the cruise industry has been rocked by
the corona virus pandemic high-profile
outbreaks like the one aboard Diamond
Princess have left many people thinking
twice about cruising again with a no
sale order from the CDC set to expire on
July 24th the industry has to make some
big changes in the cruise industry adapt
to make cruising safer for both
passengers and crew
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the CDC's no sale order cited what it
believes are health risks associated
with being on cruise ships let's unpack
that order and review some of the ways
cruise operators may address those
concerns the number and variety of
person-to-person contacts in semi-closed
settings are particularly conducive to
Tsarskoe VIII to spread resulting in
high transmission rates cruises include
frequent events that bring passengers
and crew close together including group
and buffet dining entertainment events
and excursions to address the spread of
Cova 19 whose companies are going to
need to address these three areas
cleanliness social distancing and
testing let's look at cleanliness first
cruise lines have a bit of a head start
on taking cleanliness seriously previous
outbreaks of norovirus abroad cruise
ships have led to intense focus on
cleaning in the past ships are already
equipped with a ton of hand-washing
stations throughout the vessel often
hand-washing is strictly enforced by
crew members in dining rooms and common
areas they could further modify these
cleaning strategies with a more intense
focus on high touch areas like handrails
doorknobs and bathroom fixtures on
cruise ships
there are many high touch areas
including self-serve buffets game rooms
and casinos special attention will need
to be paid to playing cards poker chips
and touch screens to cycling out or
disinfecting contaminated objects
wherever possible social distancing on
cruise ships presents a more difficult
challenge by definition being on a
cruise ship means being in an enclosed
space with many people while modern
cruise ships have a ton of outdoor space
with multiple levels of decks with pools
outdoor bars and even full water parks a
lot of cruising takes place indoors
restaurants casinos spas theaters and
most importantly cabins are all indoors
that creates conditions that make it
easy for Kovan 19 to spread how could
cruise companies begin to mitigate this
risk first you could reduce the total
number of people cruise ships would
likely reduce capacity and those routes
that do sail could be shorter and closer
to home fewer people sailing on fewer
cruise ships means fewer chances for the
virus to spread on board period those
that do sail will probably find the
cruise experience to be a bit different
there will likely be scheduled
entertainment limited capacity and
restaurants and you may see the
elimination of self-serve buffets
altogether according to the CDC clothes
quartering is a particular concern for
crew who typically eat and sleep in
small crowded spaces crew members
interact with passengers in all kinds of
settings from food service to
housekeeping these are all opportunities
for a crew member to get exposed to the
virus an exposed crew member then goes
back to the shared crew quarters
creating more opportunities for the
virus to spread
reducing overall passenger capacity
couldn't create the need for fewer crew
members with more space for the crew
itself specific protocols for keeping
crew members healthy will need to be
developed testing is the final and most
important piece of the puzzle reliable
widely available testing is crucial to
overcoming this pandemic overall but it
will be of particular importance to the
cruise industry if cruise lines can get
fast and accurate testing for
coronavirus and as antibodies they could
essentially create safe ships testing
before boarding and disembarking could
create a relatively safe environment on
board and cut down on the extreme
measures needed for social distancing
there have been reports that some cruise
companies were not forthcoming about
infection rates with passengers and
local authorities resulting in
high-profile investigations in Australia
and New Zealand
the CDC order requires cruise operators
to inform local authorities at ports of
call of any infections on board a robust
testing system will facilitate that the
cruise industry will survive the
pandemic but they're going to need to
make some serious changes to date no
cruise company has received any bailout
funds between issuing refunds paying for
maintenance and offering heavily
discounted itineraries cruise companies
are losing a lot of money
however industry analysts believe that
some of the larger companies have enough
cash on hand to survive up to ten months
without sailing the no sale order is set
to expire on July 24th that order may
well get extended and this could all
change the cruise industry will survive
but it'll need to make some big changes
to do so safely and responsibly
for up-to-date information on the cruise
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