The cruise industry has been hit hard by COVID-19, with travel bans and virus fears colliding in a perfect storm.
In 2019, the cruise industry was worth about US$150 billion and was projected to carry 32 million passengers in 2020. But the arrival of COVID-19 has forced the industry to virtually collapse.
The CDC was prompted to issue no-sail orders for the cruise ship industry following an outbreak on the Diamond Princess ship which had to be docked in Japan for multiple weeks as passengers quarantined in their cabins. More than 700 people onboard the ship tested positive for COVID-19, leading to nine deaths.
Since then, cruise lines have been singled out as COVID-19 hotspots for bringing together thousands of passengers and crew from around the world into close quarters where social distancing is hard to maintain.
“We’ve pretty much seen the end of the self-service buffet, ”travel journalist David Yeskel says of the new guidelines put out by the CDC. “We may only see 25 per cent passenger capacity on the initial cruises, just so they can maintain the distancing and the health requirements.”
He added, “We should remember these are interim steps. These will go on for as long as they need to go on to keep everybody safe and healthy. But I think once there is a widely available vaccine and/or sure-fire therapeutic, things will slowly return to normal and some of these restrictions will be lifted.”