Sailings on numerous cruise lines are slated to embark from US ports within the next month, nearly 15 months after a no-sail order from the US Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention brought cruises to a halt. Royal Caribbean Group and Carnival Corporation will push ahead with a return to cruises this summer despite Governor Ron DeSantis’ push against people having to show proof of vaccination.  Meanwhile, two guests onboard the Celebrity Millennium tested positive for COVID-19 last week. As much as we want them back,  cruising has issues both Canadian and global – here’s a look at some of them.

First, Royal Caribbean’s Celebrity Millenium

The cruise line said the guests were asymptomatic and in isolation. The seven day cruise from St. Maarten includes port stops in Barbados, Aruba and Curacao.

The guests, who were sharing a room, are being monitored by the company’s medical team, the cruise operator said, and noted it was conducting contact tracing, expediting testing for all close contacts of the individuals.

Celebrity Millennium was one of the first cruises in North America to restart sailing last week, after more than a year.

Cruise expert Stewart Chiron, who is on board the Celebrity Millennium ship, told Reuters that life onboard on Thursday night had gone on as planned, with dinners, shows, and evening entertainment. He said no one onboard was wearing masks.

Royal Caribbean started sailing in June after meeting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) comprehensive guidelines that included a fully vaccinated crew and everyone over 16 presenting proof of vaccination against COVID-19.

Cruise operators are among the last to return to their pre-pandemic operations as the CDC laid out strict guidance earlier this year for the cruise industry for resuming trips, after some ships became hotbeds for the virus last year.

More than a year after several cruise ships were host to major coronavirus outbreaks and with large numbers of Americans now vaccinated, cruise lines have been striving to get business going.

Cruise lines are in discussions with Florida over DeSantis’ vaccination waiver.  However, cruises are scheduled to start in June and early July, sailing to the Caribbean, Mexican Riviera and Alaska.

Most ships are still awaiting CDC approval to sail. Since October of last year, the agency has issued a series of evolving requirements and guidelines in the form of a Conditional Sailing Order.

Canada / Alaska

Although some ships are already sailing again, those carrying more than 100 people are banned from coming to Canada until February 2022.

That decision was announced by Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra earlier this year, although the ban can be revoked early if the Canadian government decides it is safe to resume cruising. Meanwhile the US House of Representatives passed legislation last month that allows the ships to bypass B.C. ports until that restriction is lifted.

British Columbia’s premier says that legislation which would scrap a long-standing requirement for American cruise ships to dock at a foreign port between domestic stops doesn’t change the fact people want to visit B.C.

John Horgan says the “machinations of US politics” on a given day don’t change the draw for people to travel up B.C.’s coast and he doesn’t believe there’s anything the provincial government can do about decisions made in the US Senate.

Horgan told a news conference that he’s passionate about making sure B.C. can welcome visitors once pandemic-related travel restrictions are lifted, but he doesn’t “regret not yelling louder at people who would not have been listening.”

Utah Sen. Mike Lee has introduced three bills to repeal and reform the 135-year-old Passenger Vessel Services Act, saying in a statement this week that it’s an “outdated, protectionist law” that benefits Canada and harms American jobs.

Horgan says he spoke Thursday with Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who was behind the original legislation, and she assured him the law only applied until Canada lifts its restrictions, while Lee’s proposed changes would not be temporary.

Europe

In Europe, two passengers on the MSC Seaside in the Mediterranean have tested positive for COVID-19.

The pair disembarked with their families in Syracuse, Sicily, on Tuesday, MSC told CNN on Wednesday. The two passengers were asymptomatic.

The cruise had previously docked in Malta but the passengers were forbidden to disembark as the ship only made a “technical” call, according to the cruise operator, which would not disclose the nationality nor the total number of passengers on board.

All passengers traveling with MSC must have a COVID-19 test 96 hours before departure, another when they embark, and a third during the cruise. MSC does not require passengers to be vaccinated, but the rules apply to those who have been.

Guests on board are required to wear masks in public spaces and social distance.

“Our protocol is working, if not on board those two people would still be freely circulating,” said MSC spokesperson Michele Curatolo.

The company has a contingency plan for each port of call, said Cuartolo, which meant that a “protective transfer was immediately activated” for the two passengers who tested positive.

Australia

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is concerned at the lack of progress on a resumption of cruising in Australia and has called on the federal government to take urgent measures towards establishing a plan for future cruise operations.

The government recently said it would hold talks later this month to review the current cruise ship ban.

CLIA Managing Director Australasia Joel Katz said the continued ban was putting 18,000 Australian jobs in doubt.

“Our industry needs some certainty, but after months of discussions with government, the suspension has been extended again without any clear route from government towards a careful and responsible resumption of cruising,” Katz said.

“The cruise industry has done an enormous amount of work to implement extensive new health protocols globally, but Australia is now the only major cruise destination in the world where there is no progress towards their adoption.”

The suspension is estimated to have cost the Australian economy up to AUS $6 billion since March 2020.