When it comes to business with the cruise industry, there are signs promotional products distributors could soon start sailing again.

Just ask Danette Gossett. Before the pandemic, the Miami-area distributor did swift business with cruise lines; COVID-19 kiboshed that, devastating the cruise industry’s business and severely depressing its demand for branded merchandise.

Now, it seems that a corner may have been turned.

“Our inquiry level from cruise lines has increased in the last six weeks,” says Gossett, owner of Gossett Marketing (asi/491973). “One cruise line and I had a long discussion last week about a possible new program to begin in Q3. It’s a good sign. I am hopeful sales will come back more regularly.”

Gossett’s anecdotal account comes as there have been positive developments for the cruise industry as a whole. For one thing, the total worldwide ocean-cruise industry was estimated at $23.8 billion in 2021, a nearly 82% increase over pandemic-ravaged 2020.

While that was still reportedly down almost 53% from the last full pre-COVID year of 2019, it demonstrates a gain in momentum for the cruise industry, which just got another boost that could encourage wider-spread interest in cruising, thereby potentially accelerating the industry’s need for merch.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased its alert level for cruise ship travel, a decision influenced by a drop in the number of COVID-19 cases reported on vessels in the United States.

The CDC lowered its cruise travel warning from Level 4 to Level 3. The organization uses a four-tier notification system to warn travelers of health threats.

Four, the highest level, is considered “very high” and people are warned against undertaking such travel. Three is still considered high, but even so, the CDC now says travelers can take cruises if they are “up to date” with their COVID-19 vaccines. (The CDC still says folks at increased risk of severe illness from COVID should avoid cruise travel, even if vaccinated.)

Gossett feels a measured optimism about the downgraded threat designation. “It may help some people that have cruised before to consider cruising again,” she says. Still, first-timers may continue to wait for an “all-clear,” she adds.

In a statement, Cruise Lines International Association said the CDC’s decision “is a step in the right direction and recognizes the leadership and effectiveness of the cruise sector’s health and safety protocols that are unmatched by virtually any other commercial setting.”

Given the CDC’s new improved designation, the accelerating retreat of the omicron variant in the U.S., and a growing sense that the nation is on the cusp of a kind of post-pandemic “normality,” now may be the time for promo distributors to reconnect with cruise industry clients and/or intensify prospecting in the market. Don’t wait until things are in full swing again to do so – by that point, the ship may have sailed.