Royal Caribbean CEO concerned about CDC cruise restart guidance
Royal Caribbean International chief executive officer Michael Bayley is nervous about the security of the cruise industry.
By Michael McGrady, Maritime Direct Americas & Pacific Correspondent
MIAMI — Royal Caribbean International president and chief executive officer Michael Bayley is “worried“ that the Biden administration will issue “outdated” policies and instructions for the cruise industry’s potential restart.
Bayley voiced his concerns on a webinar with travel agents earlier this week. He urged travel agents to tell their representatives to Congress to allow cruise ships to sail once more because he fears what might come next.
“We’re worried that the guidance that we’re going to get is going to be pretty outdated,” Bayley said.
Bayley noted that it has been, “many, many months since we’ve had any guidance”, and added “we’re kind of concerned.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced its so-called no-sail order, otherwise known as the Conditional Sailing Order (CSO), was issued in October of 2020 to counter the spread of COVID-19 among cruise passengers.
“Just put in a little bit of information, and then it automatically populate your local representative, elected officials basically saying, come on, let’s get this cruise restarted.”
