Last month Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines announced that it was going reintroduce its full fleet by the end of the year. In the interim, Royal Caribbean would launch some limited capacity cruises, with CDC approval, starting this summer. At the time of the announcement, Royal Caribbean wasn’t requiring passengers to be vaccinated. Royal stated that unvaccinated people needed to provide a note from a physician or themselves stating that they were not at high risk of contracting the virus. But since then, Royal Caribbean’s tune has changed. They just announced that they will be reintroducing six cruises this summer beginning in July, leaving from ports in Texas and Florida. Royal Caribbean also stated that they will require passengers that are 16 and older to be vaccinated. Starting August 1st, all passengers 12 and older will be required to submit proof of vaccination. This requirement of course clashes with laws passed by the idiotic governors of Florida and Texas that ban businesses from requiring patrons from providing proof of vaccination. Below are a few more details from People:
“Thanks in large part to the successful rollout of vaccines, the world of adventure is beginning to open up, and we are all excited to start delivering great vacations to our guests, who have increasingly told us they are getting vaccinated,” said Michael Bayley, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean International in a statement. “As of today, 90% of all vacationers booking with Royal Caribbean are either vaccinated or planning to get vaccinated in time for their cruise.”
The full Royal Caribbean summer lineup includes bookings from 3 to 8 nights heading to the Bahamas, Alaska and itineraries in the eastern and western Caribbean. All other cruises through August are cancelled and guests and travel partners affected will be able to receive a full refund.
Royal Caribbean plans to reintroduce its full fleet around the globe by the end of the year, plans for which will be announced in the coming weeks.
According to the Royal Caribbean’s Healthy Sail Panel, all guests aged 16 and older must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with all their doses administered at least 14 days before setting sail. In August, the requirement will apply to those aged 12 and older.
I am so glad Royal Caribbean is requiring people to be vaccinated. I personally did not want to see people stranded and dying at sea again. The vaccination requirement is going to piss off the MAGA crowd but oh well. I am not sure how Royal will get around the Florida and Texas mandates. Perhaps they will decide to leave from different ports, which means that the idiotic GQP governors will lose their states more jobs and income. The GQP is determined to make everyone suffer in order to maintain power, but I do hope this tactic backfires spectacularly. Good on Royal Caribbean for being savvy about their business. Yes, they may lose some in the MAGA crowd but they’ll gain an even bigger clientele of those who are sensible. Plus they don’t have to worry about outbreaks on ships. I am still not going on any cruises though. I don’t do the ocean like that. Perhaps this will encourage more travelers to consider cruising. 3-8 days in the Bahamas or Seattle doesn’t sound too bad.
photos via Instagram
DeSantis is a very sick person, and he’s obviously seducing the GOP base, which, btw, is made up of sociopaths, psychopaths, racists, and child abusers. So…I hope Florida does lose this business.
I think all guided tour companies on land should follow suit.
I think this has a lot to do with the ports they are visiting too. Even when they announced they weren’t requiring vaccinations a week or so ago, they would still be required for their Alaska cruises, and I got the impression that was a requirement from Alaska. (maybe it was a requirement from washington state?)
But I wonder if that’s how they’re getting around it for the Texas/Florida cruises – if the ports they’re visiting require vaccinations, then it makes sense that RC requires them as well.
It does make me more inclined to take a cruise (not this year, but in the near future) but I love cruising in general. In 2019 we did an Alaska cruise with Royal Caribbean and it was wonderful. My parents came with us and my mom has said that the one place at this point in her life she wants to go back to is British Columbia.
Can confirm BC is the most beautiful. Come during cherry blossom season! Warm enough to golf, but cold enough to do some spring skiing!
It was beautiful! we just went to Victoria, but we were there on this gorgeous day, my boys loved it, we had lunch by the water with seals swimming by – it was fabulous!
I was wondering about the ports as well – what city is going to want thousands of potentially infected people showing up every day!? I hope all the ports were like “that’s great, but you can’t get off the boat here.”
“a note from a physician or themselves stating that they were not at high risk of contracting the virus” I’m glad they abandoned this, as there is no such thing as not a high risk of contracting it without vaccination. And they would accept a letter from the traveler themselves! So many MAGA dummies would have written those.
I am scared of flying and cruising has been a huge help pre Covid. I know it’s not environmentally friendly so I’m not proud of myself.
I did a cruise to nowhere during Covid and it was enjoyable even tho it was limited. A lot of measures in place because of government mandate for the operators including RC. Not sure if this assured RC worldwide to re-allow cruising for Americans. Perhaps they studied what we implemented.
If they do open the cruise to other countries I will only go if everyone on the cruise is vaccinated at least and masks are still mandatory everywhere on the ship. But I predict overseas travel would be much much later, maybe mid 2022.
My bff and I have been trying to figure out a cruise for a while now. Knowing that are requiring vaccines makes it so much easier.
@Oya, why don’t you do the ocean like that?
In FL they won’t require passengers to show proof of vaccination. Passengers that don’t will be considered unvaccinated and still allowed to board the cruise ship.
“Guests who do not provide documentation of full vaccination will be considered unvaccinated and will require a Covid test at the terminal at their own expense. “
Can you please provide a source for that? It’s not on their website, which states that all guests over 16 must be vaccinated.
ohhh that’s interesting – CB, that link says for cruises departing from Seattle and the Bahamas. So maybe not for Florida?
But Florida is not specified andI can’t find that quote
Sure, I found it here:
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/06/08/celebrity-cruises-will-not-ask-proof-of-vaccine-florida-there-will-be-different-rules
it’s not just the fact that they will have to pay OOP for the Covid test, they will also have to mask up on the ship unless eating/drinking/or in their cabin. Also, most likely they will not be allowed off the ship in port, which I feel trumps all the other negatives.
Requiring a negative covid test is not a real substitute for requiring a vaccination. I truly do not understand people who are willing to cruise again unless vaccination is truly required, and it seems like the cruise lines are going to have to make exceptions. The cruise lines are no doubt going to make people sign away their right to sue, even if the cruise line is negligent in how they handle things. I would love to see as many businesses as possible leave Florida and Texas. While the Governors there seem content to risk lives, I would hope that businesses are more savvy and concerned about their bottom line.
The CDC is requiring proof of vaccinations on cruise ships leaving the US. That’s why these cruise lines changed their policies and are fighting FL and TX about it. I think in FL it’s a $5000 per person fine if a business requires proof of vaccination. And the governors are threatening to take the cruise lines to court. So in response, the cruise lines said they will board passengers outside the US. So ridiculous. The GOP has forgotten that big business is only on your side if they are making money.
I love cruises and would go 2-3x a year. My last cruise was in January 2020 right before cruise ships became COVID minefields. That being said, I will absolutely not board a ship anytime soon if they will not require ALL of its passengers to be fully vaccinated with proof. So sailing out of Florida for me is a dub, I will wait until cruises out of NYC start again because I’m sure the state government will only allow vaccinated passengers to board and debark cruise ships when they return.
FL Gov is in the lead to replace Trump. Don’t underestimate his popularity
Royal Caribbean International on Friday announced a change in its policy, saying vaccinations against the coronavirus will be optional for cruise ship passengers.
“Guests are strongly recommended to set sail fully vaccinated, if they are eligible. Those who are unvaccinated or unable to verify vaccination will be required to undergo testing and follow other protocols, which will be announced at a later date,” the company said in its announcement.
The move comes after Florida passed a law that will fine companies $5,000 each time they ask customers if they are vaccinated against the coronavirus, the Miami Herald reported.
https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/557004-royal-caribbean-changes-policy-to-make-vaccines-optional-for-cruise