Crusin
Since COVID began, cruises have been marked as a hotspot for spreading the virus; after all, a cruise is packed with people at sea with nowhere to go but the ship – if one person catches COVID, many more are prone to see it as well. Unfortunately, this trend has been rising off-late due to the new Omicron variant of COVID-19. In fact, according to the CDC, cruise ships have seen a 30-fold increase in Covid cases over the past two weeks. The CDC has advised people not to take trips on cruises regardless of their vaccination status. Two weeks ago, ships operating in U.S. waters reported around 5,000 Covid cases from Dec. 15 through Dec. 29.
The CDC’s currency policy regarding cruise ships is called the conditional sailing order. It sets specific safety procedures such as mandated COVID tests for foreign-run cruise ships operating in American waters. The order began in October 2020 and is set to expire on Jan. 15, 2022, without an expected renewal date. Despite this, the CDC has said they will work alongside cruise lines and hopes: “the cruise ship industry will continue to understand that this is a safe practice”. Despite all this, the good news is that even with more cases occurring on cruise ships, the frequency of passenger fatalities and prolonged recoveries is reducing. On the investment side, the cruise industry may remain in choppy waters for the coming months. What do you think about cruises? And will you pick up some shares for the long haul?
I am not a financial advisor and my comments should never be taken as financial advice. Investments come with risk, so always do your research and analysis beforehand.