Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Florida law banning COVID Passports for cruising could keep ships anchored

Florida law banning COVID Passports for cruising could keep ships anchored

Government House on Monday, June 7, 2021, announced that Governor Albert A. Bryan has sent a letter to Florida Governor Ron D. DeSantis asking him to reconsider legislation that bans cruise ships embarking from Florida ports from requiring proof of vaccination, an action Mr Bryan said contradicts the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines and would stifle the restart of the cruise industry.

The governor also sent a separate letter to CARICOM Chairman and Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph E. Gonsalves asking for support from the Caribbean Region in finding a path forward to safely restart the cruise industry, Gov't House said. Both letters were sent Monday.

Mr DeSantis in a press release issued Thursday blasted the CDC for its cruise ship policies, calling the federal agency a “bureaucratic virus against science-based governance,” while accusing it of “discriminating against children.”

The Florida governor's stance is the latest in a strained relationship with the CDC. In April, Florida sued the CDC to restart cruise travel, calling the action of mothballing cruise ship activity for over a year a "stringent and reckless stance against the industry." Florida is a major cruise ship hub and the largest in the US.

Mr DeSantis's position has also led to a tense relationship with cruise lines whose home port is Florida, as they have acceded to the CDC's requirement that 98 percent of a ship's crew and 95 percent of its passengers be vaccinated as a precondition to set sail. The cruise lines' decision to follow the CDC flouts a Florida law that prohibits the use of so-called vaccine passports for cruising from Florida.

Government House on Monday, June 7, 2021, announced that US Virgin Islands (USVI) Governor Albert A. Bryan, left, has sent a letter to Florida Governor Ron D. DeSantis, right, asking him to reconsider legislation that bans cruise ships embarking from Florida ports from requiring proof of vaccination, an action Mr Bryan said contradicts the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines and would stifle the restart of the cruise industry.


'Reconsider the measure'- Gov Bryan


In his letter to Mr deSantis, Mr Bryan wrote. “I respect your commitment to health and civil liberties and write to ask you to reconsider the measure in the Florida legislation standing in the way of cruises sailing from the state with vaccine requirements. Florida, the United States Virgin Islands and the Caribbean region—our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.”

The governor also noted that Florida is the central and biggest embarkation point for cruises in the United States and that the state is home to the headquarters and key infrastructure of major cruise lines, Gov't House said.

“If nothing else, grant an exemption to cruise lines that have destinations in the Caribbean," Mr Bryan asked in his letter. "This will be a big win for the people of the Caribbean and the Caribbean expatriates that live in your state. It is my hope that you will reconsider and move in the same direction. I am committed to working with you to find an agreeable path forward.”

In his letter to Mr Gonsalves, the CARICOM leader and St Vincent and the Grenadines prime minister, Governor Bryan asked that CARICOM support his initiative to restart the cruise industry vital to island economies. He also noted that most of the Caribbean islands have had issues with ensuring that visitors are duly vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus because of difficulties obtaining the vaccine, according to Gov't House.

“St Thomas, one of the most popular ports of call for cruises in the Caribbean, is in the direct line of fire, alongside the other port-of-call destinations,” the governor wrote relative to the Florida law banning proof of vaccination. “The Covid-19 pandemic has hammered the world. The cruise lines want to operate out of Florida, and they want to do so safely.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×