Top Cruise Group Asks CDC to Open Path to Voyages by July

(Bloomberg) -- Industry lobbying group Cruise Lines International Association said it wants the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to open a path toward a “phased resumption” of voyages from U.S. ports by the start of July.

The goal would align with President Joe Biden’s projection that the U.S. could return to a semblance of normality by Independence Day, CLIA said in a statement Wednesday.

Cruise companies’ shares jumped on the news. Carnival Corp. rose as much as 8.1% to $27.37, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. gained 6.2% to $89.10 and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. added 6.9% to $28.44.

CLIA called on the CDC to lift the current Framework for Conditional Sailing Order. The current order replaced the previous no-sail order, in place since March 2020, and created a multistep process by which cruise lines might seek approval to return to U.S. waters. No company has yet achieved full approval.

The industry has essentially been on hold for the past year, after a series of deadly Covid-19 outbreaks at sea led to an unprecedented suspension of operations in mid-March 2020.

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