That's not a typo. One of the good points of the CARES Act, which provides relief for small businesses across the country, is that to qualify, a business must be "created or organized in the United States or under the laws of the United States," and it must have "significant operations in and a majority of its employees based in the United States." The CARES Act intentionally omits the major cruise lines from its benefits. Congress should hold firm against the pleas of the cruise industry for a bailout. Here's why.
Consider Carnival Cruise Lines, the most American of the major lines. It consists of two entities, both publicly traded. The United States entity, Carnival Corporation, has its corporate offices and operational headquarters in Florida. It is, however, a Panama corporation, though its Seabourn and Holland America brands operate through American subsidiaries from a Seattle office, and its Princess Cruises brand operates from California.
As for its ships: the Seabourn fleet sails under the flags of Norway and Bahamas. Holland America's ships fly the flags of Malta, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Bahamas. The Princess Cruises ships are registered in Bermuda and Great Britain. Carnival's own ships are flagged in Panama and Bahamas.
Carnival's management has chosen to register its ships in foreign countries and not site them in the United States for two main reasons: to avoid American income taxes and to avoid American wage and safety regulations. I would be disappointed if Congress gave in to the industry's pleas for help. I'd applaud any member of Congress who will tell the cruise line owners to look for relief for their foreign ships from Panama, Malta, and Bahamas, the nations they chose to support.