Last month a federal judge sided with Florida governor Ron DeSantis against the CDC. DeSantis sought to block the cruise lines from enforcing the Conditional Sailing Order set by the CDC, which recommended all eligible passengers and crew be vaccinated. At the time of the judgement, Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCLH) threatened to pull out of Florida. NCLH has now sued the state, stating that they must keep their crew and passengers safe from contracting coronavirus. The suit was filed Tuesday. NCLH states that they cannot afford to pay the up to $5000 a person penalties for each passenger they’re asking to submit proof of vaccination. Below is more on the story from People:
According to court documents filed Tuesday, the powerhouse cruise line company is suing Florida Surgeon General Scott A. Rivkees “as a last resort after the State of Florida has indicated that it is otherwise preventing NCLH from safely and soundly resuming passenger cruise operations from Miami, Florida, starting August 15, 2021, in the way that this cruise line has determined will be best for all concerned — with the benefit of documentation confirming that all of its passengers and crew have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.”
The filing comes after the state’s Gov. Ron DeSantis banned businesses from requiring COVID-19 “vaccination passports” or any other proof of vaccine from its customers. The law went into effect on July 1, according to Forbes.
Norwegian said in their filing that they’re “duty-bound to protect the health and safety of its personnel and passengers [by] requiring proof of vaccinations, yet NCLH cannot afford to expose itself to prosecution by Florida and crushing penalties of up to $5,000 per passenger, as it would by requiring vaccine documentation in the present posture.”
The company went on to allege that “Florida’s Ban on vaccine verification poses imminent, substantial, irreparable harms to NCLH’s business.”
“No other port or jurisdiction visited by NCLH imposes any such Ban on vaccine documentation,” Norwegian said. “Only Florida is bidding to constrain NCLH in this critical respect, yet the resulting threat imperils all of NCLH’s employees, passengers, and operations around the world.”
“Risk of exposure to COVID-19 will invariably tick up if NCLH is denied the ability to verify through documentation that all passengers have been fully vaccinated,” the cruise line argued. “The inability to verify vaccination status will hobble NCLH’s ability to attract, assure and protect passengers.”
These Republican lawmakers would rather incite fear instead of protecting their constituency. It is so dangerous and I am furious. I am tired of these self-centered as*holes only caring about making a stand instead of protecting themselves and their fellow humans. This pandemic has definitely highlighted how disconnected many people are and how gullible much of the electorate is. It is scary that we have to live with these people. They are our neighbors, coworkers and family members. COVID is still an issue. My Uber driver told me her cousin died from COVID related pneumonia because she refused to get vaccinated and refused to be put on a ventilator. This sort of ignorance is killing people and I am tired. I am glad that NCLH is suing the state of Florida. These companies should not have to put their customers and staff at risk because dirt bag politicians are trying to win points. I hope the NCLH wins this lawsuit. People going on vacation shouldn’t have to fear dying because other people are refusing to believe science.
Well said, I am so tired of all this too. I’m sure most here saw what they are doing in Tennessee. These lunatics are gonna bring back smallpox or die trying.
It is truly a race to the bottom. This is what happens when you mollycoddle gross and entitled people who do not have a bottom: their appetite for cruelty and stupidity only grows. Hillary Clinton was correct when she called the Deplorables.
She really was.
I couldn’t believe it when I read that. How insane do they have to be? And what is wrong with people who go along with such craziness.
I so feel for the kids living in Tennessee. Stopping outreach for all childhood vaccines is unconscionable.
GOOD. All the cruise lines should be doing this. I love cruising (I know its not for everyone, but I enjoy it) but I don’t know when I’ll feel comfortable cruising again in general, and I definitely do not feel comfortable cruising if everyone is not vaccinated. Cruise ships are already floating petri dishes as it is.
Did anyone else see that post yesterday – I saw it on twitter, but it was posted from TikTok and I think it was from the passenger’s IG live (so basically all the social media sites lol) – from a woman who was being kicked off a Royal Caribbean cruise because she tested positive for COVID and refused to stay in her state room, she was wearing a mask and screeching about how she could not breathe in the mask because she had asthma. It was……something else.
I can only imagine that situation playing out across all the cruise lines in the Caribbean and yeah, asking for proof of vaccination seems so much easier.
I hope she was kicked off and is now stuck at the port of a country who won’t let her in. And I hope the cruise line doesn’t give one thought to repatriation
“how she could not breathe in the mask because she had asthma.”
if her inspiratory flow is so poor that a mask makes it rough for her to breath, she must be using a nebulizer to take meds for her “asthma” Any person who legitimately has a pulmonary condition should not want to even stay on a cruise if they tested positive just in case they start to crash (I know they have mini ICUs on cruise ships but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to have my ICU care managed by a doc who rarely treats folks in a critical care setting – does anyone know if the docs on the ships have to maintain critical care certification?)
I worked for several years at a nuclear medicine manufacture. Many of the people in manufacturing wear a mask, and gloves and maybe a gown, for the entire shift. No one ever suffocated in the decades they have been in business.
Any surgeons have asthma? I bet they do yet wear a mask or double mask through every surgery.
@Lizzie my brother is a surgeon and he has asthma. It’s not holding him back lol.
I don’t know if she actually had asthma or not (doubtful) but she was clearly able to rant and rave for an extended period through her mask so i think her breathing was ok.
That part where the cruise line says that Florida’s law threatens the companies employees and customers around the world! This is what is so horrible about the people fighting against pandemic health regulations, they are putting the lives of the entire world in danger. I wonder if the other countries that cruise lines dock at are going to join the lawsuit? That would be chef’s kiss…
I hope they do! I’m not planning on a cruise but am going to send Norwegian my regards.
I still struggle to get my head around this approach to politics. How morally bankrupt you have to be to actively do harm to people when we know covid kills and we know vaccination saves lives just horrifies me.
Excellent point!! Given the actions of Texas, Florida and now Tennessee, we will be suffering for years as the virus changes and mutates as the time goes. Anyone who doesn’t want what is best for their constituents should automatically be removed from office for conduct of negligence!
This is what gets me. These people are so damn power hungry, they will actively work to endanger the lives of the people who elected them, when you know damn well, they’ve themselves have been vaccinated.
DeSantis is truly evil and very dangerous.
It’s about time these corporations fought back against this Republican nonsense. Other cruise lines and businesses should join in the lawsuit. Negatively impacting a corporations bottom line 💵💰seems to be the final straw to get them to turn on the ReThugs. So tired of these ignorant fools selfishly putting others at risk because of utter foolishness and nonsense. Many countries these cruise ships sail to don’t have the resources the U.S. has and can’t afford to have their citizens infected by entitled Americans.
I love how the folks who champion a bakery refusing to make a wedding cake for a gay couple (same cake they’d make for a straight one) because private businesses should be allowed to function in accordance with their owner’s “values” are also saying that a private business is not allowed to refuse business/set terms of service based on a customer posing an actual threat to staff & other customers
What would these passengers do if/when more countries start requiring a vaccine passport? Will they just take cruises to nowhere or stay on board the ship the whole time?
waiting for Trump Cruises to be a thing
I spoke to someone in April 2020 who had to come back to Canada and leave their partner in Miami in ICU. They died in Miami with no family.
The cruise they went on was their first one. For their 25th anniversary.
I don’t understand the willful stupidity.
oh that is so horrible.
Natural selection will take these covidiots off one by one, but will unfortunately take those of us who get vaccinated and continue to mask up down with them.
DeSantis is fighting hard for the title of worst Republican. He’s leaning in very hard to these culture wars while apparently not understanding that his constituents will die and those who are left might be a bit disillusioned with this schtick. I’m almost happy that my tax dollars will go toward defending against this lawsuit, because I’m grateful Norwegian has brought it. I know they’re only doing the right thing because it’s the best for their bottom line, but it’s still the right thing.
Kristi Noem is down there is the cesspool trying to wrest the title from him. Dissing DeSantis for not being a *horrible enough* repug.
Like, take a look at yourselves in the mirror folks. You’re literally trying to “win” the title of worst human.
The entire GOP voter population is more motivated by white supremacy and willing to do ANYTHING to maintain it even it means some of their own being screwed (which always happened) or dying.
Racism is a hell of a drug I tell ya.
I will stand by this forever. Russian/Chinese intelligence community studied history and figured out that the easiest way to tear down the US is to capitalize on racism to stoke divides and tear the country apart. It was the one thing that was incredibly effective. THERE WAS EVEN A WAR.
What I don’t get is why NO ONE is willing to point this out. People will grasp on any other rationale except this obvious one to explain the state of politics in this country. why?
DeSantis is wrong .
Having said that it’s laughable with their labor practices that any cruise line can cite, with a straight face, the health of the crew.
It’s slave labor at best , trafficking at worst.
No one with a conscience should be cruising .
Truth.
Someone our family knows in Springfield MO posted about how scary it is there right now. A male friend popped into her feed and stated that Republicans know it is all BS. That Covid isn’t real and that they know better than to get vaccinated. I know for a fact that many believe the doctors are assigning Covid as reason for death when a car crash victim dies. How will they ever convince someone like that to get vaccinated? They won’t.
Yeah. You’re right, it won’t happen. I expect some crazies, but when did nearly half the country go insane??
Arrogance and entitlement via American exceptionalism.
They truly are a death cult.
Politicians do what gets them re-elected. If Floridians complained about vax regulations, they would be changed.
Whatever state you are in, call your representative’s office and complain about oppressive legislation , Volunteer to register people, get out the vote. The deplorables are organized and we need to be too before 2022.
Tribal signaling at its finest. Making a pandemic a partisan war is fucking brilliant! That way the unvaccinated can be test tubes for more contagious and deadly variants that pierce through the protections of the vaccinated! Millions more dead! A win for Republicans!