No sail, big worries: CDC halt to cruises creates unease in Alabama

“Our average cruise demographic stretches out 10 to 12 hours away to the North, and you have people who are traveling,” said David Clark, president & CEO with Visit Mobile. “All these gas stations and restaurants (visited) by people driving halfway to Mobile, along with the overnight stays in the city, that is economic impact that is being lost.”

Mobile city taxpayers are also on the hook for the absence of cruising. According to the mayor’s office, in fiscal year 2020, the cruise terminal brought in $3.1 million in gross revenues to the city, which was down from $5.9 million during fiscal year 2019. The city’s fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. The operating expenses last fiscal year were around $2.1 million, which left the city with $1.07 million in net revenue. That revenue, however, was not enough to cover the city’s typical debt service payment on the cruise terminal, which is $1.8 million annually. The bond on the cruise terminal is not set to expire until 2030.

The city, according to the mayor’s office, was on “sound financial footing” heading into the pandemic and was able to “make up for the lost revenue” at the cruise terminal.

Mobile has been without a cruise ship before. From 2011-2016, the terminal was without a cruise ship after Carnival decided to leave Mobile over concerns for raising prices of its cruises out of the city, hindering cash flow. Without a cruise ship, the terminal was relegated to hosting wedding receptions and other events. Those events, though, did not produce the revenues that could toward paying the annual bond debt.

The city lobbied to bring a cruise ship back to Mobile, and its efforts have gone noticed in the industry. The return of cruising in 2016 came with a 13-month initial agreement; by 2019, Carnival and Mobile inked a three-year deal to continue cruising from downtown Mobile.

Stewart Chiron, a longtime cruise industry expert known as the “Cruise Guy,” was once skeptical of cruising returning to Alabama’s port city. But in recent years, he’s applauded the city’s leadership in its aggressive efforts to restore cruising and develop relationships with Carnival Cruise Line. Mobile’s successful efforts occurred around the same time when much larger cities, like Houston, were pitching lavish incentives to bring cruise ships to their terminals.

“I don’t think any port in the country has fought as hard as Mobile has for cruising,” said Chiron. “They were down and out, and they fought. They got the ship back. It’s an industry there that the community has fought for, is vested in and they would like to see the terminal used more than just for catering parties and COVID shot distribution. They want to see the ship back. And who knows? Is it possible to get a second ship? Who knows?”

‘UnAmerican’

Nationwide, cruising is emerging as the latest political battleground over coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

The latest dispute focuses on whether the CDC should loosen restrictions on an industry shut down in the U.S. since March 2020. Congress is jumping into the fray, with federal lawmakers from two cruising states – Florida and Alaska – pitching legislation aimed at overriding the CDC’s orders on cruising.

Neither of Alabama’s two senators have signed on as co-sponsors to the latest proposal, but U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl, R-Mobile, said he backs it.

“It is time for the CDC to remove any order or regulation preventing cruise ships from operating in the U.S. by July 4, which matches President Biden’s timeline for a return to normal,” Carl said. “The cruise industry is especially important to our local and state economy, with countless local businesses relying on cruise traffic to stay afloat.”

The issue could also head to the courtroom. Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis filed a lawsuit this week against the CDC to get the cruises resumed immediately, though critics argue that the governor is posturing for political reasons. The issue is important throughout Florida, where the cruising industry generates billions for the Sunshine State each year.

DeSantis also has signed an executive order prohibiting businesses from requiring a proof of vaccine. That order could run afoul with the cruising industry, where some companies are already implementing new policies. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is requiring passengers and crew members to show a proof of vaccination before sailing on its Norwegian, Oceania, and Regent Seven Seas brands.

Democratic lawmakers are urging CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky to maintain the current restrictions, according to a USA Today story published Thursday. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Rep. Doris Matsui of California expressed their concerns to Walensky in a letter in which they urged her to maintain the Conditional Sailing Order and that a failure to do so could jeopardize public health, the newspaper story indicates.

Chiron, like others, argues that cruise ships should be treated akin to air travel and be viewed as an important piece to Biden’s goal to get the nation close to normalcy by July 4.

Industry backers are touting statistics which they say shows that out of 400,000 people who have cruised in Europe and Asia, only 50 or so people have been infected by COVID-19. They also claim that there are no similarities between the cautious approaches cruise companies will take once cruising resumes compared to more than a year ago, when cruise ships were criticized as “floating petri dishes” for disease.

Critics of the COVID-19 statistics overseas claim that the industry is overstating the lack of risk. Some accuse Royal Caribbean for not telling the full story behind its claim that one of its ships has had 50,000 people travel with no reported cases of the coronavirus. That ship, they say, sailed out of Singapore, which has had no reported new cases of COVID-19 and only 30 deaths since the pandemic began. The U.S., by contrast, has struggled to maintain the virus with over 565,000 deaths since the pandemic began last year.

But Chiron said it’s time for the CDC to step back and allow the cruise ships to crank up again.

“It’s an industry that essentially has a half million jobs tied to it and generates over $60 billion to the U.S. economy,” he said. “What’s more, they help the economy get going again, and to help the airlines get back on their feet and hotels and restaurants and local businesses and the homeports to get back on their feet. They put people back to work. Not supporting it is unAmerican.”

‘Highest risk’

Global health specialists have concerns about the industry’s restart. Cruise ships were among the earliest COVID-19 superspreader venues in the world, with the Diamond Princess infecting nearly 1,000 people with 14 deaths in early February 2020.

“The cruise industry is the highest risk environment in the travel industry,” said Lawrence Gostin, a global health law professor at Georgetown University. “It has been responsible for many superspreader events. Having hundreds or thousands of people congregating together for long periods is hazardous, especially while community infection rates remain high and most people haven’t been vaccinated.”

That said, Gostin believes the industry will be operating again, “perhaps by summer once vaccination coverage is very high.”

Jean-Paul Rodrigue, a professor of global studies and geography at Hofstra University in New York, said it’s an unfair comparison between flying in an airplane – typically flights occur for a couple of hours, while passengers are required to wear face coverings and sit still during the flight – opposed to the lengthy duration of being aboard a cruise ship in close contact with thousands of fellow passengers.

“You cannot compare a cruise ship with an airplane,” he said. “People, for one week, are in close contact with one another. They eat and entertain themselves.”

Rodrigue said that the cruise industry will also have to be extra careful as to avoid “bad press” that could result if another cruise ship becomes a superspreader.

“The big question is, ‘How do you jumpstart this?’ It only takes a few cases,” said Rodrigue. “It takes a couple of passengers on a ship (who could get infected) and it creates bad press and people are concerned.”

He added, “The cruise lines will be diligent. They want to get back in business. I want them to get back in business and care about this industry. But it has a lot going against it these days, that’s for sure.”

Rodrigue also said another complication is whether the international ports cruise ships visit will require passengers to be vaccinated once they disembark.

“They may have their own safety and sanitary conditions and might not have (people who are) vaccinated,” he said. “The port of call might expose passengers to a disease. If you start up cruises, where do they go?”

Chiron said it’s premature to predict how international ports might address incoming cruise ships. After all, he said, such a scenario is a long way off.

“We are so far away from taking a cruise, there is no reason to make a judgement call on that,” said Chiron, who worries it could be later in the fall by the time cruise ships are sailing out of Mobile. “Everything is change daily. What is said today could change in the next day or two.”