The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice for cruise ship travelers Thursday, citing the potential of spreading COVID-19 easily in close quarters.

The CDC said people who are not fully vaccinated or at high risk of severe illness should avoid going on cruises, regardless of vaccination status. However, those who decide to go on a cruise ship should get tested one to three days before the trip and three to five days after the trip, regardless of vaccination status.

Ninety-one ships — including ships from cruise companies Disney, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian — face CDC probes into COVID cases.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called on the CDC and the cruise industry to avoid a potential disaster of surging COVID cases.

According to CNBC, cruise ships operating in U.S. waters between Dec. 15 and Dec. 29 have reported 5,000 COVID-19 cases to the CDC, a huge spike from the first two weeks of the month.

The Cruise Lines International Association was upset with the decision, releasing a statement on Twitter.

“The decision by the CDC to raise the travel level for cruises is particularly perplexing considering that cases identified on cruise ships consistently make up a very slim minority of the total population 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 . . .” the tweet read.

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