The State of Florida, cruise capital of the US, might take legal action against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), if cruises don’t restart by summer, at a roundtable held in Port Canaveral.
After the CDC has extended its no-sail order through November 1, and with many cruise lines moving their homeports to the Caribbean, away from Florida and its major hubs, Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and top executives of Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Disney and Norwegian held a roundtable discussion at Port Canaveral, calling upon the CDC to rescind its no-sail order and allow cruise ships to set sail by summer.
“If there is one thing we’ve learned over the past year, it’s that lockdowns don’t work, and Floridians deserve the right to earn a living,” wrote Governor DeSantis on his website. “The cruise industry is essential to our state’s economy and keeping it shut down until November would be devastating to the men and women who rely on the cruise lines to provide for themselves and their families. I urge the CDC to immediately rescind this baseless no-sail order to allow Floridians in this industry to get back to work.”
As reported by WPTV from West Palm Beach, Gov DeSantis also said that in addition to appealing to the CDC, he and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody have been discussing potential legal options.
According to Moody, ““The federal government is acting outside its authority in singling out and docking the cruise industry while other tourism-based businesses continue to operate in accordance with health guidelines. This heavy-handed federal overreach is harming our nation’s economy and is especially damaging to Florida’s economy and our vital tourism industry. That is why, we are calling on the Biden administration to lift the outdated lockdown order on Florida’s cruise industry and allow workers who rely on this important industry to get back to work.”
