The CDC's recent No Sail Order extension includes requirements for cruise lines to receive approval for a mandated set of requirements before they can sail with passengers again. However, there are no mandates being made of hotels, resorts, theme parks, stadiums, churches, and other large gathering spaces.
We applaud the CDC's commitment to our health and wellbeing but all public spaces should meet the same requirements and standards as cruise ships before they are allowed to reopen with crowds that can top 100,000 people for a single event.
Full Transcription. Apologies for any typos.
Walter
Here in the United States, the CDC came out with a new no sail order for another hundred days. And I honestly am starting to think the CDC is picking on the cruise lines unnecessarily, just because look, they're big cruise ship and everybody stuck together. But I don't see any rules coming out about stadiums or hotels or resorts or theme parks, which potentially have a lot more people in a much more congested area.
Rebecca
And heck, none of those people have been required to report norovirus outbreaks, even if they have them, where cruise ships are required to do that.
Walter
Yeah, so they don't have to report it. And by the way, if you attend a concert, you don't have to tell them whether you're sick. If you're going into a theme park, you don't have to tell them whether you've been sick. There's none of the reporting or the responsibilities to these facilities that a cruise ship is held under. So you know, to put these rules out and to single out the cruise line and say you need to follow all of these health protocols before we're going to let a ship sail and then let all the resorts in Las Vegas and all the hotels in New York and the sports stadiums and the thxeme parks and everything else, just say, you know, we'll just kind of get to you later, we'll come up with some different rules for you guys later. Everybody has to be held to the same standard. And the only reason why the cruise ships are being held to a different standard is because you're trapped on a ship. Look, if you've stayed in a 10 story, or 12 story hotel, you've been trapped in the hotel just as much if we'd been trapped in the ship. I mean, the only difference is we obviously just can't hop off, but the ship can get to a port and then we can get off the ship provided that port will let us. That's been the whole issue in what you've seen going on in the news lately, that the poor won't let them get off. And that's no fault of the cruise line. Cruise lines trying to get them off. So I applaud the CDC for saying these are the new standards that we want you to follow. But don't just single out the cruise ships. Make everybody follow the same rules. If the theme parks want to reopen, if the hotels want to reopen, then everybody has to follow the same rules, because look, we can spread disease and we can spread germs anywhere, not just on a cruise ship. So I'm Walter.
Rebecca
I'm Rebecca.
Walter
We'll see you next time.