Cruise Travel Relaxing Covid Policies as Bookings Surge 

Cruise travel is coming back, almost as a tsunami more than a wave. With recent surveys showing some 91.4% of cruise travelers contacted reporting they plan to take a cruise within the next year, cabins are booking up and agents are advising their clients to book now and book early. Enhancing the rush to sea is the fact that cruise lines are becoming emboldened to revise or drop their earlier COVID restrictions and mandates in hope of filling these ships again rather than running on condensed occupancies. 

Most recently, Princess Cruises updated COVID-19 protocols and guidelines, removing the vaccine requirement for most voyages of less than 16 days so that anyone can cruise, and adjusting pre-travel testing requirements to make it less complicated.

Starting Sept. 6, vaccinated guests sailing on voyages of less than 16 days will no longer have to test before boarding and only need to upload proof of vaccination while getting OceanReady. Unvaccinated guests, or those who do not provide proof of vaccination, on those itineraries will self-test within three days of sailing and upload proof of a negative test before boarding.   

These new guidelines apply to itineraries from all departure ports except where government regulations and protocols may vary like Canada, Greece and Australia.

Princess’ updated CruiseHealth guidelines for embarkation includes: 

No pre-cruise testing for vaccinated guests on voyages of up to 15 nights (guests 5 and older) with the exception of full Panama Canal transits, trans-ocean and other special itineraries; unvaccinated guests must provide a negative self-test result taken within three days of embarkation (unvaccinated children under 5 years do not require pre-cruise testing)

Guests sailing on voyages 16 nights or longer, or sailing on full Panama Canal transits, trans-ocean and other specific itineraries, need to take a supervised test within three days of embarkation (guests 5 and older). Guests on these types of voyages will be contacted directly by an Ocean Navigator to assist.

Princess’ updated guidelines reflect the cruise line’s ongoing commitment to providing a safe and healthy environment for all guests and crew.

“These updated guidelines help ensure a Princess vacation is available to everyone,” said John Padgett, president of Princess Cruises. “The Princess experience is truly one-of-a-kind and we encourage everyone to take a Princess vacation that offers amazing service at unmatched value.”

The cruise travel updated guidelines are subject to the local regulations of applicable homeports and destinations.

Cunard, also a Carnival Corp. brand, also announced new COVID protocol updates for cruise travelers, adjusting pre-travel testing requirements. From Tuesday, September 6, 2022 self-testing prior to travel will change from “mandatory” to “highly recommended” for vaccinated guests on the vast majority of voyages. Only guests sailing on longer, more complex itineraries will be required to have an observed or in person antigen or PCR test with a fit to travel certificate prior to departure. These include a number of sailings of 16 nights or more and other specific voyages.

The new cruise travel guidelines apply to all Cunard itineraries sailing from Southampton, England, and all other departure points, with the exception of countries where government regulations and protocols may vary including Canada and Australia.

“These updated protocols reflect the current environment across the world and while certain key elements have relaxed, our commitment to protect the health and wellbeing of all guests, crew and the communities we visit remains an ongoing and vital consideration,” said Matt Gleaves, vice president, Commercial, North America and Australasia. “They also ensure that the ease of cruising remains at the fore and that all guests of all ages can enjoy a voyage with unrivalled dining, relaxation and exploration options and unmatched service levels at extraordinary value for money.”

As for Disney Cruise Line the updates continue a conservative approach to the virus, which is still afoot with changing variants and highly communicable infections. For this cruise line,  guests 12 and older are expected to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to sail from ports in the U.S. and Canada. Previously, this protocol applied to guests 5 years and older.

Though the line highly advises everyone who is eligible for vaccination to be fully vaccinated ahead of their departure date, those who have refused vaccination policies are required to submit proof of a negative NAAT or PCR test taken one to three days prior to sailing. Then they will submit to a second test during embarkation.

Fully vaccinated guests need not only to carry their proof, they are also still required to pre-test and upload their results onto the Inspire Diagnostics Safe Passage website, along with their scanned vaccination status. Unvaccinated travelers are also required to use this website to upload their test information.

As cruise travel returns many travelers are opting for back-to-back sailings. However, they will be required to test between sailings with amenities offered and paid for by the cruise line. To understand the meaning of “fully vaccinated” for the different age categories for Disney Cruise Line travelers, passengers and advisors can check the terms on its website.

Not to be left out, Norwegian Cruise Line also announced revisions to its SailSAFE health and safety protocols last week. Vaccinated guests aged 12 and over will no longer have any pre-cruise COVID-19 related protocols and unvaccinated guests may embark with a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours prior to departure, subject to local regulations. 

These policies go into effect across Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises for all sailings starting on or after September 3, 2022.

Requirements may differ for guests traveling on voyages departing from or visiting destinations with specific local regulations and these may include Canada, Greece and Bermuda. The Company continues to strongly recommend all guests be up to date on vaccination protocols and test at their convenience prior to travel.

Key fleetwide protocols changes, subject to local regulations, effective September 3, 2022 include:

+Vaccinated guests aged 12 and older will no longer have any pre-cruise COVID-19 related protocols

+Unvaccinated guests, aged 12 and older, or those who cannot or decline to provide proof of vaccination, will need to present a negative medically administered PCR or Antigen COVID-19 test taken no more than 72 hours prior to boarding

+Guests aged 11 and under will not be subject to vaccination requirements or testing protocols of any kind

+Vaccinated guests must meet the generally-accepted definition of “fully vaccinated” based on the destination they are embarking and/or traveling to and must provide proof of vaccination