The Cruise Guy breaks down how travelers should approach the CDC's recommendation to not cruise
The Cruise Guy, Stewart Chiron, joins Yahoo Finance to discuss the state of the cruise industry amid the surge of the Omicron variant.
Video Transcript
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ADAM SHAPIRO: All right, a lot of people-- you probably have friends-- we certainly do-- who are planning to take a cruise. I've got some friends who are taking a cruise-- so they think-- in February. And yet, you got the CDC saying, don't do it. Don't do it.
All right, let's talk about all of this with our reporter Dani Romero in Los Angeles-- big support there-- but also with Stewart Chiron, The Cruise Guy. And I got to tell you, Stewart, I have friends who are going to go no matter what the CDC says. They want to go on a cruise. What would you say to them?
STEWART CHIRON: Well, I just came back from my 12th week or so ago. And I wouldn't hesitate to go. So I would strongly encourage them. The science doesn't support the CDC. You're actually safer on a cruise ship. Everybody is being vaccinated. Everyone's tested frequently.
And what we're seeing, unfortunately, is the increase in Omicron. And we're seeing an increase, which is 90% of these recent cases are crew, not passengers. So the cruise lines are doing what they can in order to bring those numbers down. But it's still extraordinarily more safe on a cruise ship than it is to be at home.
DANI ROMERO: And, Stewart, can you talk to us a little bit about how it'll affect not only the industry but some of these travel agencies, which are small businesses? And they're relying on these cruises to, you know, uptick because they couldn't during the pandemic. So what's going to be the effect for them?
STEWART CHIRON: Well, I think the effect is going to be people are still calling their travel agent. They're still booking their cruises through the travel agent. People have been checking over the course of the weekend, trying to get some more information. Passengers are trying to deal with, you know, directly with the cruise lines. But the good news is is that bookings for 2022 and 2023 are ahead of where they were in 2019 at record levels and have a higher pricing.
So I think the travel agents are going to be fine. I don't think, you know, there's going to be a lot of people that are going to be adhering to the CDC's latest warning, because people know that, you know, the cruise lines will do everything they can to keep them safe. And the numbers are disproportionately low. And, you know, people are just going to keep going.
DANI ROMERO: And following to that point, you know, I reached out to the CDC earlier today, and they gave us a little bit of kind of the cases. And they said that, from November 30 to December 14, they reported 162 cases from-- yeah, from cruise ships. And then from December 15 through the 29th, they reported over 500 cases-- 500 cases, excuse me, were reported from cruise ships. Why is there such an uptick in cases, especially coming from these ships?
STEWART CHIRON: Well, we don't really know where the 5,000 number comes from. But the reality is is that what we've seen over the ones that have been reported, obviously, the Seas for example, which was a couple of weeks ago, you know, Symphony of the Seas, so the, you know, Carnival Freedom, 90% of those are crew. So those are crew, not passengers. But regardless, immediately, once people are tested--
And a lot of people don't realize that, you know, they have these health questionnaires that you have to fill out online the day before the cruise and the day-- and when you arrive at the port. And unfortunately, a lot of people are not honest about their health situation. And some people think that, well, I'm asymptomatic. You know, I'll be able to fake my way through it. But they don't realize that your symptoms are only going to get worse.
And the best thing to do is contact the cruise line. Contact your travel agent. Cancel the cruise. Rebook it for another time when you're healthy. But unfortunately, some people think they'll be able to be OK.
But the good thing is that the cruise lines are constantly testing. They test on board. The crews are being tested three to four times a week. They're going to be increasing the testing over the course of going forward as of now. So they're just trying to create the safest environment. But, again, the numbers are on board the ships are lower than they are.
And we also have to take into consideration that some of these ships with the 5,000 number aren't even yet in service. And as we continue to add more ships-- there's a lot of these ships are doing short cruises, three, four, and five-night sailings-- you're going to have a higher increase. So, you know, the CDC's color code really is meaningless because one crew, seven passengers mean you go from green to yellow. So it really doesn't tell anything.
EMILY MCCORMICK: Stewart, this is Emily here. You mentioned testing. But from what you're seeing, when we think about potentially the longer term here, in what way, if at all, do you think cruises and the cruising experience might be permanently changed given the pandemic?
STEWART CHIRON: Well, I don't think it's going to be permanently changed. I mean, right now, they're just trying to deal with, you know, the current temporary, what they have to deal with in order to, you know, be able to prevent, you know, take the step, whatever steps they can to prevent the, you know, COVID from getting on the ship, how they mitigate it and minimize it. Because essentially, as soon as the positive cases are returned, these passengers are immediately quarantined, retested. Close contacts are tested. I mean, what other industry is under such scrutiny? Airlines, hotels, theme parks-- I'd take a cruise over any of them.
ADAM SHAPIRO: [AUDIO OUT] Sorry about that. I'm muted so you wouldn't hear me blowing my nose, sneezing. I'm thinking back to the drinking games in college when Charo would be the guest star on "Love Boat." We would drink, and it was every day. And I've been on cruises and loved them.
Wanted to ask you, though, the fear that some of us have about maybe taking a cruise is other countries that say, you know what? We're not letting you off the boat. Is there any kind of coordinated effort among the cruise industry and the ports of call worldwide to never again go through the nightmare scenario we witnessed with people at the beginning of the pandemic who got stuck on boats? Some kind of protocol on what will happen?
STEWART CHIRON: That's a great question. I can tell you that, before the cruise line set off on their very first sailing at the very beginning of June, they had port agreements. They were required to have port agreements with each and every one of the ports that they visit. Unfortunately, some are handling it. Some aren't.
But I will tell you the flip side of that is, on several cruises that I personally have taken in the Caribbean, because of higher COVID cases ashore, we-- the passengers were unable to get off the ship. Or we were required to take bubble tours, which meant that we only could take certain tours from certain tour operators. In order to get off the ship, we had to stay with the group, stay on the bus because those bus and tour guides were vaccinated and tested. And otherwise, you know, the passengers have to stay on the ship.
So the pendulum goes both ways. But, you know, it's OK that, you know, people, you know, they wind up skipping ports. I mean, I could only tell you that, on many of these cruises, you know, ports have been skipped. And a lot of people are just going to just get away. Some people are uncomfortable. Their unknowledgeable of the conditions of COVID ashore, but their health regimens are. And they would just rather stay on board the ship.
You know, there's going to be some people that feel we're back in 2019, and everything is great and nothing to fear. But the reality is that there is people are just looking to go away and enjoy themselves. And that's really what's going on.