Florida Sues Biden Administration Over Cruise Ship Shutdown

MIAMI, FL — Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters Thursday the state of Florida filed a federal lawsuit against the Biden administration and the head of the Centers for Disease Control over the ongoing shutdown of cruise ships.

"Today, I'm happy to announce that on behalf of the tens-of-thousands of Floridians whose livelihood depends on the viability of an open cruise industry, today Florida's fighting back," DeSantis said at a news conference at PortMiami. "We're filing a lawsuit against the federal government and the CDC … demanding that our cruise ships be re-opened immediately."

PortMiami is known as the Cruise Capital of the World, according to its website. It welcomes more cruise passengers to its terminals than any other port in the world. Major U.S. cruise lines have not sailed since March 2020 and the CDC has not yet said when the industry might resume service.

"PortMiami is Miami-Dade County's second most important economic engine, contributing $43 billion annually to the local economy and supporting more than 334,500 jobs in South Florida," the website reported.

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Florida's lawsuit targets Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky, Politico reported.

In October 2020, the CDC outlined a "framework for conditional sailing order," to allow a gradual resumption of cruises. Requirements include testing all crew members and developing onboard laboratory capacity, CNN reported. The order is in effect until Nov. 1, or when the COVID-19 health emergency ends, or Walnsky cancels it.

On Friday the CDC said it expects to cruises to resume with recommended, rather than required, passenger vaccinations. The agency said it wanted to see "simulated (trial) voyages that will allow crew and port personnel to practice new Covid-19 operational procedures with volunteers before sailing with passengers."

At the White House on Thursday, press secretary Jen Psaki said, “We would defer to the CDC on updated guidelines, or the expectation of changing those guidelines."

DeSantis said he expects that rules the cruise ship industry must follow when sailings are allowed will likely be so cumbersome the cruise lines aren't going to be able to comply.

Norweigan Cruise Lines, headquartered in Miami, said in a recent news release that it will return to service July 25 at a reduced capacity.

"Over a year after we initially suspended sailings, the time has finally come when we can provide our loyal guests with the news of our great cruise comeback," Norwegian Cruise Line's President and Chief Executive Officer Harry Sommer said. "All guests sailing aboard cruises with embarkation dates through Oct. 31, 2021 will be required to be fully vaccinated and tested prior to boarding our ships."

Sommer's decision conflicts with a recently signed executive order by DeSantis that bans Floridians from being required to have a vaccine passport for travel. Officials from the Biden Administration have said there will not be a federal mandate for vaccine passports.

DeSantis said people are going to make the decisions they are going to make, but the question is are they going to cruise out of Florida or instead out of the Bahamas or other locations? He wants Floridians to be able to go back to work.

He has been working with Attorney General Ashley Moody for the past few weeks with discussions about the lawsuit. "We did have an event a couple of weeks ago at Port Canaveral imploring the CDC to take action, and they have not taken efficient action," DeSantis said. "We believe that it is time to take action to vindicate the state's rights in court, and vindicate the livelihoods of the tens-of-thousands Floridians who depend on this industry."

Florida's lawsuit Thursday morning against the CDC, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Biden Administration, demands the no sail order be lifted, Moody said.

According to Cruise Lines International Association, in 2019, the cruise industry generated $55.5 billion in economic activity in the United States and supported 436,600 American jobs paying $24.4 billion in wages.

Florida has been especially hard hit by the restrictions. The state has the top three busiest cruise terminals in the world, according to the Federal Maritime Commission.

In 2017, Port Miami handled 5.6 million passengers with 1,185 ships docked including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Disney and Norwegian cruise lines. Two other major cruise lines, MSC Cruises and Virgin Voyages, are expected to open terminals in Miami in the next year.

Port Canaveral in Brevard County, had 4.5 million cruise passengers in 2017, making it the second busiest in the world. On average, 10 ships docked at the port every day, including vessels from Carnival, Disney, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian cruise lines.

Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale is the third busiest port, serving more than 3.8 million cruise passengers in 2017. It is home to 10 cruise lines including Princess, Holland America, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and

Also making the list of top ports in the world are the Port of Tampa, Port of Palm Beach and Port of Jacksonville, all in Florida.

On April 2, CDC released a new phase of the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order that was originally released October 30. The CDC added these recent changes:

• COVID-19 laboratory screening testing of all crew section
• The procedures for embarking contractors overnight and visitors overnight section
• The procedures for embarking day contractors and day visitors section.
• Clarified laboratory parameters and testing options.
• Updated surveillance reporting requirement to from weekly to daily
• Revised the color-coding system
• COVID-19-like illness definition

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Patch Editor D'Ann Lawrence White contributed reporting to this story.