Norwegian Cruise Lines CEO: "Enough is Enough"

[Husker Mike]

At a ports meeting in Miami, executives from Norwegian, MSC and Royal Caribbean went off on government officials who are preventing the cruise industry from restarting.

"Enough is enough," Frank Del Rio, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, said in passionate remarks before the Miami-Dade County Tourism and Ports Committee meeting September 10. "The cruise industry is close to devastation. … We've got to get back to work."

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5583/?source=99362
Interesting to note that Disney was not part of this.

I do take issue with this statement:

But it was Del Rio who brought personal feelings to the surface. He said that it was "unconscionable" that other forms of tourism, such as airlines and hotels, had been allowed to open in their limited capacity, while cruise lines had not.

A certain percentage of airline and hotel business is what I would consider essential to keep businesses and government running. I dare say that cruises are 100% for leisure. Nobody is taking DCL to Nassau or Castaway Cay for business. I get the frustration, but there are non-leisure travelers who need hotels or to fly.

And even if they get the permission to restart, how do they know what demand is going to be in this environment. I suspect that demand is going to be very low until the rapid testing and/or a vaccine are in place and considered reliable enough.

 

[T & R]

He is absolutely correct. A hotel may be essential but a resort isn't. The cruise lines have been more than willing to work with the CDC but the CDC has stalled talks and has given no actionable feedback to the cruise industry. Enough is enough. Some cruise ships carry mail, cargo and other materials. DCL even carried vital materials to help with hurricane relief efforts. Not to mention cruising helps support the economies of some of the most tourist dependent nations on earth. The passengers may look at it as leisure travel but those who depend on tourism look at it as their lifeline and their means to support themselves and their children. Every business is essential to somebody. How are theme parks essential, how are bars and nightclubs essential, how are resorts essential, how is even bowling essential, etc.? Only cruising was singled out for the CDC death penalty, so he is absolutely correct, it makes no sense to stop or slow a virus by only shuttering one single business on the planet. Viruses don't work that way. It is about time somebody started pushing back, bravo Mr. Frank Del Rio. Cruising is the only industry that has done their part, closed down entirely for half a year and helped slow the spread so that the healthcare industry could get everything in place to handle the workload. The healthcare industry has now caught up, defense production act has been implemented to produce enough ventilators/PPE and our knowledge of the virus is more now than in Feb/Mar. Instead of the CDC pointing the finger at cruising and giving a pass to the land based businesses that infect almost 100k people per day with Covid, maybe they should be applauding the cruise industry for their sacrifice and commitment while no other industry has voluntarily shut down to help with the Covid fight. The cruise industry has gone above and beyond any other non-essential industry in doing their part, enough is enough, it's time to release the cruise ships.

 

[MomOTwins]

I agree, there is no federal restriction against other non-essential businesses. Theme park resorts are maybe the best analogy, but NFL games with live audiences are also resuming, museums, movie theaters, hair salons—you name it. There is even a big festival happening next week where I live. Not to mention our president is holding campaign rallies for cruise-ship size crowds with no mask or distancing enforcement (not saying I endorse that, just pointing out the administration is allowing something far worse risk wise than a cruise would be with appropriate safety measures).

I don’t really think it is safe to cruise if you lack antibodies, but I don’t see why the CDC is vetoing one risky activity but allowing countless others. States that are concerned about returning cruisers can do mandated quarantines just like they do for other recreational travel.

 

[DCLCrazy64622]

Yep this. Alllll this. Not to mention the thousand upon thousands of people who are unemployed, to include Americans.

He is absolutely correct. A hotel may be essential but a resort isn't. The cruise lines have been more than willing to work with the CDC but the CDC has stalled talks and has given no actionable feedback to the cruise industry. Enough is enough. Some cruise ships carry mail, cargo and other materials. DCL even carried vital materials to help with hurricane relief efforts. Not to mention cruising helps support the economies of some of the most tourist dependent nations on earth. The passengers may look at it as leisure travel but those who depend on tourism look at it as their lifeline and their means to support themselves and their children. Every business is essential to somebody. How are theme parks essential, how are bars and nightclubs essential, how are resorts essential, how is even bowling essential, etc.? Only cruising was singled out for the CDC death penalty, so he is absolutely correct, it makes no sense to stop or slow a virus by only shuttering one single business on the planet. Viruses don't work that way. It is about time somebody started pushing back, bravo Mr. Frank Del Rio. Cruising is the only industry that has done their part, closed down entirely for half a year and helped slow the spread so that the healthcare industry could get everything in place to handle the workload. The healthcare industry has now caught up, defense production act has been implemented to produce enough ventilators/PPE and our knowledge of the virus is more now than in Feb/Mar. Instead of the CDC pointing the finger at cruising and giving a pass to the land based businesses that infect almost 100k people per day with Covid, maybe they should be applauding the cruise industry for their sacrifice and commitment while no other industry has voluntarily shut down to help with the Covid fight. The cruise industry has gone above and beyond any other non-essential industry in doing their part, enough is enough, it's time to release the cruise ships.

 

[armystrongice]

Well said, Del Rio, well said!

 

[Ila Sikorski]

Like T&R said, and has said previously, EVERY business is essential to somebody.

 

[Intr3pid]

Like T&R said, and has said previously, EVERY business is essential to somebody.

'Somebody' is irrelevant. Essential businesses serve large swaths of population in the matters of health, safety, food, etc. Hotels may or may not be necessary but cruises are definitely NOT.

To be fair, the broader cruise industry is paying for Carnival's recklessness. Those Princess ships became the poster children of an industry that seemed to put profits over safety.

And, for Del Rio, talk is cheap.

First prove that you can actually run a cruise in a safe manner. Do what the likes of MSC and others are doing in Europe. Take one of your ships to Italy and show us you can hack it.

It's not an ON/OFF button.

 

[T & R]

Do what the likes of MSC and others are doing in Europe.

We would love for our cruise industry to do what is being done in Europe but you have to have a cooperative CDC in order for that to happen. European (EU) Gov actually worked with their cruise industry to get them going again. The EU put out their guidance for re-starting cruise operations way back in July. Our CDC has stonewalled on talks and given no actionable feedback or guidance to our U.S. cruise industry. Largest pandemic in the CDC's history and they stopped at cruise ban and called it a day. No action taken by the CDC against any other industry on the planet. Textbook double standard/hypocrisy.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5434/
https://www.healthygateways.eu/Port...TARTING_CRUISES.pdf?ver=2020-07-01-115942-557

 

[Ila Sikorski]

'Somebody' is irrelevant. Essential businesses serve large swaths of population in the matters of health, safety, food, etc. Hotels may or may not be necessary but cruises are definitely NOT.

I don’t really think “somebody” is irrelevant. Disney World is open, Universal and the others opened before that. I don’t see why the cruise ship execs and the CDC cannot sit down and come out with a back to sea safety plan. We can’t do what the European ships are doing, we’ve been forced to be dry docked for 6 months now.

 

[Intr3pid]

We would love for our cruise industry to do what is being done in Europe but you have to have a cooperative CDC in order for that to happen. European (EU) Gov actually worked with their cruise industry to get them going again. The EU put out their guidance for re-starting cruise operations way back in July. Our CDC has stonewalled on talks and given no actionable feedback or guidance to our U.S. cruise industry. Largest pandemic in the CDC's history and they stopped at cruise ban and called it a day. No action taken by the CDC against any other industry on the planet. Textbook double standard/hypocrisy.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5434/
https://www.healthygateways.eu/Port...TARTING_CRUISES.pdf?ver=2020-07-01-115942-557

That's the issue with the cruise line executives. It's Florida or bust. You can't run a business affected by COVID-19 like an ON/OFF switch. CDC is unwilling, so be it. Start in Europe.

I don’t really think “somebody” is irrelevant. Disney World is open, Universal and the others opened before that. I don’t see why the cruise ship execs and the CDC cannot sit down and come out with a back to sea safety plan. We can’t do what the European ships are doing, we’ve been forced to be dry docked for 6 months now.

CDC only controls what happens at the national level. At the border and port level. It can't enforce how businesses operate inside a state. I can't really say I'm proud of seeing WDW and Universal open in a state that has had 10K+ cases trending in a day.

Most cruise lines (including NCL) make 60%-70% of their annual profits just in the summer - which is primarily Europe and Alaska. Europe IS their second home. So, I'm not sure what NCL can't do that MSC has done.

 

[T & R]

That's the issue with the cruise line executives. It's Florida or bust. You can't run a business affected by COVID-19 like an ON/OFF switch. CDC is unwilling, so be it. Start in Europe.

That is a great point. If the cruise lines aren't willing to pick up their ball and move, they can't really complain about the CDC. I'm sure there is an enterprising young Caribbean Island nation that would be more than willing to allow cruises to resume out of their country. I was very impressed Anguilla and Barbados, someone over there was really forward thinking and thinking outside the box which is what you got to do during times like these. They were not getting the tourism dollars that they've come to depend on, so they saw how Americans were all working from home. They said, hey we'll give you a visa to stay for up to a year and work remotely in their country. While there on a "welcome stamp" Visa, your children can even attend school there. Why work from home when you can work from home somewhere awesome? They were happy because then you would spend your paycheck there and that would help them make up for the loss of tourism dollars. That's some smart, forward thinking.

 

[icc2515]

My opinion is that the CDC is not taking a huge interest in cruise lines because they are busy elsewhere. They have stated that they have spent 38,000 hours managing outbreaks of Covid on cruise ships. These are ships that carry American passengers, but are registered in other counties. All of the major cruise lines are foreign companies, with the exception of Disney. And you could argue that Disney is not a major player in the industry and they were not even at the meeting. The American CDC seems perfectly happy to let the mostly foreign cruise industry remain closed to US ports until this is over. The cruise line execs can complain and yell as much as they like, but in the end they are foreign companies and are not essential. There is too much potential for spread of the virus on these ships based on the spread of other virus.

reference:
https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2847

 

[disneygeek401]

All I can say, is good for him. I 110% agree with him. Sure, me going to Castaway Cay on a 7 night cruise is not essential, but EVERY business is essential in the form that those employees who work there need to put food on the table. Earlier in this shutdown CLIA put out a statement saying how cruising supports 1.17 million jobs worldwide. Thats not an insignificant amount at all. Plus all these cruise lines stop at all of these island nations that are so incredibly reliant on tourism and cruise ships for the economy. Heck, some of them are STILL recovering from hurricane damage from several years ago. I'm sure their economy would greatly appreciate a boost.

And yes, no one wants to get COVID. But I am very disappointed with the CDC and the whole cruise line shutdown debacle this spring/summer and now into fall and who knows for how long. I believe they should have started talks about cruising a little bit ago but oh well.

 

[JM23457]

Good for him. Someone needs to stand up. I hope more people do.

 

[tvguy]

Good for him. Someone needs to stand up. I hope more people do.

I'm standing up for the 911,000 who have died from covid-19 and their families. I find the comments reprehensible.
And European cruises....not going so well. https://thepointsguy.com/news/croisieurope-river-cruise-covid-outbreak/

 

[hertamaniac]

Well, there are still simple river cruises in Portugal that let people off their ship after testing other crew/passengers with a positive result. That appears to be a protocol gaff and this was less than 100 passengers. Imagine if you have a breach in protocol with thousands of passengers?

CLIA was proactive trying to build time into the CDC guidance, but to no avail. Instead the CDC decided to go after public opinion with a series of something like 28 questions to get input on how to address the safety on the ships.

 

[icc2515]

These CEO's need to talk to their home governments of Liberia, Panama, and The Bahamas to go thru the proper channels to make requests of the CDC instead of going after the CDC directly. In my opinion these companies are not entitled to anything from the CDC as they are foreign companies. I haven't heard the British airlines crying to the US about the current travel restrictions and how if affects their business. The cruise companies are free to cruise in any other country that allows it. I don't know how many that is, but probably not a whole lot. If they need the US market that badly then they should incorporate here and start contributing some tax dollars at that point I would imagine the US govmt would start taking them seriously.

 

[JM23457]

I'm standing up for the 911,000 who have died from covid-19 and their families. I find the comments reprehensible.
And European cruises....not going so well. https://thepointsguy.com/news/croisieurope-river-cruise-covid-outbreak/

There are millions more who will suffer and die from issues related to poverty, hunger and illnesses going untreated due to lockdowns.

 

[disneygeek401]

There are millions more who will suffer and die from hunger and illnesses going untreated due to lockdowns.

Yep, the longer this pandemic rages on the more and more people will suffer and die. Hunger, other illnesses, I am also sure mental health is taking a toll on many people globally.

 

[icc2515]

There are millions more who will suffer and die from hunger and illnesses going untreated due to lockdowns.

You are correct in pointing out that the 911,000 is a number that is way off in the deaths that should be attributed to COVID that number should be many times more. This is a horrible virus that is taking many more lives than what we are attributing to it.