Gov. Florida Man Ron DeSantis is doubling down on his ban on cruise lines requiring vaccine information or even asking for it, saying that the taxpayers of Florida will be very happy with the $5,000 fine per passenger and worker windfall from the cruise companies.
Gov. Ron DeSantis isn’t wavering from his ban on “vaccine passports” as a cruise line has received federal approval to set sail from a Florida port next month if passengers and crew members are inoculated against COVID-19.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, the governor maintained that Florida won’t exempt cruise lines from a new law, which goes into effect July 1, that imposes a fine of $5,000 for each customer asked to provide proof of a coronavirus vaccination. DeSantis said he also expects the state to win its lawsuit challenging federal restrictions that have idled the cruise ship industry throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are going to enforce Florida law,” DeSantis told reporters Friday at the LifeScience Logistics Distribution Center in Lakeland. “I mean, we have Florida law. We have laws that protect the people and the privacy of our citizens, and we are going to enforce it. In fact, I have no choice but to enforce it.”
DeSantis, who signed the “passport” bill into law on May 3, also said “we provided vaccine for a lot of their workers,” referring to the cruise industry. “Nobody has fought harder, not just for cruises, but the entire leisure and hospitality sector in this state in its history than me,” the Republican governor, who is seeking re-election to his post next year, said Friday.
Celebrity Cruises, a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group, has drawn approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and could begin operating out of Port Everglades by the end of June. The approval requires 100% of crew members and 95% of passengers to be vaccinated.
Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday has given state and federal attorneys until Tuesday to settle Florida’s lawsuit challenging the cruise restrictions. According to court documents, lawyers from both sides held a settlement conference on Thursday and are scheduled to meet again Tuesday.
Norwegian Cruise Line will restart its U.S. sailings, which have been on hold for over a year, with weeklong cruises to Alaska this summer.
The Miami-based flagship brand from Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NYSE: NCLH) announced plans to resume cruises from Seattle in August. It would mark the company's first U.S. cruise with since March 2020, when the entire industry was forced to suspend voyages as passenger ships became hot spots for the spread of the virus.
Passengers and crew aboard Norwegian Bliss must be fully vaccinated for Covid-19 to board the ship in Seattle.
The announcement from Norwegian notably leaves out when it will resume cruises from South Florida, once home to its largest ships. The plan, released Monday, follows an executive order from Gov. Ron DeSantis that bars companies that accept state dollars from requiring proof of vaccination from any customers.
Norwegian will resume voyages with fully vaccinated passengers and crew elsewhere.
The cruise company previously stated the state's ban on "vaccine passports" complicates its plan to resume voyages in South Florida, once the cruise capital of the world.
"At the end of the day, cruise ships have motors, propellers and rudders, and God forbid we [can't] operate in the state of Florida for whatever reason, then there are other states that we do operate from," CEO Frank Del Rio said during a first quarter earnings call May 6." We can operate from the Caribbean for ships that otherwise would've gone to Florida. We certainly hope that doesn't come to that. Everyone wants to operate out of Florida, it's a very lucrative market, it's close drive market — but it is an issue, [we] can't ignore it."
We'll see who blinks first., negotiation or not.
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