Cruise Lines To Follow CDC Guidelines Voluntarily

Above, a Florida sunset from a cruise ship. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The battle between the state of Florida and the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has gotten murkier.

TravelPulse reported:

If you’re having trouble keeping up with the latest developments in Florida's legal battle against the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to overturn its Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) for cruise lines, you’re not alone.

Since Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis filed a lawsuit against the federal agency in April, multiple conflicting rulings have been handed down. First, on June 19, Federal District Judge Steven Merryday sided with DeSantis by issuing a preliminary injunction order against the CDC, preventing the agency from enforcing its CSO regulations in the state of Florida.

One month later, a panel of three judges in Atlanta’s 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision, upholding the CDC’s right to impose COVID-19 regulations on the cruise ship industry. Florida’s government promptly appealed this ruling, which would have stayed Merryday’s original injunction. Less than a week later, on July 23, the same three-judge panel said it was withdrawing its earlier decision, stating that the CDC had, "failed to demonstrate an entitlement to a stay pending appeal."

The ruling was flipped shortly after Florida's attorney general asked the Supreme Court to step in on an emergency basis to block the CDC’s COVID-19 cruise protocols the very same day that, arguing that the state was, "all but guaranteed to lose yet another summer cruise season while the CDC pursues its appeal," Reuters reported.

The CDC explained in a statement issued Tuesday that, as a result of the appeals court’s reversed reversal, the CSO’s detailed safety measures and technical instructions, "have become nonbinding recommendations for cruise ships arriving in, located within, or departing from a port in Florida. CDC will continue to operate the CSO as a voluntary program for these ships."

It also reported that, despite the latest ruling, "All Florida-porting ships have chosen to voluntarily follow the [CSO]."

This should be looked upon as a victory for Gov. Ron DeSantis who said this isn't about restarting the cruise lines, it is all about power of a federal agency by overreaching its authority "not explicitly delineated by law."

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