Several major cruise lines have again extended suspensions of operations as the industry continues to await federal guidance on when cruising can resume from U.S. ports.

Royal Caribbean Group announced it canceled sailings scheduled in May on three lines — Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises. Sailings aboard Azamara, a luxury line that Royal Caribbean recently sold to a private equity firm, have been suspended through June 30.

Excluded from the extension are four Royal Caribbean International ships — Quantum of the Seas, Odyssey of the Seas, Spectrum of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas — and their scheduled sailings from China, Singapore and Israel.

Recently, Royal Caribbean announced plans for its new Odyssey of the Seas to depart Israel in May with all passengers above age 16 vaccinated.

The earliest sailing from the United States is Explorer of the Seas’ planned June 2 departure from Galveston, Texas. Several trips are planned in June to depart Port Everglades, Port Miami, Port Canaveral and Port Tampa Bay.

Industry leader Carnival Corp., meanwhile, announced it was extending suspensions for three of its brands.

Holland America’s planned sailings in May and June from Europe aboard Nieuw Statendam, Volendam and Westerdam have been canceled. Schedules from U.S. ports are unaffected, as the cruise line does not plan to resume sailings from the United States until Oct. 23, when Nieuw Amsterdam is slated to depart Port Everglades for a weeklong Western Caribbean tour.

Princess Cruises canceled cruises planned in May from Port Everglades, Los Angeles and Rome. And ultra-luxury brand Seabourn canceled European sailings scheduled before July 3.

“We understand guests are eager to travel and, even though we have extended our pause in operations a bit further, we continue to prepare to welcome them back once again,” said Josh Leibowitz, Seabourn’s president.

Flagship Carnival Cruise Line, however, was not among the Carnival Corp. brands with extended suspensions.

The popular “fun ship” line is continuing to book voyages scheduled to depart United States ports in June. The first still scheduled to leave Port Canaveral for a four-night Bahamas trip aboard Carnival Liberty

Cruise lines continue to wait for reopening guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last week, Forbes quoted a CDC spokesman who said the agency is working with cruise lines “to implement the initial phase requirements of testing all crew and developing onboard laboratory capacity.”

Major cruise lines have made it easy for guests to reschedule canceled cruises or get their money back. Details are available on cruise lines’ websites.

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Guardian (UK) Japan has decided to stage this summer’s Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics without overseas spectators due to public concern about Covid, two government sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

The Olympics, postponed by a year because of the pandemic, are scheduled for 23 July to 8 August and the Paralympics from 24 August to 5 September Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has said a decision on spectators would be made by the end of March.

The government has concluded that welcoming fans from abroad would not be possible given public concern about the coronavirus and the detection of more contagious variants in many countries, the people said, declining to be identified because the information is not public.

Kyodo News, which reported the decision on Tuesday, said the opening ceremony of the torch relay on March 25 would also take place without spectators.

“The organising committee has decided it is essential to hold the ceremony in the northeastern prefecture of Fukushima behind closed doors, only permitting participants and invitees to take part in the event, to avoid large crowds forming amid the pandemic,” Kyodo said, quoting the officials.

The Tokyo organising committee said a decision would be made based on “factors including the state of infections in Japan and other countries, possible epidemic-prevention measures, and expert scientific advice.”

Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto has said she wants a decision made on before the start of the torch relay on whether to allow overseas spectators.

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Some hopeful news on the variants: Pfizer vaccine neutralizes Brazilian virus variant in new study

The Pfizer vaccine was able to neutralize a coronavirus variant first identified in Brazil in a new lab study, a positive sign for the vaccine’s effectiveness.

Neutralization of the Brazilian variant, known as P.1, was “roughly equivalent” to the original strain of the virus, which the Pfizer vaccine has been shown to be highly effective against, researchers wrote in a letter to The New England Journal of Medicine.

The P.1 variant has provoked some concern given the surge in cases it is fueling in Brazil.

Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said in a presentation last week there are “preliminary reports” the variant is more infectious, and that antibodies produced by vaccines “may be less effective.” 

The results published Monday from researchers from Pfizer, its German partner BioNTech, and the University of Texas Medical Branch, however, are reassuring. 

The study also found strong neutralization of the B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in the U.K., though that was already expected. 

Perhaps a more concerning variant: The B.1.351 variant, first identified in South Africa, has raised concern for its potential ability to weaken the effectiveness of vaccines to some degree. The study found neutralization of that variant was “robust but lower.” .

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New CDC guidelines a blow for ailing airline industry

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week delivered a tough blow to the airline industry, which is struggling to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

While the CDC issued a number of recommendations that allow vaccinated and low-risk people more freedom to gather, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Monday that the agency’s advice on travel remains the same for both vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans: Don’t do it.

But some experts called that guidance confusing and the airline industry, while saying it would continue to work with the CDC, stressed its efforts to prevent coronavirus transmission aboard aircraft and its confidence that its approach is safe.

Leana Wen, a public health professor at George Washington University and former Baltimore health commissioner, called the guidance on Monday “far too cautious.”

“A lot of families are separated from one another and need to travel to see one another. I’m really befuddled by why the guidance around travel was not changed. Travel is very low risk — imagine if you’re traveling in your individual car or even by plane — whenever everyone is wearing masks, the risk of coronavirus is very low,” she said.

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SUMMARY

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