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I'm Gary Bembridge and I want to talk
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about a big US cruise update is there
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any light at the end of the tunnel sure
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we be expecting that cruisers will run
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in and out of the US any time soon over
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the last week or so there's been a
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couple of updates which suggests it's
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probably not the news you want to hear
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some good news and some bad news so
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let's unpack it and take a look at what
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cruisers in the US can expect the CDC
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the Center for Disease Control no sell
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order only applies to ships that carry
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250 passengers or more so we are going
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to see a couple of signs of cruising
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starting in a small way so we're seeing
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for example uncrewed which run small
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ships starting their alaska season at
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the end of july there are a whole bunch
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of restrictions you have to have a cover
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90 tests before joining the ship for
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example there's some social distancing
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onboard but those cruisers will be
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starting up we're also seeing some river
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cruising starting up with the American
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Cruise Line starting up on Mississippi
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so we've seen some small signs of the
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small cruise ships starting to run
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however that's not the bulk of cruising
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that's not what most cruises are really
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interested in they want the big ships
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heading out of Miami Fort Lauderdale
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Port Canaveral and all around the u.s.
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particular heading to the Caribbean so
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what exactly is happening and what is
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the mood music and science there the big
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cruise lines have canceled all their
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cruising's at the moment at least to the
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middle of September in the announcement
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they made there were signs that they
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were indicating or suggestion that this
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could probably go on even longer there's
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no certainty at all that cruising will
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be starting in the middle of September
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or even in October at this point in time
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despite what you can go online or talk
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to a travel agent and book one of the
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big challenges that we're facing is the
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CDC the Center for Disease Control which
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has a no sell order and is has to sign
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off on cruise ships starting does not
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appear to be engaging at all or very
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little with the cruise industry cruise
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industry itself is not really publicly
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criticized the CDC and are always
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talking about a collaborative
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relationship however other constituents
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peared travel agents travel agent groups
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some of the Wall Street analysts have
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really criticized the CDC for what is
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apparently appears to be very little
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connection with the cruising industry to
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get the discussion going on how cruising
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can start one of the sides of this is
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they haven't even completely signed off
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an agreed crew repatriation yet there's
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still a lot of crew on board passing
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ships that need to head off home
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the CDC rules mean that crew cannot come
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on land in the United States and use
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commercial transport so when cruise
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companies need to repair a crew they
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have to sail to other territories so
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even within the last 10 days Virgin
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Scarlet lady which was based in Miami
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left Miami and sailed all the way back
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to Europe to Genoa to be able to
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their crew so we're even seeing on stuff
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that's been going on for months at CDC
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it has not worked in a way that's
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enabling crew to be repatriated in an
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easy way also very importantly before
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the CDC will sign off the no sell order
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they have to agree the protocols with
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the cruise liner the current no sail
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Audax fires at the end of July and that
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will be extended because the cruise
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lines and the CDC have not been
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discussing and have not agreed a
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protocol for starting up again so
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without a shadow of a doubt that no
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cellar is going to extend it and the key
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will become what data they set for that
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no cell order so that's a doom and gloom
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what is happening on the positive side
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well the cruise lines are becoming much
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more organized and planning much more to
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push the point one of the most
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significant things that's happened in
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the last week is Royal Caribbean and
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Norwegian Cruise Line group have formed
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a brand new advisory panel which is
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working on very specific very detailed
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protocols and recommendations to get
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cruising going again it's called the
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healthy sail panel and consists of 11
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very influential very well-connected
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public health and scientific advisors
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it's endorsed by clear the cruise line
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Association it has some really big heavy
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hitters on the team so you have a
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multi-term ex governor of Utah who also
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is the Secretary of Health in the Bush
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administration you also got an ex
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commissioner of the FDA the Food and
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Drug Administration you've also got an
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ex deputy director of infectious
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diseases from the CDC they have been
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working for a month they do their final
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at the end of August and that will feed
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into the proposals that the cruise line
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make to the CDC about cruising
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restarting this is why I believe it's
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gonna take a while for cruising to get
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going because that documents not even
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going to go in or be put to the CDC
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until way into September they're working
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streams first of those is the whole
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screening process in terms getting
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passengers on board so the interest see
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where the testing is part of that the
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second stream is the whole onboard
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environment cleaning and disinfecting
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protocols the third which is very
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important and is very important also in
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the CDC's requirements is a plan for
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people that get in what happens if
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there's an outbreak of illness on board
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but in terms how they're dealt with on
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board but also the plans and processes
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of getting people back on land one of
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the big issues the CDC has in their
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original documentation was they have
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major concerns around cruise passengers
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relying on needing and putting a strain
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on land based or shoreside based medical
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so this clade will be addressed as part
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of that stream the fourth stream which
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also is a very interesting one talks
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around destinations and ports the remit
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of the group specifically it talks about
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what activities will be allowed and how
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to control passengers once they offer
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the ship in an environment which mode
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might pose some risk we've already seen
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some hints about where things may settle
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down we've seen the cruise liner sectors
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for example talking about initially
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starting with shorter voyages focusing
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very much on the local population people
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that are close to port sodon't having to
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rely on flying in we've all seen them
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talking about certainly initially having
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lower capacity so fewer passengers on
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board to enable some of the social
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distancing we've seen discussion around
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changes to things like the buffet where
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there won't be self service they will be
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cruise served the EU issued a 49 page
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document with guidelines for the big
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ocean cruising ships to start sailing
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again one of the most contentious issues
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in the EU document was around passengers
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aged 65 years and older and of course
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that group is a very big part of the
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cruising population that you document
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spoke about passengers aged 65 or over
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having to have some kind of medical
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certificate or certainly some sort of
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advice and screening on their own accord
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before they went on a cruise but also it
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spoke about how once you're onboard
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present is over 65 could be separated
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for dining activities and even for
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excursions this has caused a lot of
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consternation amongst people seeing that
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of course we don't know if that's going
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to be the reality in an interview with
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Frank Del Rio the who runs the Norwegian
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Cruise Line group about this he said
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they're going to try and avoid it but he
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didn't say it's definitely not going to
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be part of the proposals this is what he
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actually said I'm hopeful that we will
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have multiple layers so that breaking up
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or dividing the populous of our guests
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into predetermined groups of age or
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nationality or anything else that is
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anyway exclusionary won't be necessary I
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hope that it is some extreme measure
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that hardly ever has to be put in use
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and that last bit is really important so
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it does sound that that issue of older
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passengers is something that is a live
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issue and could become part of this
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whole proposal in the United States
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Cruise Lines are on hold CDC doesn't
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appear to yet be really engaging but on
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a positive note the cruise lines are
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being very assertive and aggressive
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about putting into place really detailed
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protocols that are signed off by some
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very influential public health and
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scientific independent advisors
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hopefully that will be the thing that
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gets this whole thing moving and gets a
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cien DC to engage what do you think
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about cruising the US what do you think
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is going to unlock and get cruising
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moving in the US again I love to hear
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remember I have loads more videos cruise
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updates cruise reviews cruise line and
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cruise tips videos so why don't you
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watch another one of those right now
