will cruise lines lift vaccine mandate

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the authors alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity mentioned herein. - As of Dec. 1, 2022, guests traveling with Azamara no longer need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 on sailings starting and ending in the U.S. or Europe. "Since we resumed operations, our goal has been to making cruising one of the safest vacations anywhere in the world while providing an exceptional guest experience,"he said. Part of this may also depend on whether the vaccines get reformulated to become highly effective against any transmission, which is very valuable for congregate settings like cruising. The CDC will likely recommend COVID-19 vaccination for congregate settings like cruises through this fall and winter, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, advisor to Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, said Thursday. In addition, all guests, age 18 and older, who are more than 6 months past the last dose of their initial vaccine series must be boosted (if eligible) in order to sail: Other cruises have limited space for vaccine exempt guests through December 2022. For the sailings from California, Louisiana, Texas and Europe, Royal Caribbean passengers won't need to show documentation of vaccination but the line will ask for vaccination status atcheck-in and recommended travelers carry their vaccination cards in case authorities or businesses in destinations ask to see those. Some cruise lines already let children and a select few customers travel unvaccinated. Number 8860726. This now means that regardless of vaccination status, guests can cruise on the select sailings, as long as they meet any testing requirements. Royal Caribbean Group which owns Silverseas and Celebrity is hinting at unvaccinated cruises later this year. Children 11 and under are no longer required to be vaccinated. When it comes to cruises that are six nights or more, all guests aged 2 and over must present a negative test result taken within three days before departure. He became the CEO at Norwegian in 2015 after it brought a cruise line Del Rio founded in 2002. The options available to unvaccinated guests continue to expand. We finally got to a place that brings us much closer to where the rest of society is in terms of freedom to operate responsibly," the CEO said, according to a Travel Weekly article. Azamara. RELATED: NCLH Drops COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements, Welcomes Everyone to Sail. The big question is, what cruise lines allow unvaccinated guests to sail? Find out when the conditional sailing order expires. On shorter cruises that . "Cruise lines, the all-inclusives in the Caribbean everyone has a set of protocols. Please view our privacy policy for details about the information we share with our partners. Two Summer Itineraries Modified for Disney Cruise Ship, Passenger Accused of Using Stolen Credit Cards for Royal Caribbean Cruise, Royal Caribbean Makes Major Updates for Loyal Guests, Holland America Line Gears Up For Alaska Travel Expo. Starting Sept 3, 2022, Unvaccinated Guests are welcome to cruise with no capacity limits. Pre-cruise testing is no longer required, except for cruises to Canada, Bermuda, Greece and Australia (per local guidelines), and on voyages 16 nights or longer. Instead, the cruise line will introduce these on a rolling basis across the fleet. 2023 TheStreet, Inc. All rights reserved. Gottlieb,a former FDA commissioner and Pfizer board member, who also co-chaired the Healthy Sail Panel, spoke in an NCLH briefing for travel partners and media. Virgin Voyages has also modified its vaccine policy to also allow 10% of guests to be unvaccinated. Our ships have been sailing very full all summer, but there is still room for more of our loyal guests, and these guidelines will make it a simpler process, and make cruising accessible for those who were not able to meet the protocols we were required to follow for much of the past 14 months, said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. The unvaccinated, or those who do not provide proof of vaccination, must present a negative test taken within three days before embarking. Carnival Cruises no longer requires that passengers get vaccinated against COVID-19 for most voyages of less than 16 days, the company announced on Friday. Be sure to double check or work with a travel agent to ensure youre meeting the requirements of the cruise you are considering. In late July the CDC relaxed Covid requirements for the cruise industry. The ship is set to sail this Saturday from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and will be the first revenue cruise to depart from a US port in over a year. The federal Liberal government's COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing policy is facing yet another challenge after Maryland-based Novavax announced late Tuesday it may not have enough cash in a year's time to stay in business. Carnival Cruise Line removed testing for vaccinated passengers on sailings less than 16 nights, and eliminated the exemption request process for unvaccinated travelers, who will only need to show a negative test result at embarkation. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited. Passengers no longer have to wear masks onboard while they are indoors, and while capacities have not returned to 100% . Close to home: Climate change in Long Beach. These new guidelines apply to itineraries from all departure ports except where government regulations and protocols may vary like Canada, Greece and Australia. This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. (That mandate does not include a booster shot.). Family cruises will be a bit easier in Europe now as Celebrity Cruises has become the first line to drop the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirement for guests under the age of 18. - All other cruises still require proof of initial vaccination and a booster until further notice. Carnivals 50th anniversary sailabration kicks off in Long Beach. Hyperlocal news is an essential force in our democracy, but it costs money to keep an organization like this one alive, and we cant rely on advertiser support alone. Royal Caribbean Vaccine Requirement Update. Cruises visiting Greece require a supervised test. The mass market of Unvaccinated cruises are not back yet. NCL's last two Prima Plus ships will accommodate green methanol, Moving forward on multiple sustainability fronts: Insights from NAPA. Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, a physician who serves as chairman of Norwegian Cruise Line's SailSAFE Council, on March 3 spoke on the possibility of cruise lines being able to drop vaccination requirements. Vaccinated passengers still must present a medically supervised negative covid antigen or rapid pcr test before sailing. They are going to want to make a decision around this after we get through another fall and winter with Covid and see if we are truly in an endemic phase with this.. Children under 12 will not have to present negative Covid-19 tests, regardless of vaccination status. Now, the cruise lines could drop those rules -- the CDC has essentially left them to their own devices -- but the U.S. government is not the sole authority here. That's likely only partly true because Royal . Cruise Hive was established back in 2008 and among the earliest blogs in the industry. Learn to how to find the cheapest awards. ), This announcement is the most significant to date, and is another step to greater consumer confidence in travel, Tolkin said. A cruise ship in Florida. Cruise planners call for Baltic 'reimagining,' sustainability support, Natalya Leahy succeeds Josh Leibowitz as Seabourn president, Carnival Corp. & plc arranges new forward starting $2.1b credit facility, Former Genting Hong Kong ship World Dream reported sold to Cruise Saudi, Port Canaveral overtook Miami as world's busiest cruise port in 2022 (updated), NCLH issues $250m 9.75% notes, amended Apollo deal has option for up to $650m notes, Court temporarily blocks Crystal/A&K from employing Lira, using Silversea info, Allowed HTML tags:


. The cruise line will drop the vaccine requirement on select sailings from the U.S. and Europe. (That mandate does not include a booster shot.) For all sailings 5 nights or less, no testing is required for vaccinated guests. After a 1-0 loss to Lincoln in the 2021 CCS Division II championship game, Sequoia girls' soccer head coach Melissa Schmidt told a team of mostly freshmen and sophomores that Testing is still required for some cruises. All guests 18 and older must be vaccinated to sail, plus one booster shot if eligible. Millions of travelers rely on Cruise Hive in the United States, Europe, Australia, and around the world. What to Know About Riding on the Alaska Railroad, Katmandu Park Punta Cana Is Opening March 15, 14 of the Best New Cruise Ships Launching in 2023, The Top Hotels in Mexico for a Romantic Getaway. These new requirements apply to voyages from all ports except those in Canada, Bermuda, Greece and Australia, where government regulations still require vaccinations. And there may be places around the world that still require certain things, certain testing, certain vaccinations, so if we choose to go to those places, then we're going to respect that, and guests will be informed ahead of time and know what they have to do. Cruise Hive was established back in 2008 and among the earliest blogs in the industry. Celebrity'highly recommended' vaccination although it won't be required for these trips. On a recent communication to travel agents, Royal Caribbean President Michael Bayley recently said,For those clientsbookedafter August 14, 2022,please await the specific protocol details from us related to those sailings. I expect that RCI will be dropping the vaccination requirements. Anne Kalosh | Mar 03, 2022. Subscribe to the Long Beach Post's daily eALERT and get the best local news in the city delivered to your inbox. Cruise ships will be allowed to lift COVID-19 restrictions from mid-January, the CDC said Monday. For the time being, cruise lines are mostly holding strong to their vaccine mandates, but another subset of travelers is hoping those will eventually go away, too. Reason is an American libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation. On 4 April, days before a vote in the Bundestag was scheduled, the initiative for a general vaccine mandate was effectively shelved, with a group of 237 parliamentarians who had favored it switching to proposing instead a mandate for those aged 50 and over. However, Azamara still lists Miami as a port requiring COVID-19 tests, and Viking has yet to remove its testing in the U.S. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. parent to the Norwegian, Oceania and Regent brands also confirmed that they would keep health and safety protocols in place for ships operating in U.S. waters with the following statement: We welcome the decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to end the CDC COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships operating in U.S. waters. He acknowledged some people don't want mask mandates lifted and predictedmany will still wear masks in congregate settings, particularly in winter when flu and COVID circulate. Carnival Cruises. For allsailings 6 nights or longer, vaccinated guests must present a digital or physical copy of a supervised and negative COVID-19 test result from a test taken within 3 days prior to sailing. 301 Route 17 N, Suite 1150, Rutherford, NJ 07070 USA | Telephone:(201) 902-2000. Now, the official termination of the CDC program is only accelerating the elimination of testing among other lines. For cruises from Barcelona, both vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers have to present a negative test taking within one day before embarking. Children under five are not required to apply for a vaccine exemption. As of July 14, Princess Cruises is beginning to more openly welcome unvaccinated passengers. Thats why were asking readers like you to support our independent, fact-based journalism. I think CDC is going to want to see what [that] looks like. As of now, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian have not made any major covid . For those who are unvaccinated, pre-embarkation testing is required. What other safety measures are in place: Ocean Cruise guests will be required to get tested for COVID-19 in the terminal. That includes having proof of vaccination, getting tested before your trip, and wearing masks indoors. "Allowing companies like Celebrity Cruises to require 'vaccine passports' for customers would mean tolerating discrimination by private businesses, which is unacceptable in Florida.". News Florida Disney. The three major cruise lines sailing from U.S. ports -- Royal Caribbean International ( RCL) - Get Free Report, Carnival Cruise Lines CCL, and Norwegian Cruise Line NCLH -- still require pre . Commercially available tests will be accepted, including self tests. COVID-19 cruise cover varies depending on the provider. Most Americans have a strong opinion on vaccines -- strong to the point that the topic has caused family rifts and led friends to stop speaking to each other. Princess Cruises removed its vaccine requirement for most voyages of less than 16 days and adjusted testing requirements. Im talking more about CDC and the policy environment. Also starting Sept. 5,Celebrity Cruises will discontinue its vaccination mandate for sailings from Los Angeles, the UK and Europe (but not Iceland). Travel Codex is owned by Travel Codex, LLC. Free expert cruise tips and news from Cruise Hive! These 3 major cruise lines are set to lift mask mandates as COVID cases drop. Vaccination for sailings starting and ending in the U.S. is not required. However, they must still follow requirements for unvaccinated guests, including pre-cruise and onboard testing. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. The cruise line has dropped all pre-cruise testing for sailings less than 6 nights. If you are unvaccinated and looking to cruise, be sure to work with a travel partner, such as Scott & Thomas, who is familiar with the individual cruise lines policy. But there's a catch: Unvaccinated passengers - or those unwilling to show proof of the vaccine - will face onboard restrictions, extra COVID-19 tests, and additional costs, according to the cruise line. First and foremost, it's . The same date applies for Disney Fantasy, sailing from Port Canaveral, visiting Tortola, St Thomas, and Castaway Cay. With the CDCs removal of the pre-embarkation testing requirement, we are hopeful and pleased that the travel and cruising industries are sailing toward a new normal, said Oneil Khosa, CEO of Margaritaville at Sea. Here Are the Updated COVID-19 Testing Requirements for Each Major Cruise Line For many, testing and vaccination requirements have made cruising more confusing than ever Some people are upset at the way iPhones charge. Especially if you are unvaccinated. Unvaccinated passengers or those who do not provide proof of vaccination must present the results of a negative PCR or antigen test taken within three days of embarkation, the company announced. With the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ending its cruise ship program on July 18, 2022, multiple cruise lines have already announced updated protocols to allow more unvaccinated guests to sail and to reduce pre-cruise testing. The cruise line also noted that children under 5 will not need to receive a vaccine exemption to sail under the new COVID-19 program, and passengers can expect "additional flexibility" in pre . If so, vaccination may be a tool to keep around, like annual flu shots. Vaccination Requirements: While all guests 12 and up are required to be fully vaccinated, children ages 5-11 may be unvaccinated with approval from the cruise line. Children 5 and under are not . There's no indication that consumers are "shying away from taking cruise vacations," its CEO said. None of them want to be. Gottlieb noted that the CDC would make the ultimate decision and that the agency needed more data first. November 11, 2021. The rules will vary by port, but an awful lot of sailings would be covered simply by adopting this rule change. If thats the case, then everyone on the cruise will need to meet the vaccine requirements. The new protocols will be introduced on a rolling basis, starting with Disney Wish, and concluding with Disney Magic on November 7. "We continue to demonstrate that in a very tangible way. And, even when that ban was lifted, the cruise lines had to operate under a strict set of rules that no other industry had to follow. Though . honestly, we should have never gotten rid of mask mandates in the first place. Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. On October 15, the procedures will be implemented onboard Disney Dream. The establishment failed to implement vaccine mandates and passports in the west, but that does not mean they have given up on the agenda in other parts of the world . This means any company that violates this proof-of-vaccination ban could be fined $5,000 for each customer. Each sailing is unvaxxed capacity-controlled based on the total number of vaccinated guests projected to be on board. Royal Caribbean is finalizing the testing for departures out of New Orleans. The Miami-based cruise line also announced that starting Sept. 6, vaccinated passengers sailing on voyages of less than 16 days will no longer have to test before boarding. Gottlieb surmised US public health officials may take a decision on vaccination mandatesin springtime 2023,after the country gets through another fall and winter to see if COVID enters the endemic phase. Currently, vaccinated guests departing on cruises from . Making travel easier for all guests. Share. Noting that NCLH passengers are a highly vaccinated population, President and CEO Frank Del Rio said they're not so concerned about catching COVID because they're protected against serious illness but they worry about having to isolate if they test positive or to quarantine if a close contact does. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. Royal Caribbean drops the vaccine requirement from select U.S. homeports on departures from September 5, 2022. Youll find expert advice for experienced and first-time cruisers, as well as port and destination guides. Two major cruise lines, Royal Caribbean International and Carnival Cruise Line, have announced plans to ease onboard . If guests are sailing on back-to-back cruises, they will not be required to be tested in between cruises, as long as they are fully vaccinated. This . This doesnt apply to select destinations where local regulations vary, including Australia. Royal Caribbean Chief Executive Jason Liberty,during his company's fourth-quarter earnings call,pointed out how well those protocols have been working. Guests who have not been fully vaccinated will be required to provide a COVID-19 test taken one or two days before the sail date. You can keep up with her on Instagram at @IAmSarahJaneB. "We're going to announce very . Since the start, it's been our aim to provide the latest cruise news covering all the major cruise lines. 32. Vaccinated travelers on cruises six nights or longer must present a negative supervised test taken within three days before embarking.

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