Cruise Lines Waiting on Additional Guidance From CDC to Begin Test Sailings

Nearly three months after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) allowed its no-sail order to expire in favor of a Conditional Sailing Order, it’s still unclear as to when the prerequisite test cruises will begin.

During Monday’s fourth-quarter 2020 earnings call, Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald said that the company remains in the initial phase of the CDC’s Conditional Sailing Order and currently has no timetable for when simulated sailings will begin as it waits for additional guidance from the public health institute.

“It’s a work in process…additional guidelines for future phases have not yet been issued by the CDC,” Donald said. “To give you a specific timing on the test cruises, we would need additional guidance from the CDC.”

“We are starting to bring ships back to the U.S. and meeting the criteria that are currently out there to be in a position to then subsequently do test cruises,” he added. “I learned a long time ago, never try to predict regulatory anything.”

Rising case numbers across the country are likely one factor for the CDC’s delay. As of Thursday, the U.S. has reported more than 23 million COVID-19 cases and 385,000 coronavirus-related deaths.

Cruise lines operating in U.S. waters will need to complete a series of simulated or mock voyages with the help of volunteers to ensure the proper COVID-19 protocols have been implemented and are effective before they can operate revenue sailings.

With 60 days required between test cruise results and the start of revenue cruises, the latter likely won’t resume for several months. As a result, multiple cruise lines have paused operations through March and April.