NCLH Is Suing Florida Over Its Vaccine Passport Ban

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings on Tuesday filed a complaint against Florida’s Surgeon General over the new state law that prohibits companies from requiring guests or employees to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

In what it is calling a “last resort,” Norwegian has asked a federal judge with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to block the enforcement of the law, which the cruise company says is “otherwise preventing NCLH from safely and soundly resuming passenger cruise operations from Miami, Florida starting August 15, 2021.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the law in April. It would fine companies who require proof of vaccination $5,000 per guest, which Norwegian calls a “crushing” penalty.

“Now, after months of Herculean efforts, NCLH is at last set to resume sailing August 15, 2021, in a way that will be safe, sound, and consistent with governing law, particularly the Conditional Sailing Order administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,” the complaint reads.

“Yet one anomalous, misguided intrusion threatens to spoil NCLH’s careful planning and force it to cancel or hobble upcoming cruises, thereby imperiling and impairing passengers’ experiences and inflicting irreparable harm of vast dimensions.”

Norwegian said that the law gives it the choice of either being on the wrong side of health and safety and the federal law, or else on the wrong side of the Florida law.

“NCLH is duty-bound to protect the health and safety of its personnel and passengers, as NCLH can and will by requiring proof of vaccinations, yet NCLH cannot afford to expose itself to prosecution by Florida and crushing penalties of up to $5,000 per passenger, as it would by requiring vaccine documentation in the present posture,” it said.

Frank Del Rio, the CEO of NLCH that includes Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruise, commented on the Florida law during the company’s quarterly earnings call. Del Rio said that if the company cannot operate out of Florida, it would simply move ships elsewhere.

“God forbid we can’t operate in the state of Florida for whatever reason, then there are other states that we do operate from, and we can operate from the Caribbean for a ship that otherwise would have gone to Florida.”