Two more cruise lines are dropping some vaccination requirements. Sister cruise lines Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises are removing their vaccination requirements for select sailings departing on or after 05SEP 2022.
It's not across the board, but it starts to chip away at the last remaining separation between cruising and the rest of the travel industry.
The announcement by at least two cruise lines in Royal Caribbean Group comes just days after, as Open Jaw reported, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings became the first cruise corporation to drop its vaccine mandate beginning 03SEP wherever local laws permit.
Royal Caribbean International
In an update on Royal Caribbean International's health & safety page, the new rules apply to sailings departing from European home ports, as well as U.S. home ports in California, Louisiana and Texas.
For these sailings, documentation of vaccination is not required to board, but Royal Caribbean is asking pax to disclose their vaccination status during check-in. The cruise line also recommends pax bring their vaccination documentation, in case authorities or local businesses in a destination request to see it.
Guests who are not fully vaccinated will need to bring a negative test result for any COVID-19 test taken within the 3 days before boarding day.
Royal Caribbean also notes that some of the destinations it visits in Europe requires guests to be “up to date” with their vaccination status to go ashore. Those who do not meet these two requirements to be considered “up to date” may require additional testing onboard prior to going ashore in certain ports.
Celebrity Cruises
In an update on its health & safety page, Celebrity Cruises announced that beginning 05SEP 2022, all travellers, regardless of vaccination status, can now cruise on the following itineraries, although testing requirements remain in place:
- All sailings departing from the UK and Europe (with the exception of Iceland)
- All sailings departing from Los Angeles
For all sailings from Los Angeles, unvaccinated 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. Antibody tests are not accepted.
Celebrity's testing requirements vary by homeport country, and can be found here.
Other cruise brands under Royal Caribbean Group, including Tui Cruises, Hapag-Lloyd cruises, and Silversea, have not posted any updates to their vaccination requirements.
