Announced on 15AUG, Disney Cruise Line will be dropping its vaccine mandate for children ages 11 and younger as of 02SEP for sailings departing from Canadian and U.S. homeports.
On that date, only passengers ages 12 and older are required to be fully vaccinated. Disney Cruise Line says it "highly recommends" that guests ages 11 and younger be fully vaccinated before sailing, "in consideration of CDC guidance."
At this time, Disney Cruise Line's testing policies for vaccinated and unvaccinated passengers remain the same.
Fully vaccinated guests on sailings departing Canadian and U.S. ports must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test result (paid for by the guest) taken one to 2 days before setting sail to be exempt from embarkation testing at the terminal. Pre-trip test results must be uploaded into the Inspire Diagnostics Safe Passage web site by midnight prior to embarkation day.
Fully vaccinated guests who do not upload test results by midnight prior to embarkation day must be tested at the terminal on embarkation day before boarding the ship and will be charged for the cost of the test.
Guests who are not fully vaccinated must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken one to 3 days before the sail date. The test should be a Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT), a rapid PCR test or a lab-based PCR test. According to DCL, this will be the first of 2 tests required for guests not fully vaccinated; the second test will be conducted at the terminal on embarkation day, paid for by the cruise line.
Disney Cruise Line's updated policy follows vaccination and testing updates by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Royal Caribbean Group, and Carnival Corporation, which have either dropped vaccine mandates or relaxed testing policies for their cruise brands beginning the fall.
For more information, visit Disney Cruise Line's web site.
