The first CDC-approved fully vaccinated cruise will sail June 26 from Florida, but the state says it

[In It to Win It]

could violate the state's ban on vaccine passports

Business Insider via Yahoo News

Royal Caribbean's Celebrity Cruises will begin welcoming passengers on June 26 from Florida.

This announcement comes after over a year of no cruising from US waters amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Celebrity's proof of vaccination policy violates Florida's ban on vaccine passports, the state says.

[Mr.Bill]

1. What I don't understand is most of these ships are foreign flagged.

How does Florida have jurisdiction over a foreign vessel? The reason they fly foreign flags in the first place is to avoid a lot of US laws and regulations, such as not having to pay their crew minimum wages, etc.

[Sgent]

3. Until they are 12 miles offshore

they are subject to the laws of whatever jurisdiction they are in in unless exempted by treaty or federal law. Treaty applies the ships' flag laws for working conditions onboard.

[Mr.Bill]

4. Okay, thanks.

So do you think Federal law could over ride Florida's vaccine passport law? Not that a single republican would probably vote for it. What if they sat 13 miles offshore and tendered the passengers out to the ship and checked their vaccine status there? Hypothetical question. I doubt they would go to those lengths.

[Sgent]

8. The CDC could certainly

override the Florida law as it pertains to interstate / international travel. I don't know if Biden wants to do that though... They have the authority under the same law suspending evictions and other mandates.

[Buns_of_Fire]

12. Notice to All Passengers:

The state of Florida prohibits us from requiring so-called "vaccine passports," so we will not verify your proof of vaccination while in port. Once past the 12-mile limit, we will check your vaccination status. Should proof be unavailable or invalid, the passenger will be required to disembark immediately -- for those passengers, we will provide a suitable life raft, two gallons of fresh water, five protein bars, and a complimentary can of Shark-B-Gone.

[In It to Win It]

15. I spoke to a couple lawyers about the conflict of federal rules vs state law

To summarize what I was told, if the cruise line company were to take this to court, the court would likely rule that the CDC’s authority over public health on cruise ships would trump DeSantis’ authority and state law.

[tanyev]

2. DeSantis must think the cruise industry needs Florida more than Florida needs the cruise industry.

That's a stupid gamble to take.

[bahboo]

6. absolutely...they should burn his ass on this....

[lpbk2713]

16. True

I would think the majority of northern vacationers would much rather board
their cruise ship in Charleston or Savannah than travel several miles further
south if their destination is Nassau or any of the other islands that DeSantis
definitely has nothing to say about. Likewise they could board in New Orleans
or Houston if their destination is Mexico. DeSantis had better be warned this
is a game of chicken he would not want to be involved in if he is smart.

[left-of-center2012]

5. Are there non Florida ports they can leave from?

They should take their business out of Florida.

[Sgent]

9. New Orleans

and maybe NC or Virginia. I imagine GA, SC, AL, MS, and TX will be no better than FL in this regard.

[tanyev]

14. Yep, Gov. Abbott has also banned vaccine passports in TX.

Seems like every time DeSantis up the crazy ante, Abbott comes trotting along a few days later saying "Me too! Me too!"

[dawg day]

7. There's this really complex maritime law...

I would not want to be the one to figure it out... then again, maybe if I were the FL lawfirm, I'd be imagining glorious bills.

Florida has to worry that cruise ships will just say, fine, we'll dock in the Bahamas instead of Ft. Lauderdale.

[roamer65]

10. Fuck DeSatan.

Set sail anyway.

[PortTack]

11. Agree! Ignore the FL law..require vaccination proof.... what are they gonna do?

Blow the ship up?

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. Are they going to visit another country - one that demands vaccination proof?

If I were Celebrity, I'd encourage the other countries to say "you need vaccination proof to visit us". Because they don't want to be stuck with a floating petri dish overwhelming their health system.

[marmar]

17. Good point. Most of the Caribbean islands that are open to tourists do require proof of vax and/or..

... a negative covid test.