to sail from FL ports. Think about this. Wrapping oneself around language that might tell us that he will or he won't enforce his "anti- vaccine passport rule" on the cruise lines is sheer folly.

Not going to happen. Period. Full-stop.

Part of the problem has been a consistent statement that cruises line aren't exempt. If anything it would be suicide to the cruise lines to continue on with the requirement for proof of vaccination if the CSO is rescinded.

Sure DeSantis statement would be "I got the restrictions rescinded. Now it is the industry holding itself back by wanting to be an interference in peoples' lives and privacy and create two classes of citizens."

[twangster]

He must be confident the injunction will occur and the CSO will be out of the picture.  In that scenario he doesn't want the cruise lines imposing a vaccine requirement on their own.  However if the injunction fails and the only or best path forward is the 95% CDC rule that should give him an out since it's a federal requirement.  Either way it is unnecessary turbulence in already stormy condition.  

[cruisinghawg]

10 hours ago, twangster said:

He must be confident the injunction will occur and the CSO will be out of the picture.  In that scenario he doesn't want the cruise lines imposing a vaccine requirement on their own.  However if the injunction fails and the only or best path forward is the 95% CDC rule that should give him an out since it's a federal requirement.  Either way it is unnecessary turbulence in already stormy condition.  

Here is the answer so thanks twangster. I am a DeSantis supporter but he is beating his chest here to make waves. He knows and the bill states, as shown above, that the state cannot stop a federal agency from enacting a protocol for "public health reasons". But if the cruise lines try to do it then state may say hold on just a minute not according to our law.

He is afraid that this could lead to more restrictions or loss of freedoms down the road.

[RBRSKI]

13 hours ago, twangster said:

 Either way it is unnecessary turbulence in already stormy condition.  

Imagine if the cruise line and the CDC just gave the passengers a choice!  This unnecessary turbulence could be avoided !  They don't want it to be simple, they thrive on controversy.  

[UNCFanatik]

7 minutes ago, RBRSKI said:

Imagine if the cruise line and the CDC just gave the passengers a choice!  This unnecessary turbulence could be avoided !  They don't want it to be simple, they thrive on controversy.  

Imagine a world where people could assess their own level of risk and be able to chose activities accordingly. 

[RBRSKI]

10 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

Imagine a world where people could assess their own level of risk and be able to chose activities accordingly. 

Yes, those would be things that you have to sign a little paper stating you will not hold the company liable for death or any other injuries just to name a few related to ACTIVITIES(ex, flowrider, ice skating, rock climbing wall, zip line.

A foreign substance (vaccine) injected into your body should be a choice! Any business could come up with an option for those who want a choice.   

[twangster]

If only we knew of an ambulance chasing lawyer in Florida who could take a case involving many of us.  Hmmm. 

We are all being presumed to present a risk to each other and being denied an opportunity to travel by ship on the presumption that we will infect each other.  

I think the CDC should be required to demonstrate that I present a risk to society before they should be allowed to lock me down and prevent me from boarding a cruise ship.

[LovetoCruise87]

12 minutes ago, twangster said:

If only we knew of an ambulance chasing lawyer in Florida who could take a case involving many of us.  Hmmm. 

We are all being presumed to present a risk to each other and being denied an opportunity to travel by ship on the presumption that we will infect each other.  

I think the CDC should be required to demonstrate that I present a risk to society before they should be allowed to lock me down and prevent me from boarding a cruise ship.

Here!! Here!!

[RBRSKI]

33 minutes ago, twangster said:

If only we knew of an ambulance chasing lawyer in Florida who could take a case involving many of us.  Hmmm. 

We are all being presumed to present a risk to each other and being denied an opportunity to travel by ship on the presumption that we will infect each other.  

I think the CDC should be required to demonstrate that I present a risk to society before they should be allowed to lock me down and prevent me from boarding a cruise ship.

I am a little surprised with this comment, I know we go back a fourth quite a bit but didn't think you would have this type of opinion.  

[twangster]

7 minutes ago, RBRSKI said:

I am a little surprised with this comment, I know we go back a fourth quite a bit but didn't think you would have this type of opinion.  

The biggest problem with the internet and social media comes not from the the words that written but how they are interpreted by readers.

I suspect we could have a thoroughly enjoyable intelligent friendly discussion at a Schooner Bar on any ship and walk away closer as friends then we would be separated by our misjudgements.  

[RBRSKI]

7 minutes ago, twangster said:

The biggest problem with the internet and social media comes not from the the words that written but how they are interpreted by readers.

 

Amen to That!

[JeffB]

2 hours ago, twangster said:

I think the CDC should be required to demonstrate that I present a risk to society before they should be allowed to lock me down and prevent me from boarding a cruise ship.

This is, in part, one of the arguments that FL's law suit is all about. I posted this above but it's in better context here: as matter of administrative procedure, HHS/CDC was required to pretty much do just what you suggest above before they enacted the NSO and by extension the CSO. They failed to do that in both cases. 

16 hours ago, CGTLH said:

Part of the problem has been a consistent statement that cruises line aren't exempt.

I don't think a "statement" or a quote for that matter and to that effect exists. Implied? Maybe. Desantis has been very careful to dance around the question when he is confronted with it by the press. He has said, he does not think vaccinations for passengers wishing to sail on a cruise ship are "necessary." He follows up that declaration with this: "Cruise lines have been sailing without a vaccine requirement for months." (paraphrased). He actually has said nothing that suggests he's going to ban cruise ships from FL ports if they require vaccination to sail. Like I said, political suicide. Not going to happen. 

He's right about the cruise industry sailing for moths without a vaccine requirement but fails to acknowledge that the countries and port locations where cruise ships are sailing from have the COVID metrics to demonstrate the level of circulating SARS2 is very low. Not a good look, IMO and I feel confident that's been pointed out to him. Doubt you'll hear that qualifier again. When the CSO is enjoined, we'll hear more from Desantis on this subject.

16 hours ago, CGTLH said:

If anything it would be suicide to the cruise lines to continue on with the requirement for proof of vaccination if the CSO is rescinded........DeSantis statement would be "I got the restrictions rescinded. Now it is the industry holding itself back by wanting to be an interference in peoples' lives and

I think it important to not conflate these two issues. The CSO offers as an option to restart sailing a requirement to have a 98/95% vaccination rate per ship. NCL has already announced it's future sailings through 10/31 will require vaccinations. The way RCG seems to be approaching a restart with Millennium and Apex is that all crew and passengers will need to be vaccinated to sail. The heavy duty vaccinations going on during quick-turns in FL's ports suggest a vaccine requirement for crew. It would be dumb to then not require it for passengers.

I consider Del Rio's comments directed at FL's/Desantis' no-vaccinations required policy pure theater. NCL abandoning the FL market for Galveston? The West Coast? The NE? You can't be serious. It will get worked out. Sop ruminating about it.

The separate issue is the one involving the question of what happens to a CDC requirement as one path to restart to have 98/95% crew and pax vaccinated contained in the CSO? Well, it no longer exists. RCG can sail without imposing that requirement. But why? Aside from the liability issues, RCG and NCL are well on the way to requiring vaccinations. Again, it would be dumb to not carry on with that plan.

Look, I get the two classes of people argument when it comes to vaccines. I don't share that argument. Caveat: I'm both fully vaccinated and in a higher COVID risk category by age.  My view is that if you want to play, you pay. See the success of Israel in returning that country to a post pandemic normalcy among other countries. Frankly, I'll choose a cruise line that requires crew and pax to be vaccinated over one that doesn't. I think if the CSO is enjoined, there will be some lines who won't require vaccination to sail. Until the level of circulating virus is sufficiently low by defined metrics to gauge that, lines who elect to cruise from locales where there is evidence that the virus is still circulating are risking being negligent - grounds for a civil claim for damages that the lines cannot contractually avoid with the typical illness rejoinders in cruise contracts. I think RCG has figured this out already.

TBF, Broward and Miami Dade Counties are close to hitting the point where one could say the level of circulating virus is low but close in horse shoes doesn't count. The prevailing view is that SARS2 is controlled when % positivity is between 3 and 5% for an extended period (around 10 consecutive days). Rebounds can occur that change the calculus. As a matter of the law where negligence is a factor I would not want to press that.

[UNCFanatik]

15 minutes ago, JeffB said:

Look, I get the two classes of people argument when it comes to vaccines. I don't share that argument. Caveat: I'm both fully vaccinated and in a higher COVID risk category by age.  My view is that if you want to play, you pay. See the success of Israel in returning that country to a post pandemic normalcy among other countries. Frankly, I'll choose a cruise line that requires crew and pax to be vaccinated over one that doesn't. I think if the CSO is enjoined, there will be some lines who won't require vaccination to sail. Until the level of circulating virus is sufficiently low by defined metrics to gauge that, lines who elect to cruise from locales where there is evidence that the virus is still circulating are risking being negligent - grounds for a civil claim for damages that the lines cannot contractually avoid with the typical illness rejoinders in cruise contracts. I think RCG has figured this out already.

As I have mentioned in a previous post(s). I am pro-business. I believe that businesses should be able to set their terms of service on their own provided they are legal. From a business standpoint, it makes sense to codify the CDC and require a high level of vaccinated persons (crew and passengers) on cruises from the US this summer provided that Royal can pull it off in July. IN the long term, I think its bad business to restrict your customer base based on vaccination. Just like you have a preference so do others especially when it comes to children being required to be vaccinated.  Right now it is a logistical nightmare to not only vaccinate crew but for Royal to produce its plans for any US July sailings. We are just over 60 days for mid-july. What is Royal's plan? Will they try test cruises? Will they require the Vaccinated levels suggested by the CDC (98% of crew, 95% of passengers) to bypass test sailings? I have a July 17th sailing on Symphony booked. What will that look like? Will booked guests be offered a chance to be  part of simulated cruises? Will they be told to get vaccinated? And at what % of capacity does Royal break even on a sailing of Symphony? 

And if Symphony does sail on July 17th under the CDC recommended vaccinated levels, then myself and family should be treated as we are vaccinated. You know, follow the science and data. No outdoor masking. No masking during meals. No masking on Coco Cay. The ability to schedule my own excursions and even wander around a port city on my own. The list continues. Otherwise, the CDC and Royal contribute to vaccine hesitancy. When will Royal announce their plan and put out guidance for mid-July start that they say they are planning? I am 68 days out. I get that they are waiting on the hearing come Wednesday and there are a lot of moving pieces to consider but they need to remember the amount of people that have fully paid for July cruises that deserve a plan at this point in order to make alternate plans in a summer with high demand on travel. 

Lastly, I hope that PCR tests that are set to run too high a cycle count are stopped being used to determine Covid infection. Too many false positives have resulted from this method which is then added to the case count of a particular location. 

[smokeybandit]

29 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

Lastly, I hope that PCR tests that are set to run too high a cycle count are stopped being used to determine Covid infection.

 

The FDA announced they're only looking at a threshold up to 28 for their breakthrough case research.  Had we been using 28 (as opposed to 35/40) all along, we'd all be cruising right now.

[CGTLH]

1 hour ago, JeffB said:

I don't think a "statement" or a quote for that matter and to that effect exists. Implied?

It wasn't a statement from DeSantis directly and related to the EO. Best I can find is in an article from April 12 in the Sun Sentinel.

The statement was from his press secretary: "Therefore, the Executive Order prohibits cruise lines from requiring vaccine passports for their Florida operations."

I'm also implying that the law is a permanent version of the EO.

[Loops]

4 hours ago, twangster said:

If only we knew of an ambulance chasing lawyer in Florida who could take a case involving many of us.  Hmmm. 

We are all being presumed to present a risk to each other and being denied an opportunity to travel by ship on the presumption that we will infect each other.  

I think the CDC should be required to demonstrate that I present a risk to society before they should be allowed to lock me down and prevent me from boarding a cruise ship.

Morgan & Morgan… an Olympic caliber ambulance chaser!!

[JeffB]

3 hours ago, UNCFanatik said:

IN the long term, I think its bad business to restrict your customer base based on vaccination.

I agree with this. NCL has an endpoint for their vaccine requirement of 10/31/21. It could be sooner depending on health conditions they reportedly are saying. IMO, this is a good date. The ports and countries we want to cruise in and out of are either going to have the SARS virus down to manageable levels by the end of October through natural immunity and vaccine administration or the entire travel and leisure industry is dead meat. My guess is that RCG is moving in the same direction as NCL by requiring vaccinations to sail and an end-point in the future to that requirement.

Again, this isn't going to be black and white becasue global health authorities will determine what is a safe, manageable level of viral transmission of SARS2 and what isn't differently. We have the CDC being less than transparent providing hyper-safe guidance lacking disclosure to the public about what metrics they are basing their PH guidance on. The Brits or Germans might say we are testing 80% of our population and 100% of foreign visitors. Given that testing rate we need nation wide COVID metrics demonstrating that SARS2 has less than 2% positivity. Greece, Italy, others may have less intense testing and less rigorous metric criteria. Getting back to cruising in a post pandemic environment isn't going to be easy but we're well on our way ..... step by step. May 12th.

[JeffB]

3 hours ago, CGTLH said:

It wasn't a statement from DeSantis directly and related to the EO. Best I can find is in an article from April 12 in the Sun Sentinel.

The statement was from his press secretary: "Therefore, the Executive Order prohibits cruise lines from requiring vaccine passports for their Florida operations."

I'm also implying that the law is a permanent version of the EO.

His press secretary? Hmmmm. The Sun Sentinal is really a pretty good local pape but they have been known to assign statements to various sources without vetting them. My point remains. Desantis is not going to tell cruise lines they can't sail from FL ports if they require passengers and crew to be vaccinated.  

[Jill]

12 hours ago, JeffB said:

His press secretary? Hmmmm. The Sun Sentinal is really a pretty good local pape but they have been known to assign statements to various sources without vetting them. My point remains. Desantis is not going to tell cruise lines they can't sail from FL ports if they require passengers and crew to be vaccinated.  

Agree. I live in Florida and no way DeSantis will let a $7 billion dollar industry sail away. No way. 

[jticarruthers]

I still think its all circular posturing at the moment.

NCL was planning do 100% testing with the backing of the CDC

"Sorry angry client but that's the only way the CDC will allow us to sail, we will let you on board as soon as the mean CDC says we can".

Now that seems like a bust based on the latest CDC "guidance" .... 

So, if the next best path is FL getting the CDC thrown out of the game and it becomes "whatever NCL/RCL/CCL says they want the rules to be" because FL has no restrictions then i think this gets resolved pretty quickly between DeSantis and the cruise bigwigs.

Big difference for NCL to say "We are deciding not to let you on board" vs "The CDC made us" ...

[twangster]

Cruise lines just want to sail without having to ask a team of lawyers WTF just happened and what does it mean to us.

Classic government hindering business at both the federal and state level.  

Completely unnecessary at both levels.

[cruisellama]

So much duplicity on these topics.  Requiring to see test results in no more intrusive than asking to see a vaccination card.  Up to the business to execute.

[JeffB]

Those of us posting here and following the cruise industry v. the CDC clown show are pretty good at picking out the non-sequiturs and disconnects. What troubles me is that we're a relatively small group of well informed cruising Americans that are far outnumbered by Americans that are misinformed about the risk of SARS2 transmission aboard a cruise ship and the spread of infections by passengers heading back home after a cruise.

I wonder if Judge Merryday, who is hearing FL's request for an immediate injunction, has personally followed this sufficiently to render a decision that is not eroded by the sheer amount of misinformation out there.  That cruise ships are widely believed to be dangerous breeding grounds for infection by the public, that the CDC has a huge stake in continuing to misinform the public about this so as to make their over-regulation of cruise ship operations seem necessary, I wonder if FL's attorney general will be able to reverse the mountains of misinformation and carry the day in the 2h that have been allotted for both sides to make their cases.

This is a great high school or college debate question. You have to win the debate should cruise lines be able to restart sailing right now? How will you argue your case in the allotted segments: present your case, hear the opposition's points, rebut them.

[twangster]

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/05/13/florida-governor-dismisses-norwegian-cruise-line-threat-pull-cruise-ships-florida

[LovetoCruise87]

26 minutes ago, twangster said:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/05/13/florida-governor-dismisses-norwegian-cruise-line-threat-pull-cruise-ships-florida

What in the world is DeSantis doing calling NCL, "not one of the bigger" cruise lines. Seems he really doesn't care if they stay or not. 

[twangster]

7 minutes ago, LovetoCruise87 said:

What in the world is DeSantis doing calling NCL, "not one of the bigger" cruise lines. Seems he really doesn't care if they stay or not. 

SMH

A lot of thoughts entered my head when I saw that but they were too far removed from cruising to post here.