US health officials have extended for nearly three more months the rules that cruise ships must follow to sail during the pandemic, after which cruise lines will be allowed to move to a voluntary program to detect and control the spread of COVID-19 on their ships.

The current conditional regulations from US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were scheduled to expire on Nov. 1 but will now remain in effect until Jan. 15, 2022. However, the agency says the extension makes only “minor modifications” to rules already in effect. More notable is the plan to task cruise lines with managing their own individual protocols for passengers and crew.

Last week, Canada retained its warning against cruising despite lifting similar advice against other non-essential travel.

The CDC imposed the first no-sail order on cruise lines in March 2020, after most companies sailing in US waters had agreed to suspend voyages. The CDC issued technical guidelines for the industry five months later and began approving trial sailings this spring. Cruises have since sailed from Florida and other parts of the country with most lines requiring adult passengers to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19.

The Cruise Lines International Association was quick to welcome the news, citing the CDC announcement as evidence that lines have made a successful — if only partial — return since the pandemic shut down the industry worldwide.

Laziza Lambert, a spokeswoman for CLIA, said in a statement that, “Cruising has successfully resumed in the United States, with leading public health measures that have enabled our ocean-going cruise line members to effectively mitigate the risk of COVID-19 amongst cruise passengers, crewmembers and destinations.

“The health and safety of cruise passengers, crewmembers and destinations remain the industry’s highest priority. CLIA ocean-going cruise line members will continue to be guided by science and the principle of putting people first as we work with the Administration and the CDC to expand on our progress and build additional confidence in cruising as one of the safest vacation options, during the pandemic and beyond.”

Industry officials have complained that the government took a much tougher stance against cruising — shutting it down entirely last year — than it took toward airlines and other parts of the travel industry.