Not Yet For Eastern Caribbean
Whats notably missing are Eastern Caribbean cruises, such as those that sail to the Bahamas. Currently, the island nation requires all cruise ship passengers 12 and over to be fully vaccinated to enter the port. This also includes cruise line private islands, such as Royal Caribbeans Perfect Day at CocoCay.
Royal Caribbean said, We are working with local governments in the Eastern Caribbean to align on vaccination requirements for more itineraries. We want to ensure a great experience going ashore at these ports, for guests of any vaccination status, while meeting local health regulations.
The cruise line is working with the ports and says it will share information to travel agents and guests as it becomes available.
This news comes as the cruise industry starts to relax its protocols and aligns with other travel sectors, such as flights. With the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 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.
Royal Caribbean Dropping Vaccine Requirements For Select Cruises
Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises are dropping their vaccine requirements for cruises leaving from select homeports in the U.S. and Europe starting in September.
The changes start on Sept. 5 on sailings from Los Angeles, Galveston, New Orleans and all European homeports.
Unvaccinated guests are welcome as long as they meet any testing requirements. Additionally, guests can only disembark in Grand Cayman, for example, with a valid vaccination card.
Guests that are not up to date on their vaccination per EMA standards will need to take a COVID-19 test aboard to get off in Greece or Spain, the company said.
The company said vaccination requirements remain in place for all other homeports.
These Are Royal Caribbean’s Covid Rules
Royal Caribbean has greatly relaxed its covid rules. The most important change may be the following:
- Guests who are not vaccinated can sail on any cruise from the U.S. or Europe .
Vaccination rules have also been loosened quite a bit:
- Vaccinated guests wont have to take a pre-cruise test on cruises that are shorter than 10 nights.
- Unvaccinated guests age 5 and up will need to test within three days before boarding, regardless of cruise length.
- The company will begin accepting results from self-administered home tests.
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Royal Caribbean Internationals Vaccine Policies
For cruises departing from any U.S. port, Royal Caribbean requires all guests 12 years of age and older to be fully vaccinated. Younger travelers , who are unvaccinated, can sail if they bring a negative PCR test result and test negative at boarding, and they must follow certain health and safety protocols.
Vaccine requirements are one of the multilayered measures that safeguard the well-being of our guests, our crew and the communities we visit. Additional health and safety measures include our fully vaccinated crew, testing, the robust onboard ventilation system and enhanced cleaning.
In collaboration with multiple national, state and local health and government authorities around the world, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, our priority is to maintain everyones well-being while complying with federal, state and local laws as we always have. Royal Caribbean will continue to evaluate and update its health and safety measures as circumstances evolve.
Guests and travel advisors looking for information on our measures can visit the Royal Caribbean website. Our current vaccine policies, which are in line with local regulations, are the following:
*Until further notice for all sailings from the U.S.: Guests 2 and older regardless of their vaccination status must present negative test results when arriving to check in.
Royal Caribbean And Carnival: Return Of The Mask
Australia and New Zealand kept the cruise industry grounded longer than the U.S. did largely due to the capacities of their health-care systems and the vaccination status of their populations. Cruises have largely returned to somewhat normal operations, but recent outbreaks have led to a return of some covid-related rules, The Points Guy reported.
“On Nov. 17, both Princess Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line reactivated their mask policies for Coral Princess, Majestic Princess, Grand Princess, Carnival Splendor and Carnival Luminosa, all of which are based in Australia and New Zealand,” the website reported.
“Royal Caribbean International is also now requiring passengers to wear masks on Ovation of the Seas and Quantum of the Seas, which are also sailing Down Under.”
Both cruise lines are requiring masks in any indoor public setting on sailings leaving from Australia or New Zealand. The entire industry had been shut down in those countries for more than two years before returning earlier this year.
And while these changes do not affect any North American sailings, they are a stark reminder that upticks in covid cases can force the resumption of certain protocols.
A resumption may not be imminent in the U.S., but it’s possible, even if the CDC stays out of it. That’s because just a few high-profile outbreaks can force changes.
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Royal Caribbean Vaccine Requirement Update
The cruise line has announced a further easing of its protocols by dropping the vaccine requirements on select sailings from September 5, 2022. This easing applies to certain departures out of Los Angeles in California, Galveston in Texas, New Orleans in Louisiana, and cruises in Europe.
Royal Caribbean said in a letter to travel agents, Here at Royal Caribbean, you can trust we will continue to prioritize the health and safety of our guests, crew, and the communities we visit. We continue to work with our destination partners to evolve our protocols and align with the broader travel industry, as we transition to the point that everyone can vacation with us.
This now means that regardless of vaccination status, guests can cruise on the select sailings, as long as they meet any testing requirements.
For cruises out of Galveston and New Orleans that visit Grand Cayman, only passengers that show a valid vaccination record can go ashore. When it comes to the select European cruises, unvaccinated guests will have to take a test onboard to be allowed ashore in Greece or Spain.
Guests will still need to follow the pre-cruise testing requirements. For departures five nights or less out of Los Angeles and Galveston, unvaccinated guests aged 2 and over must show a negative test result to sail. Vaccinated guests, regardless of age, no longer need to test for the shorter sailings.
Carnival And Royal Caribbean Bring Back Masks On Some Sailings
Covid has wreaked havoc on the cruise industry, and while it has improved, it could worsen yet again.
The cruise industry lives under the constant fear of illness breaking out on ships.
The industry had taken major steps to prevent outbreaks since long before anyone had heard of covid. But they can happen no matter what protocols are in place.
Norovirus outbreaks, while extremely rare, don’t play well in the media. They are sort of like a plane crash. The airline takes a public-relations hit that does not reflect how safe air traffic is overall. It’s not as if the airline can put out a statement that says “sorry about your loss, but please note that 99.94% of our flights land safely without any sort of fiery death.”
Royal Caribbean Group – Get Free Report, Carnival Cruise Line – Get Free Report, and Norwegian Cruise Line – Get Free Report led the cruise industry in evolving their safety protocols to avoid illness, even the non-serious kind, largely because it’s good for business. When covid hit, at first the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention set the rules for U.S. sailings while other countries had their own requirements.
In recent months, the entire industry has largely done away with covid protocols. That does not mean the threat of the virus has gone away, but the cruise lines have had to do the complicated math on how taking every precaution and maximizing revenue don’t generally line up.
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Many Cruise Lines Have Rolled Back Testing Rules
Royal Caribbean Group, parent company of Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity, also rolled back its testing requirements this month, following the end of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships. The company requires vaccinated passengers to take a test only on sailings six nights or longer, but testing is still required for unvaccinated passengers on all sailings.
Many other cruise line operators and brands made similar protocol changes, including Carnival Cruise Line and MSC Cruises.
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Royal Caribbean To Change Testing Policy On Shorter Cruises
Royal Caribbean to remove the testing requirement for vaccinated passengers on shorter cruises less than six nights.
In thesecond quarter earnings report released on July 28, Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty said the company plans to remove testing requirements for vaccinated guests by August 8 for all of its cruise brands on shorter sailings.
The company is possibly considering removing vaccinations as a requirement to cruise as well, transitioning to the point where everyone will be able to vacation onboard the Royal Caribbean cruise ships. Liberty did not mention dates for when this could come into effect, while worldwide requirements now do not allow the cruise company to make this step.
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Will Royal Caribbean Drop Vaccine Mandate
Jason Liberty also seems to hint at the end of the vaccine mandates, saying: were transitioning to the point where everyone will be able to vacation with us.
If this is the case, the cruise line will take a significant step toward returning to normal cruising. For now, nearly all passengers with the exemption of children under the age of twelve and those with medical exemptions must be fully vaccinated to cruise.
However, it would seem unlikely this would be happening in the immediate future. Nearly all destinations worldwide require cruise ships to sail or arrive with all guests fully vaccinated.
To remove this requirement, Royal Caribbean would have to be in agreement with all destinations on sailing without a vaccine mandate. Only when those agreements are in place could a mandate be dropped.
Dropping the vaccine mandate is not looking like an easy step to make. But, by minimizing the testing requirements, Royal Caribbean Group has taken an enormous step toward returning to normal cruises.An effort that several other cruise lines have also made in the last weeks.
When Do Cruise Lines Still Require Covid
Carnival Cruise Line will require testing for vaccinated passengers only on trips 16 nights or longer or where local rules mandate it, such as on sailings to Canada and Bermuda, starting on Sept. 6, according to a press release.
Passengers who are unvaccinated or do not show proof of vaccination will still need to “present the results of a negative PCR or antigen test taken within three days of embarkation.” Those under 5 years old are exempt from vaccine and testing requirements in the U.S.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. will drop all pre-cruise requirements for vaccinated passengers ages 12 and over as of Sept. 3, according to a news release.
Guests ages 12 and older who are unvaccinated or do not show proof of vaccination will still need to test within 72 hours before boarding. The company said it “continues to strongly recommend all guests be up to date on vaccination protocols and test at their convenience prior to travel.” Changes are subject to local requirements.
On sailings from the U.S., MSC Cruises requires tests for fully vaccinated passengers sailing on trips six nights or longer and for all unvaccinated passengers age 2 or older, regardless of trip length, according to a press release. Tests must be taken within three days of embarkation. The cruise line recommends guests test within one day of the trip when possible.
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Royal Caribbean To Drop Vaccine Requirement On Select Cruises
Royal Caribbean drops the vaccine requirement from select U.S. homeports on departures from September 5, 2022.
Royal Caribbean released a further update to its protocols on Wednesday, which will go into effect in September 2022. The cruise line will drop the vaccine requirement on select sailings from the U.S. and Europe. Its another step to normality and follows other recently relaxed requirements.
Are Vaccines Mandatory For Cruises
For Australians, anyone currently looking to sail internationally will need to be fully vaccinated. For domestic sailings, this will be entirely dependent on your chosen cruise line and their cruise vaccination requirements and the current laws of the state or territories you plan on travelling from/to. To avoid the chance of you missing your next cruise, whether domestic or international, we suggest being fully vaccinated. This ensures you can sail stress-free knowing you wont have your voyage cut short due to any cruise vaccination policy when entering another state or territory.
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It’s A Balance Between Business And Safety
Royal Caribbean has to walk a difficult line as it needs to attract as many people as possible to sail on its ships while also at least making it seem like it’s concerned about health and safety. Ideally, the cruise line wants all of its passengers to be vaccinated and to properly test, but it needs to fill its cabins in order to return to pre-pandemic normals.
CEO Jason Liberty has tried to balance those concerns and talked about the CDC program changes during Royal Caribbean’s second-quarter earnings call. These comments were made before the cruise line had dropped its vaccine requirement.
“The other major milestone for the group and the industry is related to the CDC ending its program for cruise ships as we are now transitioning to the point where everyone will be able to vacation with us,” he said. “As we’ve always said, the health and safety of our guests, crew, and communities we visit are our top priority, and cruising has proven to be one of the safest environments anywhere.”
The CEO went on to make a comparison to other travel businesses.
“After two years of successfully working with us, the CDC has transitioned from enforcing protocols and policies for the cruise industry to suggestions and recommendations to be in line with the travel and tourism sector,” he added.
Liberty also pointed out a key sign of recovery for the company and maybe the entire industry.
Why Can Cruise Lines Now Allow Unvaccinated Passengers Onboard
The change in policy is rooted primarily in a change in policy by the U.S. government.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ended its Covid-19 program for U.S. cruise ships July 18, 2022. This allowed the cruise lines to develop their own protocols, instead of it being mandated.
The CDC still makes recommendations to the lines, but ultimately, cruise lines craft protocols as they see fit, similar to other forms of leisure travel.
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Grand Circle Cruise Line
Where they sail: Grand Circle Cruise Line sails small ships and river cruises all over the world, including an extensive list of European itineraries. The company plans to start sailing again in August, including to Greece, Turkey, and Italy.
Who needs the vaccine: All guests and crew are required to be fully vaccinated with the booster shot.
What other safety measures are in place: All ships have been equipped with High Efficiency Particular Air filters and buffets have been eliminated. The cruise line states some itineraries will require proof of a negative COVID-19 test prior to travel, and that instructors will be sent out 30 days prior to travel.
Find out more: Grand Circle Cruise Line
Paradigm Shift In Policy
Allowing unvaccinated guests back on at least some ships is a major shift in policy from the last two years.
Cruise lines have restricted their ships to only allow adults that are fully vaccinated onboard since sailings restarted in late 2020.
When Royal Caribbean resumed cruises in summer 2021, vaccine requirements were in place and remained so until now.
Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty spoke about the change during an earnings call with investors a few weeks ago and said the change is a move to be more like other forms of leisure travel, such as theme parks, casinos, or air travel.
“We are continuing to adapt our protocols to align more closely with how the rest of society and other travel and leisure businesses are operating.”
“This means that we’re transitioning to the point where everyone will be able to vacation with us while always working with our destination partners to meet their regulations.”
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Current Cruises That Will Be Impacted By Changes In 2022
This is good news for cruisers traveling on the remaining itineraries to Canada in 2022. Royal Caribbean has sailings running throughout October, including:
- 7-night cruise to Canada, leaving from Boston, Massachusetts, on Voyager of the Seas
- 8-night Canada and New England Cruise leaving from Baltimore, Maryland on Enchantment of the Seas
- 9 night Canada and New England Cruise sailing from Cape Liberty, New Jersey on Adventure of the Seas
Royal Caribbean Removes Testing Requirements
Guests sailing onboard one of the Royal Caribbean ships, including Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea, will not be required to present a negative test result starting August 8.
The requirement will initially be removed for vaccinated guests sailing on cruises less than six days in length. Guests that have not been vaccinated and all guests sailing on cruises six days in length and longer will still need to provide proof of a negative test.
With the majority of cruises for Royal Caribbean International shorter than six days, the new requirement will significantly impact the pre-cruise preparation for guests.
The change in policy is a direct result of the CDC ending the COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships, according to Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty:
Since our return to service last year, we have seen more than 3 million guests enjoy cruise vacations responsibly, under an evolving operating environment,
Last week, the CDC ended its COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships. Based on this change, we are continuing to adapt our protocols to align more closely with how the rest of society and other travel and leisure businesses are operating.
Removing the testing requirements will mean a massive boost for Royal Caribbean. Many people are postponing their cruise plans due to the hassle of testing two days before a voyage.
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