US-based cruise lines are chafing to resume voyages from Florida ports in July as the pandemic wanes — but for vaccinated passengers only — yet the state and its governor won't let them demand proof of inoculation, AFP reports.

So far, neither side has blinked, even as two guests on one of the first cruise ships to sail from North America since the Covid pandemic tested positive on Thursday.

Florida “is the cruise capital of the world,” with billions of dollars of revenue and thousands of jobs at stake, said Doug Parker, editor of the Cruise Radio website. “It would be a big blow if they couldn't come to terms.”

If neither side gives in, Parker said, cruise ships “would have to start sailing out of other ports that would accept them [...] because these ships are trying to do the right thing".