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USA Today featured Lubin Professor Andrew Coggins in "When will it be safe to cruise again? These signs that will help you decide when to sail"
USA Today featured Lubin Professor Andrew Coggins in "When will it be safe to cruise again? These signs that will help you decide when to sail"
What will it take to start cruising again?
To resume sailing, the government has set strict standards for cruise lines.
"The lines have to be able to successfully, quickly and cheaply screen passengers before they board," says Andrew Coggins, a professor at Pace University’s Lubin School of Business. Cruise lines must also have CDC-approved procedures and facilities to identify, isolate and treat any cases that may get through the screening.
Coggins expects some cruise ships to meet those standards in the first half of the year, but most passengers won't feel safe planning a cruise until the CDC procedures are proven effective.
"The next couple of months will give an indication of whether the industry can return to operations this summer or fall," he says.
If you're interested in booking a cruise for late 2021, there's no need to wait, says Tanner Callais, editor of the cruise site Cruzely.com.
"The good news through this pandemic is that passengers haven't been out any money, despite the turmoil," he says. Cruise lines have either refunded passengers or offered a generous credit.
