We’ve been closely watching cruise lines in an entirely different way ever since the industry totally shut down with no ships sailing at all with one single thought in mind: when would the entire industry be able to restart and what would the new normal look like.

We watch from a very different perspective than many other sources you may read; that of senior travelers with health concerns, both of which Lisa and I are. Good news today from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), one of the most trusted source of health information on the planet. It might be the best news yet for travelers with any serious health concerns that demand caution going forward.

On Monday October 25, the CDC announced an extension of the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) for cruise ships through January 15, 2022. Not great news on the surface but the next part is gold:

“After the expiration of this temporary extension, CDC intends to transition to a voluntary program, in coordination with the cruise ship operators and other stakeholders, to assist the cruise industry to detect, mitigate, and control the spread of COVID-19 onboard cruise ships.”

In other words, whatever the new normal is going to wind up looking like, we will know in January. Now that’s my kind of news. I encourage those with health concerns which have appropriately dictated caution to contact their travel agent and begin the process of looking for if not booking that first cruise back since the pandemic. This also causes a recommendation to “book with caution” which is the most positive position I feel we have been in to date.

We’ll have more in this space on critical questions to ask a travel advisor between now and January, be they your own personal travel agent or a cruise line for those who book directly without representation. For now, my personal recommendation: Get Ready To Cruise!, the most positive position I have been in since this all started.