Alabama’s tourism director blasted the U.S. Department of State for warning Americans to avoid cruise ships during the coronavirus outbreak.

Lee Sentell, director of the Alabama Tourism Department, said the federal government’s travel advisory on Sunday unfairly targeted a “specific segment of our travel industry.”

Alabama’s only cruise terminal is in Mobile where the 2,056-passenger Carnival Fantasy cruise ship offers regular sailings. The ship lures approximately 180,000 people to the Port City annually, and brings in millions of dollars to the city.

So far, local officials say, the virus scare hasn’t affected Mobile’s economy.

“People who choose to travel, whether to get in an airplane or board a Greyhound bus or step on a cruise ship are always aware of potential risks,” Sentell said in a statement to AL.com. “They don’t need the State Department to make choices for them.”

Sentell said the cruise industry, “with literally hundreds of employees on each ship,” is “acutely aware” of safety needs for staff and guests.

“It is the federal government’s responsibility to contain and wipe out this epidemic rather than to target a single mode of transportation,” he said.

U.S. citizens, especially with underlying conditions, should not travel by cruise ship. #CDC notes increased risk of #COVID19 on cruises. Many countries have implemented screening procedures, denied port entry rights to ships and prevented disembarking. https://t.co/jh93gZTkpC pic.twitter.com/jI6S0UceVg — Travel - State Dept (@TravelGov) March 8, 2020

At least one transit expert believes the federal agency was appropriate in signaling out cruise ships.

Jean-Paul Rodrigue, a professor of global studies and geography at Hofstra University in New York, said that other modes of transportation – like airplanes – have “excellent air circulation and filtration systems” and that flights typically last a “few hours at the most.”

“On a cruise ship, thousands of people are continuously using the same facilities for several days,” Rodrigue said in a statement to AL.com. “A cruise ship has among the highest population density of any structure, even a residential skyscraper.”

Moreover, he said, a cruise ship, by its nature, harbors some of the “main risk factors” for virus transmission, such as open ventilation, common railings and restaurants, pools and other public spaces where people gather.

Cruising from Mobile

Aboard the Carnival Fantasy as it sits docked in downtown Mobile in 2017. (Lawrence Specker/LSpecker@al.­com)

In Mobile, cruising remains a big tourism draw. Dave Clark, president & CEO of Visit Mobile, said there were 14,500 passengers cruising from Mobile last month, compared to 14,100 during February 2019.

“We are doing very well from cruising from Mobile still,” said Clark. “There has not been any falloff, that we are aware of, due to the coronavirus when we compare our metrics.”

Kent Blackinton, general manager of the Renaissance Riverview Plaza, said he hasn’t seen any pullback from hotel bookings. “We are keeping an eye on it,” he said. “There are overall concerns about everything.”

He added that the hotel saw no cancellations over the past weekend.

George Talbot, spokesman for Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, touted the safety of the city-owned cruise terminal on Water Street.

“Going on a cruise is a personal decision every passenger must make on their individual risk factors,” said Talbot. “Every passenger may be assured that the city of Mobile and its terminal staff are committed to passenger safety. Simply put, there is not a safer cruise terminal in America as a result of the proactive steps we are taking in Mobile.”

For the city, the cruise ship provides big bucks: Cruising generated $6.1 million in gross revenues during the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, 2019. That came from parking fees and wharfage fees assessed on the cruise ship.

The money very welcome, too. The city is on the hook for $1.8 million in annual debt to pay off the bond on the cruise terminal, which opened on Oct. 15, 2004. The debt is not expected to be paid off until 2030.

Last year, Visit Mobile estimated that the Carnival Fantasy was responsible for 25,000 hotel room nights booked by travelers. At an average rate of $110 a night, the revenue from hotel stays would be around $2.75 million.

On the Mobile Carnival Cruisers Facebook page, visitors seemed mostly unconcerned about the virus outbreak, although they were sharing the State Department’s warning. The Carnival Fantasy’s sailings are typically to Progreso, and there hasn’t been any concerns about the virus spreading to Mexico’s popular Yucatan Peninsula.

“The Asian areas in the cruise market really took a hit and shut down two weeks ago,” said Clark. “But the North American and Caribbean areas, for the most part, have been virtually unaffected.”

‘High-risk environment’

A crewman stands aboard the Grand Princess as it maintains a holding pattern about 25 miles off the coast of San Francisco on Sunday, March 8, 2020. The cruise ship is scheduled to dock at the Port of Oakland on Monday for COVID-19 quarantine after 21 people tested positive for the virus. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)AP

The State Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention both issued warnings about a risk of being on board a cruise ship with infected travelers and crew members.

The warnings occurred one day before the Grand Princess cruise ship – with 3,533 people on board, including at least 21 who have test positive for coronavirus – was set to disembark at an industrial dock on Oakland.

The cruise ship had been floating off the California coast since last week. The passengers will be routed to military bases in California, Texas and Georgia for a 14-day quarantine.

The Grand Princess and the Diamond Princess – which saw nearly 700 people contract the virus on board while quarantined in Japan last month – are owned by Miami-based Carnival Cruise Corp.

“As the Diamond Princess examples illustrate, a cruise ship is, unfortunately, a high-risk environment,” said Rodrigue, the Hofstra University professor.

The cruising giant has since issued several alerts specifying what the company is doing to ensure guest and crew health. The company is also offering onboard cruising credits for people who continue with their trips through May 31. For visitors who are on a three and four-day cruise, the credit is $100 per cabin.

The company is also offering guests with a cruise booked in March to move their excursion to a future date up to three days before sailing.

“The health and safety of our guests is the highest priority and cruising remains one of the most attractive vacation options available,” according to a company statement issued on Sunday following the State Department’s advisory.

The federal agency’s statement comes in direct contradictions of statements from Vice President Mike Pence, according to the Miami Herald.

Pence, charged with overseeing the federal response to the coronavirus, visited Fort Lauderdale on Saturday to assure cruise company executives that cruising would continue with ramped-up screening and sanitizing protocols, according to the publication.

Rodrigue said the demographics of the typical cruisers are also a concern during the coronavirus outbreak.

“Elderly people are much more at risk from the coronavirus,” he said. “Since cruises tend to be patronized by older people and (those who also have) other medica conditions (i.e. diabetes), the risk of taking a cruise is high as far as the coronavirus is involved,” he said.

This story was updated at 2:03 p.m. on March 9, 2020, to include a comment from George Talbot, spokesman for Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson.