Tag Archives: vaccination

Royal Caribbean Lifts all Vaccination Requirments for European Sailings. 

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Independence of the Seas in Southampton, photo credit Spacejunkie2 (Flickr)

Royal Caribbean International will not require guests to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 on certain sailings from next month.

From 5 September, passengers sailing on all European cruises and select US ports – Los Angeles, Galveston, New Orleans – will only be asked to disclose their vaccination status during check-in. Still, it will not be mandatory in order to board.

The line’s pre-cruise testing protocols will remain the same. 

Royal said it recommends all eligible guests are fully vaccinated and advised passengers to bring proof of vaccination with them should local authorities or businesses in specific destinations ask to see it.

In some destinations, guests will be required to prove their vaccination status in order to go ashore. In contrast, unvaccinated passengers and those not up to date with their vaccinations may need to undergo additional testing at their own expense to go ashore and disembark at the end of their cruise.

Azamara to Drop Pre-Embarkation Testing

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The line will ditch testing on Monday (25 July) in countries where the protocol is no longer legally required

The line will ditch testing on Monday (25 July) but will still require proof of vaccination prior to embarkation from all guests aged over 12.

Azamara said it recommends all guests departing from any port undergo testing before getting onboard – but results will not be needed to be shown in order to sail.

At ports where pre-cruise testing remains, guests must produce a negative Covid test before sailing.

Carol Cabezas, Azamara president, said the easing of the line’s testing policy “marks a step in the right direction towards a return to normalcy for the travel and cruising industry”.

“Cruising is one of the safest ways to travel, and our existing health and safety protocols onboard will ensure peace of mind for our guests and crew as we move forward,” she said.

CDC Ends COVID-19 Program For Cruise Ships

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Centres for Disease Control and Prevent

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevent on Monday ended its COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships.

“New guidance for cruise ships to mitigate and manage COVID-19 transmission will be available in the coming days,” the CDC said in a statement on its website.

While no guidance was immediately available, this would point to cruise line’s being able to set their own vaccination and testing rules for ships operating or calling in U.S. ports.

The CDC will also reportedly stop tracking COVID-19 cases on cruise ships, having launched a dashboard earlier this year.

The CDC’s Program for Cruise Ships replaced the previous Conditional Sail Order, which went through multiple revisions that led to the industry’s 2021 restart in North America. That Order had replaced the original No Sail Order that was issued in March 2020.