SARASOTA (WSNN) – The rise in COVID cases is taking a toll on travel, and a Suncoast travel agency tells SNN about how it’s affecting cruise lines.
If you plan to set sail this year, you will most likely need a vaccination card. But with the rise in COVID cases, CDC says that may not be enough.
“If you’re an unvaccinated guest or you have an unvaccinated child with you, your experience is going to be diminished and I, personally as a travel professional would tell you don’t bother going on a cruise if you’re not vaccinated,” Bokoff said.
Travel Agent Marc Bokoff is the owner of Cruise Planners from the Lakewood Ranch office. He’s gone on five cruises since June with all of them requiring masks, testing, and vaccines.
“Every cruise line is operating under the premise that no less than 95-percent of guests on cruises have to be vaccinated,” Bokoff said.
Even with these precautions in place, cruise lines are having outbreaks. Wednesday, Norwegian’s Pearl Cruise cut its 11-day voyage short due to several crew members testing positive on board.
Norwegian issued a statement saying, “The health and safety of our guests, crew, and the communities we visit is our highest priority.”
Last week, the CDC warned people should “Avoid cruise travel, regardless of vaccination status.”
Sarasota resident Mavis Seger agrees.
“I just don’t feel safe being in an enclosed environment with so many people even if people are supposedly vaccinated,” Seger said.
Bokoff disagrees.
“Protocols on cruise ships are better than anywhere on land,” Bokoff said. “With reduced capacity, required vaccine, masking and testing, everything required for safety measures is far superior to anything else on land like in restaurants, Disney World and casinos in Las Vegas.”
According to Royal Caribbean Group, since cruising restarted in the U.S. in June 2021, its ships have carried 1.1 million guests with 1,745 people testing positive – a positivity rate of 0.02 percent.
In a statement by CLIA, the Cruise Lines International Association, the organization said the decision was “perplexing considering that cases identified on cruise ships consistently make up a very slim minority of the total onboard—far fewer than on land—and the majority of those cases are asymptomatic or mild in nature, posing little to no burden on medical resources onboard or onshore.”
Whether you plan to travel or not, the CDC says getting vaccinated is still the best way to protect yourself from the disease.
You can get more details on the latest travel advisories from CDC here.
For more information on what’s to come in the travel industry, the Second Annual Sarasota Luxury Travel Forum is set for February 16th. Cruise Planners along with about 15 land and cruise vendors will be there.
