The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advised all Americans to avoid cruise traveling at all costs. The warning is also relevant for those who had already received COVID-19 immunizations.
The CDC raised the COVID-19 Travel Health Notice from Risk 3 to Level 4. This level is the highest one, and the decision was highly influenced by the discovery of many cases on cruise ships. It looks like the Omicron variant was identified and that it spreads at high speed.
The guidelines include the following rules: avoid cruise travel, even if you have been fully vaccinated. Every traveler may be at risk of contracting some of the COVID mutations and further spreading the disease. In case you have to go on a cruise for some reason, it would be great to get the booster dose before the trip. On top of that, all travelers are advised to get tested 1 to 3 days before and 3 to 5 days after the vacation. Those who haven’t been fully vaccinated should be in quarantine for five days after the cruise trip ends.
The Cruise Lines International Association claims that CDC targets the industry for no particular reason. The group claimed that cases on cruise ships were a small minority of the total population of the ship, and that number was far fewer than the number on land. On top of that, the cases were asymptomatic or mild, posing almost no burden on medical resources. According to The Wall Street Journal, Norwegian Cruise Line’s stock was down 1.48 percent in Thursday trading, while Carnival’s stock was down 0.79 percent, and Royal Caribbean’s stock was down 0.12 percent.