Luxury cruise operator Carnival Cruise Line is pushing ahead with its plans to resume operations in August when its no-sail order expires. The company announced on Monday that its ships should be back in the seas during the first day of August, despite concerns raised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over the coronavirus infection risks involved in traveling for long periods of time with thousands of people crammed into a single ship.
The company's parent company, Carnival Corp, stated that it had already advised its travel agents that eight of its ships will be departing in August. Three of the ships will set sail from Texas, three from Miami, and two from Florida.
In a released statement, the company reiterated that it was still committed to supporting all efforts to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. In line with this, the company added that it will be taking all precautionary measures to ensure the safety of its guests.
Apart from the eight ships, the rest of the company's fleet will remain at their respective ports until the end of August. Carnival Cruise stated that it will be using the time to coordinate with health experts and government officials to come up with additional protocols and systems to protect its passengers from the disease.
Carnival Cruise's operations were heavily hit by the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, with some of its ships becoming major hotspots. The US State Department had warned people to avoid luxury cruises as the virus had infected some of the ships that were already in the middle of their journeys. In mid-March, the CDC issued a no-sail order for all cruise ships, which it had extended until July.
According to the CDC, traveling by ship greatly exacerbates the spread of the coronavirus due to the number of people on board who are consistently in close proximity to each other. The agency added that efforts implemented by cruise ship operations had not been sufficient to mitigate the spread.
CDC spokesman Scott Pauley mentioned in a statement that the department is reviewing various proposals for how operators can prevent, detect, and contain any infections on future voyages. However, the review process is still ongoing and the CDC still cannot assure the safety of people traveling on cruises at this time.
Following the spread of the disease on several of its cruise ships, regulators had launched several investigations into the operator's response to the crisis. Last week, the US House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure requested that Carnival Corp hand over documents pertaining to its response on the outbreaks on its ships, which had resulted in the deaths of dozens of people on board.
