Is Cruise Travel Safe? CDC Think So As It Drops All Warnings For Americans Tourists

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday removed all COVID warnings for cruise travel for American tourists.

The move by the agency comes as the CDC continually warned travelers about the risks of contracting COVID-19 when sailing on cruise ships for more than two years of the pandemic.

At the height of the pandemic, cruise ships were seen as superspreaders of the virus, forcing the CDC at one time to put cruise ship travel on its Level 4 “very high” risk category as it warned Americans about the dangers of contracting COVID-19 onboard cruise ships.

The cruise industry was forced to a standstill back in March 2020 as cruise lines suspended their operations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among passengers and crewmembers onboard their vessels.

Now, the CDC has dropped all warnings about cruise travel for Americans, regardless of vaccination status, just two weeks after dropping cruise ship travel from its Level 3 “high” risk travel advisory to its Level 2 “moderate” risk travel notice for contracting COVID-19.

Dave Daigle, a spokesperson for the CDC, told USA Today, that the "CDC is removing the COVID-19 Cruise Ship Travel Health Notice" and that "travelers will make their own risk assessment when choosing to travel on a cruise ship, much like they do in all other travel settings.”

Daigle added that the CDC made the decision to remove the warning based on the pandemic’s current COVID situation and the decrease in cases of the virus onboard cruise ships over the “past several weeks."

However, the CDC still recommends that American travelers remain up-to-date with their COVID vaccines before traveling on a cruise ship and follow all the requirements and protocols set forth by the cruise line they are traveling with.

The agency said, “The virus that causes COVID-19 spreads easily between people in close quarters on board ships. If the virus is spreading on board a cruise ship, passengers and crew are at risk for infection, even if they are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines.”

The CDC also recommends checking the cruise ship color of travel for COVID case status and vaccination status classification before traveling.