A parent company for Norwegian Cruise Lines is able to require vaccine passports for passengers, according to a recent ruling by a federal judge in Miami, Florida.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams granted Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings a preliminary injunction on Sunday evening challenging Gov. Ron DeSantis’ statewide ban for businesses to require vaccines before engaging in certain activities. In the ruling, she wrote that Florida failed to “provide a valid evidentiary, factual, or legal predicate” for the ban, documents obtained by Politico show.
The order allows the company to operate with 100% vaccinations or the requirement of all guests and crew to be vaccinated when sailing from Florida ports. The company will not be subject to $5,000 fines for every violation of the Republican governor’s order, which imposed the ban on vaccine passports on July 1.
“We want nothing more than to sail from Miami, the Cruise Capital of the World, and from the other fabulous Florida ports,” said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, according to a press readout on Sunday.
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Del Rio said that NCL welcomes the ruling, adding that 100% fully vaccinated cruise trips are the “safest and most prudent way to resume cruise operations amid this global pandemic.”
The ruling comes roughly two weeks after Royal Caribbean International reported in late July that a cruise departed from Nassau, Bahamas, with six guests aboard who tested positive for COVID-19, four vaccinated and two unvaccinated aboard.
It also follows President Joe Biden’s administration underscoring that a third of newly recorded COVID-19 cases have stemmed from Texas and Florida.
Peter Patterson, who represents the Sunshine State and Florida’s Surgeon General Scott Rivkees, hinted during a court hearing on Friday over the injunction that Florida may attempt to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Florida’s attorney general has also asked the Supreme Court to block the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s protocols requiring 95% of cruise ship passengers and 98% of crew be vaccinated, among other CDC measures he argues are keeping the industry from fully reopening.
NCL will be able to sail under its own safety terms and conditions for the time being under the preliminary injunction.
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The Washington Examiner contacted the governor’s office and the Florida Department of Health but did not immediately receive a response.
