‘Waiting it out’: Cruise-reliant businesses in Florida remain on pause

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — For the last year the buses have been parked. Of course, there’s not as many as there used to be.

As other businesses and other industries have returned to life as normal, Bob Cortez has watched his business sit idle. The nine buses he owned at the start of 2020 are now down to only six.

READ: Florida cruise industry getting ready to set sail

Before the pandemic, Cortez employed half a dozen people, including some of his own family, transporting tourists between the airport and Port Canaveral.

But with cruise lines still not sailing out of Florida, he is beginning to wonder when life will return to normal for him and his employees.

READ: American Airlines cancels hundreds of flights through mid-July

“Since March 15, 2020 we haven’t moved any buses,” Cortez said standing in front of one of his remaining “Cortrans” busses, now parked on the grass behind his home. “We’re just waiting it out.”

For Cortez, the return to business as normal can’t happen until passengers start booking cruises again, and that can’t happen until the cruise lines start sailing again.

READ: Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas embarks on simulated cruise

VIDEO: Florida cruise industry getting ready to set sail VIDEO: Florida cruise industry getting ready to set sail (Mel Holt, WFTV.com/WFTV)