Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd is seeking permission for its vessels to begin operating again from US ports in early July with a “multi-layered” health and safety plan that includes sailing at 60 percent capacity and with 100 percent vaccinated crew and passengers.

The cruise company, which operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands, sent a letter to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) on Monday stating that it is ready “to join America’s national opening this summer,” and that its plan is “consistent with the CDC’s updated guidance that international travel is safe for fully vaccinated individuals.”

The latter update to the CDC’s “Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO)” was issued Friday and requires cruise lines to establish agreements at ports where they intend to operate, implement routine testing of crew, and develop plans incorporating vaccination strategies to reduce the risk of introduction and spread of COVID-19 by crew and passengers.

In the letter to the CDC, NCLH president and CEO Frank Del Rio, said: “I write to advise you that NCLH has developed a comprehensive and robust science-backed plan that should become the model for how the travel and hospitality industry operates in a COVID-19 environment and which will be mutually beneficial for the public health mission…”

Noting that NCLH suspended operations due to the pandemic on March 13, 2020, Del Rio added, “Nearly 13 months later, we believe, that in light of the current health trends, buttressed by the more than 650 million vaccines administered worldwide to date, it is time for NCLH to join the rest of the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors in participating in this next phase of our recovery.”

Moreover, the NCLH president said, “We believe that through a combination of 100 percent mandatory vaccinations for guests and crew and science-backed public health measures as developed by the Healthy Sail Panel (HSP)… we can create a safe, ‘bubble-like’ environment for guests and crew.”

Acknowledging that “while the risk of COVID-19 cannot be eliminated in its entirety,” he said, “over the past eight months the cruise industry has successfully carried nearly 400,000 passengers in more than 10 major cruise markets outside the United States with only a few isolated COVID-19 cases that were effectively identified, contained, and mitigated without impacting the health or interrupting the vacations of others. This was all done prior to the availability of widespread vaccinations.”

He claimed further that “our protocols extend well beyond the protocols of other travel, leisure and hospitality sectors, all of which have already reopened, including hotels and resorts, casinos, restaurants, sporting venues, theme parks, and airlines,” thereby making “a cruise ship with a fully vaccinated population when combined with the virus protection defenses provided by the HSP protocols one of the safest vacation options available.”

With all this in mind, Del Rio said NCHL was formally and “respectfully” requesting that the CDC lift its no-sail order affecting Norwegian ships.

If the CDC agrees, NCHL vessels would begin operation again “on or about July 4.”

As of yesterday, the CDC was non-committal about the request, stating that it is will continue to work with the cruise industry and seaport partners to resume cruising following a phased approach, but adding, “Cruising safely and responsibly during a global pandemic is difficult,” especially with concern over new variants of COVID-19,

CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has also stated as recently as late last week that she advocates against “general travel overall” given the rising number of COVID infections.