Cruise With Christine Pappin: congress

Thursday, April 8, 2021

Wanna Cruise Let Your Voice Be Heard

Royal Caribbean held their 51st Coffee Talk with travel agents this week with invited guests from Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) discussing actions being taken to start the economic recovery of the cruise industry with new health and safety protocols in place.

Kelly Craighead, President & CEO of CLIA and Charles Sylvia, a CLIA Vice President, outlined their Ready, Set, Sail Campaign to communicate the industry's desire for responsible resumption of U.S. cruise operations by this summer.

Ready, Set, Sail

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How Can I Help?

We are glad you asked. Two minutes of your time is all it takes to send a message to Congress thru the CLIA Action Center. You fill in your information and based on your location, it will pre-populate the proper contacts. You can customize your message by adding your personal impact / story or use the default message.

Why contact Congress? CDC falls under the Department of Health and Human Services, so that is the "chain of command" that needs to get involved.

Click for CLIA Action Center

Do You Love Cruising - Spread the Word

CDC published the Conditional Sail Order (CSO) last October but to date hasn't provided guidance on how to move through the various phases. Their recent statement fell short of industry expectations. There has been a lot of press since that statement, as it is unclear what exactly needs to happen to resume operations in the U.S.

There have been 400,000 passengers sailing during the pandemic in other parts of the world with only 50 reported COVID-19 cases. Following the new protocols the cruise lines put in place, these cases were mitigated successfully, demonstrating the industry is ready to resume operations.

Click on the CLIA Action Center, send your message, and share with your friends, family, and co-workers and ask them to participate as well. It is open to all - as this issue impacts not only travel agents, cruise lines, and crew, but it has far reaching impact on port communities, cab / limo drivers, port employees, local businesses, the hospitality industry, etc.

You can send messages multiple times as messaging will change depending on the current situation. Here are key messages of the current communication initiative.

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We continue to monitor changes in cruise itineraries, cancellations, requirements to sail, etc. Follow us on any of our social media and this blog to stay informed. We hope to be sailing on the high seas soon.

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Saturday, March 27, 2021

Urge Congress to Resume Cruising

CLIA URGING CONGRESS TO RESUME SAILING

YOUR VOICE MATTERS

Use your voice to tell Congress to urge the Biden Administration to lift the Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) and allow cruising to resume in the U.S. by the beginning of July 2021! Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has posted a form on their website asking that member agents and others contact their Congressmen to allow cruising to resume from U.S. ports in time for Summer. Here is information from the website which is the basis for this ask:

"Much has changed since the CDC issued the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) last fall, including the cruise industry's proven success resuming operations in other parts of the world, where nearly 400,000 passengers have sailed since last summer. With the vaccine rollout gaining momentum and President Biden's projection that the U.S. will be “closer to normal” by early July, the case for the resumption of cruising in the U.S. has never been stronger.

The CSO, which was issued in October 2020, does not reflect these important developments. More than a year has passed since U.S. cruise operations were suspended and preparing a cruise ship to sail again will take some time—approximately 90 days, to be exact—which means that cruise lines must start planning NOW if they are going to resume operations by July."

CDC responded to CLIA's request by indicating that the CSO end date remains the same at this time.

Your voice is IMPORTANT and NEEDED!

If you are ready to see cruising treated like other sectors of travel and tourism and on track to resume in the U.S. by July 2021, please take a moment to call, email, and/or Tweet your Senators and U.S. Representatives to let them know! CLIA has made it easy for with this online form.