If you're wondering when you can cruise again, it might be sooner than you think. As the coronavirus winds down and cruise ships work toward resuming sailings, they're tackling rigorous new safety and sanitation protocols to protect passengers and crew from future outbreaks onboard. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) No Sail Order applies to cruise ships carrying more than 250 passengers and crew (with an overnight onboard stay and in waters subject to U.S. jurisdiction)—and it remains in place until July 24, 2020. Impacted cruise lines (which are most) right now plan to return in August and beyond.
The CDC ban does not, however, apply to United States-flagged small-ship companies, such as American Cruise Lines, UnCruise Adventures, and American Queen Steamboat Company, many of whom plan to resume sailing with strict new protocols in late June. While no universal standards have been released or adopted across the industry at this time, cruise lines receive guidance from the CDC, World Health Organization (WHO), Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), organizations like the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), and even private consultants. “We’ve partnered with Ochsner Health to help us manage our enhanced policies and procedures,” says John Waggoner, founder and CEO of the U.S. river cruise company American Queen Steamboat Company, which resumes sailing on the Columbia and Snake rivers July 5. “The partnership includes heightened pre-cruise screening, employee testing, and monthly recommendations from infectious disease experts.”
As of now, there are slight protocol variations between ocean liners and riverboats. Other differentiations relate to ship size, style (such as mass market, premium, or luxury), and itineraries. Big ships carrying thousands of passengers may employ additional or differing strategies. “We are focused on proceeding cautiously and learning," says Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, which plans to resume operations August 1. “Our protocols will raise the bar even higher on health, safety, sanitation, and medical care, with guidance from a blue-ribbon panel of experts that we’ll soon announce,” he says. They'll also evolve when the CDC lifts its ban with newly established regulations and as understanding of coronavirus and its mitigation progresses. For now, here's what's happening as cruise ships revise their protocols in the wake of the coronavirus.
Expect pre-boarding health screenings
Before boarding, passengers will undergo mandatory touch-free temperature scans, and possibly secondary medical screenings by health professionals. Any passenger with symptoms of illness (and perhaps, who has traveled internationally within 14 days) will be denied boarding. Luggage will be sanitized before loading. Expect touchless embarkation (crew will maintain touchless contact throughout voyages), and staggered boarding (same for disembarkation), with passengers wearing masks in public areas.
Lines will cap passenger numbers
Cruise ships—especially large ocean liners—likely will sail with a reduced passenger count to better maintain social distancing throughout the ship while passengers and crew are on onboard.
Crews will enhance cleaning measures
Expect frequent and in-depth disinfecting in all public areas, with hand sanitizing stations prominent throughout the ship, particularly in high-traffic areas. Cruise ships could extend turnaround times between trips to ensure deeper sanitization and disinfection. Some cruise lines, such as Avalon Waterways, are instituting new cleaning technologies. “Our new electrostatic spray systems allow us to use the same environmentally friendly cleaners that protect against COVID-19, in a far more effective way,” says Pam Hoffee, Avalon Waterways managing director.
Ventilation systems are under intense scrutiny. Expect updates here before ships resume sailing. Optimally, ships provide 100 percent fresh air to public spaces and passenger staterooms, through non-recirculating air conditioning systems using hospital-grade HEPA filters.
Buffets are on pause
Passengers must use hand-washing stations or hand sanitizers as they enter restaurants onboard. It's possible they'll only be able to dine with their traveling companions at assigned tables with assigned servers. Those servers will serve them items like condiments and bread, or they'll be presented in single-serve packaging. Passengers will receive single-use paper menus. Ships may institute multiple seating times, emphasize outdoor dining, or open more venues to minimize the number of passengers dining at once.
Self-service buffets will be suspended, or manned by PPE-outfitted servers transferring food from behind transmission barriers to passengers’ plates. Self-service coffee and snack bars may be removed—though room service hours and menu selections likely will be expanded as a result.
Staterooms will also get new safeguards
Interactive televisions and digital apps may replace printed daily programs. Throw pillows and bedspreads could be eliminated, as well as welcome and turndown amenities. Cruise lines will likely place masks, gloves, multi-purpose disinfecting wipes, and hand sanitizer bottles in staterooms, and disposable covers could be seen on high-use items, like television remote controls. Inside cabins, which are interior and do not have windows or balconies, could initially stay unoccupied on sailings.
Shore excursions will be tailored to protocols at each port
When venturing out for tours in each port, expect sanitized coaches, with hand sanitizer stations at coach doors, and reduced passenger capacity in vehicles. The places you visit likely will be pre-screened for sanitation and social distancing protocols—and ports may have their own set of rules. “We’re working closely with our ports and community partners across the country, and tailoring plans to each region,” says Charles B. Robertson, president and CEO of American Cruise Lines, which resumes sailing domestically this month. “We want each community we visit to feel comfortable with our operation, and confident we are responsive to their specific needs.”
International ports’ protocols may differ, too. “We are working closely with our partners in the destinations we sail through to ensure that all our screening, onboard sanitation procedures, and excursions will be operated in strict accordance with the most up-to-date recommended guidelines including, if necessary, operating at reduced capacity levels,” says Rudi Schreiner, president and co-founder of AmaWaterways.
Public spaces will close early for deep cleans
Back on the ship, expect social distancing in common areas, where hours may be reduced for intensive sanitizing and disinfection. Physical distancing rules might limit how many passengers exercise simultaneously in fitness centers, where a full-time attendant may be standing by to ensure hand sanitization, to distribute towels and other amenities, and disinfect equipment between use. Shared gym equipment, such as mats, might be available only on request, with sanitization between use. Same goes for shared outdoor equipment, such as bicycles and tennis paddles.
Spas may initially close showers, whirlpools, steam rooms, and saunas. Libraries could initially be closed, or staffed for book disinfection. Instead, cruise lines will offer reading materials, such as magazines and newspapers, via digital apps. Passenger count in entertainment venues will be reduced, with additional performances added as needed to accommodate.
Staff will be specially trained for COVID-19
Crew will comply with physical distancing, and undergo enhanced medical screenings and training in new protocols and personal protective equipment (PPE). Ships may expand their medical centers and number of medical professionals onboard, who can administer COVID-19 tests, initiate treatment, and place passengers into isolation staterooms before arranging transfers to medical facilities ashore. Medical personnel may conduct additional temperature checks before and after port visits, and extend coronavirus testing on cruise ships during sails.
How specialty lines are adapting
Luxury lines face an extra challenge—to deliver a high-end, personalized passenger experience within safety guidelines. Expedition vessels must also consider how passengers safely travel to remote embarkation ports. “Hopefully, we are in the beginning of recovery,” says Barbara Muckermann, chief marketing officer for Silversea, which plans to resume sailing in August. “We already charter planes to fly passengers to Santiago or Buenos Aires for Antarctica sails; we’re looking at expanding charter service. As a luxury line, everything we do to ensure passenger health and safety we will do in a luxurious style.”
The long-term outlook
While some protocols likely will relax over time, stricter shipboard sanitation and disinfection procedures should continue long-term. As a result, the risk of catching a communicable disease beyond COVID-19—such as norovirus, influenza, and even the common cold—could greatly diminish.
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