cruise ship

Ron DeSantis Wins Battle Against CDC to Protect Florida’s Cruise Industry

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) scored a major political victory for the Sunshine State’s cruise industry on Friday after taking on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — which he said effectively placed a vaccine passport mandate on the industry: the federal district court in Tampa ruled in favor of Florida’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction, concluding the CDC’s guidelines “are likely unconstitutional and overstepping their legal authority” and claiming a “startlingly magnified power.”

Carnival Corporation's Fathom Granted Approval by Cuba to Cruise from U.S. to Cuba (PRNewsFoto/Carnival Corporation & plc) THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED BY PRNewsfoto and is for EDITORIAL USE ONLY**

DeSantis Administration Fires Warning Shot over Requiring Vaccine Passports in the Cruise Industry

Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-FL) administration is standing firm over the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) efforts to regulate the cruise industry in the aftermath of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, reiterating that the federal agency “has no legal authority to set any sort of requirements to cruise” and warning cruise ships against requiring vaccine passports.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis talks with fellow patrons before the opening ceremony of the Walker Cup golf tournament, which starts tomorrow, at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla., Friday, May 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Gov. Ron DeSantis: ‘Latest CDC Guidance Is a Joke’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) blasted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) latest guidance for reopening the cruise industry, a major economic driver in the Sunshine State, calling it a “joke” as the agency is only permitting ships to forgo test sailings if nearly all of the crew members and passengers are vaccinated.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 07: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announces that he wants to raise the minimum starting salary for teachers during a press conference held at Bayview Elementary School on October 07, 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Governor’s proposed 2020 budget recommendation will include a pay raise …