PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. (WESH) – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a roundtable discussion on Friday in Port Canaveral and pushed for the return of cruises from Florida ports.
The governor was joined by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, along with cruise industry leaders and workers.
The governor questioned the legality of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s conditional sail order currently in effect and said he and Moody have looked at legal action that could be taken to get the industry back up and running.
DeSantis said that based on the current situation, he has no concerns about transmissions on cruises leading to an overrun of the hospital systems.
“It seems like the rationale for these continued lockdowns on the cruise industry is not to prevent hospital overrun, but to have zero cases. That’s not possible, and you end up destroying people’s lives trying to achieve it,” DeSantis said.
Moody said Florida needs to examine all options to push back against the current shutdown of the cruise industry.
Some cruise lines recently announced plans to begin cruises out of the Bahamas. Royal Caribbean said its cruises from the Bahamas will sail with a vaccinated crew, will be available to adult guests who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and those under the age of 18 with negative test results.
The CDC issued a conditional sail order in October, but cruise lines need to prove safety measures and get the green light from the CDC before resuming sailings from U.S. ports.
