The Tides Are Changing For The Cruise Industry.
This week's travel news has been focused on the fast-changing COVID-19 rules for the cruising industry. After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ended the COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships last week, many cruise lines have been announcing their own changes to their health and safety protocols.
Photo Credit to Virginvoyages.com
Virgin Voyages was the first cruise line to come out after the CDC's announcement about their Covid-19 policy. They stated, " on July 27, 2022, they will be removing pre-embarkation testing for its US sailings". A vaccine requirement will remain in place, but it is evaluating that policy. They will be allowing 10% of passengers to be unvaccinated on US sailings.
Margaritaville at Sea also has released that it is getting rid of its pre-embarkation testing requirements for vaccinated passengers as of July 23, 2022. Unvaccinated passengers will still be required to test 24 hours before sailing.
Azamara announced that it would drop the pre-embarkation testing requirement as of July 25, 2022, excluding any ports where the country regulations still require it. They will still require proof of vaccination.
Picture Credit to royalcaribbean.com
Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise line will drop their testing requirements for vaccinated passengers on some voyages beginning August 8, 2022. Testing will only be required for vaccinated guests on sailings that are six or more nights, and all unvaccinated guests will still be required to test as well no matter how long the sailing is.
On July 29, 2022, Carnival Cruise Line announced Effective for August 4th sailings going forward No pre-cruise testing for 5 nights or less sailings for fully vaccinated quests. Pre-cruise testing will still be required for 6 nights or longer three days before departure. all unvaccinated guests ages 2 and older must provide proof of a negative result of a lab-administered or supervised self-administered antigen COVID test taken within three days before departure.
At the time of writing there has been nothing released from Norwegian Cruise Line or Disney Cruise Line. I am sure they will be following soon with the pre-embarkation testing requirements. As soon as we hear anything else, we will let you know.
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