Vacationers planning a cruise that leaves from a Florida port might want to unpack their swimsuits if they want to travel without fear of COVID-19. A new ruling from an appeals court has reinstated a law, struck down by a lower court, that said ships leaving the state can no longer require proof of vaccinations. But if they want to cruise anyway, they must pack their masks.

The court battle between the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the state of Florida, spearheaded by Governor Ron DeSantis, has been an on-again, off-again nightmare for both the cruise industry and its potential travelers. It began on March 14, 2020, when the CDC Director issued a “No Sail Order” for cruise ships due to the risk of them “introducing, transmitting, or spreading COVID-19.”

The CDC order was renewed in April, July and September of 2020. On November 4, the agency published a “framework for a phased resumption of cruise ship passenger operations” in the Federal Register. The framework included requirements for lab testing of crew members, simulated voyages to test operations, certification, and a return to passenger voyages with safety measures onboard that “mitigate the risk” of COVID-19. Further technical requirements were required on April 2. Then, on May 5, the CDC told the cruise industry that it would accelerate the timeline for cruises to begin, but only if a ship can show that most passengers and crew members are vaccinated.

DeSantis opposed the new CDC regulations by signing an executive order that blocked “vaccine passports,” or proof of vaccination. He said they would create “huge” privacy issues. The ban was signed into law on May 3, 2021, and it became effective on July 1.

In addition to DeSantis’s bill and executive order, on April 21, he filed a lawsuit against the CDC’s prohibition against cruising. He said that he “hoped the move would get the cruise industry back up and running” in Florida. In June, Judge Steven Merryday of the U.S. District Court for the Middle Division of Florida issued a 124-page opinion in favor of Florida, ruling that the CDC had exceeded its authority. The ruling was stayed for 30 days, until July 18, after which all CDC orders would become recommendations, rather than law.

The CDC appealed Merryday’s ruling and asked the district court to stay its decision while the appeal was argued. The district court refused, but a panel of Eleventh Circuit judges agreed to the stay. Florida responded with an emergency petition to the United States Supreme Court. Almost immediately, and without giving the Supreme Court an opportunity to consider it, on July 23 a three-judge Eleventh Circuit panel reversed the very order that initiated the appeal, merely writing that the “appeal is denied because appellants failed to demonstrate an entitlement to a stay pending appeal.”

Florida’s petition was presented to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, as he is the justice assigned to the Eleventh Circuit. In its emergency petition, Florida argued that the CDC’s “Conditional Sailing Order” was a “breathtaking assertion of authority” by a government agency that has no legal right to “refashion an entire industry’s business model” because in its judgment doing so is “necessary to prevent disease.” DeSantis’s petition also cited the Supreme Court’s recent decision to vacate a stay for the national eviction moratorium, which was enacted to prevent landlords from evicting tenants who could not pay rent because of the economic impact of COVID-19.

DeSantis told the media that the reversal was a “victory for Florida families, for the cruise industry, and for every state that wants to preserve its rights in the face of unprecedented federal overreach.”

As of now, the CDC is not appealing the Eleventh Circuit’s turnaround. It has issued an order that requires face masks to be worn by all travelers and shipboard personnel indoors as well as in seaports and ferry terminals. Unfortunately, due to DeSantis and current court rulings, it can only recommend that people who are not fully vaccinated avoid any travel on cruise ships. They warn that “cruise passengers who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 avoid (CDC’s emphasis) travel on cruise ships…since the virus spreads person-to-person, and outbreaks of COVID-19 have been reported on cruise ships because of their congregate (group) settings where COVID-19 spreads easily.”

Despite the vaccine reprieve that results from the Eleventh Circuit’s latest decision to reverse itself and reinstate the “vaccination passport” law, many cruise lines are voluntarily keeping COVID-19 protections in place. But they cannot do so in Florida. On July 26, Cruise Industry News provided a guide to current policies about sailings from Florida, that showed for example:

• Carnival will “continue to welcome unvaccinated guests onboard, but they will be subject to testing and charged $150 to cover the costs of testing, reporting and health and safety screenings;”

• Royal Caribbean “strongly recommends” vaccines, but those who chose not to be vaccinated “will be subject to testing and additional health protocols which will be at their expense;”

• Celebrity requires vaccination for all travelers, except it subjects those sailing from Florida to special rules. It says, “guests who decline or are unable to show proof of vaccination at boarding will be treated as unvaccinated and subject to additional protocols, restrictions, and costs for COVID-19 testing, such as mid-cruise testing, required masks, possibly going ashore, and limited to designated seating. It will also have to pay an additional $178;

• Disney Cruise Lines “will not be requiring proof of vaccination for its sailings out of Florida, but non-vaccinated passengers will be subjected to a pre-embarkation PCR test and a $65 antigen test at the port.”

Since cruise line vaccination rules vary widely, future travelers should carefully review the websites of every ship they are considering and every port from which they might leave or at which they would like to embark, especially if they wish to visit foreign countries. Rules are complicated and changing rapidly. And the lawsuits from states, cruise lines, and the CDC might just keep on coming, especially in light of the rapid rise of new cases due to the delta and other variants.