Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings today sent a reminder letter to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) requesting a response to the plan previously presented by the company to resume cruise operations from U.S. ports in July.
“Over the past year, we have worked tirelessly and invested heavily in creating a path to resume cruise operations, including guidance from the country’s leading scientific and public health experts. We are confident that with our SailSAFE program, supported by science, we will offer a unique and safe holiday experience that protects our guests, crew and communities we visit, ”said Frank Del Rio, President and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, which operates the Norwegian, Oceania and Regent brands.
“We firmly believe that our proposal submitted to the CDC 10 days ago, which includes mandatory vaccinations for all guests and crew, offers an immediate and safe solution to resume the cruise and eliminates the need for the CSO (Conditional Sailing Order) obsolete, which in its current form is impossible to operationalize and, most importantly, ignores the advance of vaccines.
“Our proposal goes far beyond the intent of CSOs and would greatly accelerate the way to resume the cruise while freeing up valuable CDC time and resources, allowing it to focus on its many other public health priorities that they compete, “Del Rio continued. “I continue to look forward to further discussions with the CDC and respectfully ask for a prompt response to my written proposal to re-sail in July to allow us to join the national reopening of the United States.”
The company, in a press release, said it firmly believed that by requiring mandatory vaccinations for guests and crew on first voyages, in addition to comprehensive protocols that include universal testing of COVID-19, the plan shares the spirit and exceeds the intention of the CDC CSOs to advance mutual public health goals and protect guests, crew, and communities visited.
The press release states that the company remains optimistic and that CDC will agree that this plan eliminates the need for CSOs and therefore strongly calls for the lifting of the order for Norwegian vessels, which the will allow travel from U.S. ports beginning July 4th.
Full letter:
April 15, 2021
Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States
1600 Clifton Road
Atlanta, GA 30329-4027
Re: Our plan to join the National Opening of America this summer
Dear Dr. Walensky:
Last Monday, April 5, 2021 I presented you with a proposal describing the plan of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (“NCLH”) to resume cruise operations from U.S. ports this July. Our plan includes our multi-layered SailSAFETM Health and safety program developed jointly with world-renowned experts, including the Blue Ribbon Healthy Sail panel led by former Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt and former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, Dr. Scott Gottlieb.
NCLH shares your view that vaccinations are the primary vehicle for Americans to return to their daily lives while containing the spread of the virus. As such, our robust scientific plan combines mandatory vaccinations for all guests and crew with multiple additional layers of preventive protocols, including universal testing of COVID-19.
The safety of our guests, crew and the communities we visit is our number one priority. We recognize that our strict vaccination requirements will temporarily prevent some of our customers ’primary demographic data from purchasing cruises on our brands, including families with passengers under the age of 15, but we believe this is the safest and most effective way to do so. cruises to the current audience. health environment.
It is frustrating that so far we have not received even a recognition of this proposal. I recognize that you have many important public health issues and have been reluctant to even write, however, we firmly believe that our proposal should be the model for how the travel and hospitality industry operates in a COVID-19 environment. Our industry supports hundreds of thousands of jobs and contributes billions of dollars to this country’s economy and it definitely deserves your time and attention.
As you know, our industry had a meeting with your office on Monday, and while we appreciate the dialogue, our proposal was not addressed. In the future, we understand that the industry may have regular meetings with your office, but we are concerned that these meetings will produce the non-existent results they have had since last year. While respecting science and data, as CDC usually does, give a new perspective to this issue. Our most sincere hope is that you and the entire Biden-Harris Administration will allow us to take a responsible cruise again.
Accordingly, I respectfully request a prompt response to my written proposal. Americans look forward to doing cruises again and look forward to relaunching our ships as soon as possible and restoring American jobs.
Yours faithfully,
Frank Del Rio
Chairman and CEO
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd..