Few, if any, industries have escaped a downturn from the COVID-19 pandemic. But tourism has had a particularly rough 2020 as people have avoided any unnecessary travel like, well, the plague. Waves of cancellations of travel plans rocked airlines, hotels, and countless attractions around the globe.
If that wasn't bad enough, cruise lines were especially singled out as during the early stages of the global pandemic, the cruise ship Diamond Princess's struggle with the disease took over headlines. Starting with a single infected passenger, more than 700 ended up infected with the disease within a month.
As a result of the Diamond Princess and a few other cases, the CDC issued a no-sail order on March 14, an order that was updated and extended several times over the course of the year. But on October 30, the CDC made a change, providing a framework for conditional sailing of cruise ships.