The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that it will follow a "phased approach" to resuming cruise ship operations in U.S. once the current No Sail Order expires on Oct. 31. Following the news, cruise operator stocks Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian Cruise climbed on Friday.
The initial phases will consist of placing safeguards for crew members, and the CDC will ensure that ship operators have adequate protective equipment for the crews. This will be followed by a phase where ship operators will have to build the laboratory capacity for testing passengers for covid-19. In the next phases, the cruise lines will conduct simulated voyages to test ship operators' ability to mitigate covid-19. Subject to passing the tests, ships will be certified to resume voyages.