While there have been several health and safety protocols in place since the cruise restart in Summer 2021, these policies are constantly evolving and do vary between cruise lines. With the new surge in COVID cases, on land and at sea, due to the omicron variant, some of these protocols have been tightened recently. If you are finding it difficult to keep up, we have put together this new cruise planning guide on How to Prepare for Your 2022 Cruise.

New Cruise Planning Guide: How to Prepare for Your 2022 Cruise

Know What is Required For Your Cruise

Vaccination

Perhaps the most important factor to know when preparing for your cruise is that you will need to be vaccinated to take a 2022 cruise. While the specifics vary slightly by cruise line, guests need to be fully vaccinated with an approved vaccine at least 14 days prior to sailing. Guests will also be asked to show proof of vaccination at the cruise terminal.

Now, some cruise lines like Norwegian Cruise Line are sailing with 100% vaccination. This means anyone 5 years or older can cruise with NCL if they have received their required doses. Other brands like Carnival Cruise Line are sailing at 95% vaccination rate. Unvaccinated guests need to apply for an exemption, and a small number (to keep the sailing under 5%) will be granted.

Still, other cruise lines like Royal Caribbean and Disney Cruise Line allow unvaccinated minors to sail. Disney Cruise Line was the first to announce that all guests 5 years and older will now need to be vaccinated in order to sail on or after January 13, 2022. Royal Caribbean remains at 12 years and older currently.

This requirement remains in place for the foreseeable future, with end dates currently stated between March 31, 2022 to indefinitely. Of course, these dates will likely continue to change based on the current state of the pandemic.

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Testing

Additionally, all cruise lines currently require a COVID test prior to boarding regardless of vaccination status. While a few brands, like Virgin Voyages, complete testing at the pier, most require guests to arrive with a negative test on embarkation day.

For most cruise lines, a negative PCR or antigen test is required within 2 days of boarding the ship (vaccinated guests). For unvaccinated guests, most brands now require a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of departure.

Further, unvaccinated guests also need to submit to an additional test at embarkation and one before disembarkation on most cruise lines.

Make sure you review the requirements for your cruise line and your specific travel destination. If you are flying to a foreign port to embark your cruise, testing requirements may be different.

Finally, it is important to plan in advance. With the new surge in COVID cases and recent holiday travel, it is becoming increasingly difficult to secure tests at local pharmacies and urgent care offices.

The Abbott’s BinaxNOW™ home test with a supervised telemedicine visit is approved by most cruise lines. So, this might be the most convenient option.

Passport

If this is your first cruise, you should also be aware that many cruises require a passport. While this first instance is pretty obvious, passports are required for any U.S. citizen whose cruise embarks or disembarks in a foreign country. Though, it might not be so obvious that passports are also required for cruises that begin and end in different locations.

Technically, U.S. citizens do not need a passport for a cruise that begins and ends in the same U.S. port. A birth certificate and a government issued ID will suffice.

However, just because you don’t need a passport doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t travel with one. This is especially true now in the current climate. If you need to disembark the ship in a foreign port for unforeseen circumstances, a passport would be required to re-enter the U.S. by air.

Review Cancellation Policies

Currently, most cruise lines have modified cancellation policies. In many cases, these new cruise with confidence policies offer more generous terms. So, if you decide to cancel or change your cruise you should have more flexible options.

Still, you should investigate your specific cruise line’s policy closely to check for penalties if you decide not to go on your cruise and the specific cancellation window. Also, you will want to verify the process should you decide to switch to a different cruise, ship, or itinerary.

If you are working with a travel agent, he/she should know the latest cancellation windows and potential charges.

For instance, Royal Caribbean allows guests to cancel any sailing booked by January 31, 2022 up to 48 hours before the sail date. The guest will then get the full value in a Future Cruise Credit that’s good to redeem until May 31, 2022 on any cruise departing through December 31, 2022.

MSC Cruises just extended its flexible booking policy even further. Now, guests can make changes up to 48 hours prior to their cruise for bookings made through March 31, 2022 for cruises departing through March 31, 2023.

Plus, most cruise lines offer additional protection if someone in your travel party tests positive for COVID within the cancellation penalty window.

Make Sure You Understand the Changes to the Onboard Experience

The onboard experience for 2022 cruises will still be different, as the cruise lines continue to impose a number of health and safety protocols. While you will notice more differences on some cruise lines than others, there are still a few things you should expect on your upcoming cruise.

Masks

First and foremost, you will likely need to wear a mask. Initially, fully vaccinated cruise lines like NCL and Virgin did not have this requirement. Though, with the current surge in omicron cases, this new protocol is temporarily in effect. Most other cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean and Carnival, also require mask use at all times when indoors, except when eating or drinking or when in their own staterooms.

The requirement for masks does continue to evolve, so be sure to check your cruise line for the specifics at the time of your sailing.

Social Distancing

Additionally, there will be some form of social distancing measures in place, whether formally or informally. Most cruise lines are sailing at reduced capacities to allow for more space per passenger.

Other cruise lines have reconfigured dining venues, bars, and entertainment spaces to allow for more distancing between tables.

Youth programs have been altered for reduced capacity. Carnival Cruise Line is even limiting its Camp Ocean to vaccinated children only.

Some cruise lines have also eliminated high contact activities and events from their programming or have altered shows, showtimes, and entertainment venues.

Of the six different cruise lines on which we sailed in 2021, Royal Caribbean had the most distancing protocols in place. Some of these measures included restricting seating at bars, seats blocked off in the theater, and vaccinated vs. unvaccinated show times and venues.

Increased Sanitation

Other changes include enhanced sanitation and cleaning procedures with hospital grade disinfectants. Crew are sanitizing high traffic areas at an increased frequency. There are plenty of hand sanitizing stations throughout the ship. Staff are enforcing hand washing before entering dining venues. Room cleaning may be limited to daily instead of twice daily.

Another change implemented by many cruise lines for increased sanitation is the removal of self-service stations. Instead, staff serve guests in venues like the buffet. For us, we really like this feature and hope it sticks around for the long term.

Casino Changes

Finally, a new protocol put in place by some cruise lines is the elimination of smoking in the casino. While temporary right now, we secretly hope this policy sticks around as well.

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Complete the Necessary Forms

When taking a cruise in 2022, you will need to complete some additional paperwork.

For cruises originating outside of the U.S., many countries require health visas. Some are also mandating travelers purchase additional health insurance.

Some cruise lines require a vaccine attestation before or during the check-in process as well. Failure to complete this small step may result in the cancellation of your cruise.

Further, most cruise lines now require guests to complete an enhanced health questionnaire 24 hours prior to embarkation day. Usually, this can only be completed in the respective cruise line’s app.

Make sure all members of your travel party complete the screening.

Lastly, there will be an enhanced screening at the terminal during the check-in process.

Download the Cruise Line App

When you prepare for your 2022 cruise, don’t forget your smartphone! Given the new health and safety protocols, your cruise line’s app will be even more important than ever.

Pre-cruise, your cruise line app will enable you to complete the online check-in and the health questionnaire.

Once onboard the ship, the app also lets you book dining and entertainment reservations, along with reviewing the daily calendar. These services are available at no additional charge as long as you are connected to the ship WiFi. Just be sure to put your phone in airplane mode.

Some cruise lines, like Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises, now utilize the smartphone app for the newly transformed muster drill as well. This virtually-based safety briefing replaces the traditional in-person mandatory maritime exercise.

Also, on many cruise lines’ apps, you can communicate with others in your travel party using the chat feature (fees may apply). Virgin Voyages’ app even lets you communicate virtually with Sailor Services instead of waiting in long lines.

These enhanced features make your cruise line’s app essential for a more contactless 2022 cruise experience.

Reserve Shore Excursions

We always like having a game plan for each port of call. This often means reserving our shore excursions in advance.

The good news is that most cruise lines and most ports of call are allowing independent explorations for guests with some exceptions. A big exception is that families travelling with unvaccinated minors will need to stick with cruise line sponsored excursions.

Regardless of whether you plan to book a shore excursion with the cruise line or with local vendors, keep in mind that many destinations still have a limited number of offerings. Further, many excursions are limiting the number of guests per tour.

This makes organizing and booking tours pre-cruise even more important.

If you do book outside of the cruise line, you will want to examine the third-party operators’ refund and cancellation policies should changes arise.

Finally, you will want to be aware of the health and safety protocols in place at your destinations so you are prepared. Many places still impose face coverings in public areas, and some require proof of vaccination to enter restaurants, bars, or shops.

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Book Onboard Packages and Make Reservations

One of the easiest ways to save money on a cruise is to book onboard experiences before setting sail. Often times, cruise lines run sales and promotions on onboard packages in the online cruise planner prior to your cruise.

These add-ons include anything from discounted beverage packages and specialty dining, to WiFi, shore excursions, and other experiences not included in your cruise fare.

If you have a flexible dining option, many cruise lines let you make your reservations pre-cruise as well. Of course, if you plan to dine at any specialty restaurants, you will want to pre-reserve those as well. Prime dining times do fill up quickly.

You will also want to check if your cruise line is letting you book other complimentary activities such as entertainment prior to your cruise. If so, you should book those as soon as possible too. Unfortunately though, entertainment reservations for many cruise lines can now only be made once onboard the ship.

Arrange for Transportation and Lodging

Depending on your embarkation port, you will likely need to arrange airfare. You will also want to consider booking a pre-cruise or post-cruise hotel stay. While we always recommend flying in a day early, it is even more important now given all the recent flight cancellations and delays.

You can also check with the cruise line, or your travel agent, to see if there are any promotional airfare offers. While we have never used this option in the past, we did in 2021.

For our Majestic Princess Alaskan cruise this past summer, we had other family obligations that only allowed us to fly into Seattle the day of our cruise. The flights with the cruise line were the same price as booking on our own. Given the cruise line’s flights gave us a “late arrival guarantee”, meaning the ship would wait if our flights were delayed, this was a no-brainer.

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Pack Appropriately

Now that you are getting ready for your cruise, it’s time to pack. If you need some help with the essentials, we have our Caribbean cruise packing checklist as well as our packing list for Alaska cruises.

Along with those guides, we have additional advice for some cruise carry-on essentials and some common household items that we always pack for a cruise. These include some nifty items like magnetic hooks and an over-the-door shoe organizer. Trust us, these will come in handy.

When taking a 2022 cruise, you will need to pack some additional necessities, most importantly face masks. Even if you don’t need them on the ship at the time of your cruise, masks are required in the terminal. Further, certain ports of call or shore excursions might require them as well.

We always bring some hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes too. That way we are always prepared whether we are on land or at sea.

Arrive on Time

Another important reminder for your 2022 cruise is to arrive at the terminal on time. When you complete your online check-in, the cruise line will assign you an embarkation time.

To reduce crowding at the terminal, you should stick to this arrival window.

Now, we admit that we have arrived early for some of our cruises this past year. Though, each cruise line has a different policy for early arrivals. So, if you do arrive early, you could be waiting around for a while before boarding the ship. There is no guarantee that you will be allowed to begin the check-in process if you arrive outside of your time frame.

This is why it is even more important now to complete that pre-cruise check-in early. The early bird gets the early embarkation time slot!

Be Flexible

With so much uncertainty and the evolving COVID status, it is so important to be flexible if you are planning to take a 2022 cruise.

The cruise lines are doing all that they can to keep guests and crew safe. Unfortunately, sometimes this means making last minute changes to your cruise vacation.

Whether it is a newly implemented pre-cruise requirement, a new onboard protocol, changes to the onboard offerings, or a change of itinerary, just try to go with the flow. If you are requested to do something by a crew member, just be courteous and follow those instructions.

Many of the recent changes experienced are out of the control of the cruise lines. With an increase in onboard cases and quarantine measures recently due to the omicron variant, some cruise lines have had to cancel shows or reduce the onboard activities offered.

Further, many cruise lines have been denied entry recently into local ports either due to cases onboard or simply fear. This has forced cruise lines to skip ports completely or try to swap ports on the fly.

For instance, Puerto Rico has recently tightened its protocols for visitors. As of December 27th, all cruise passengers who wish to disembark in San Juan must have a negative COVID test within 48 hours of their visit. This new regulation has caused cruise lines to start cancelling upcoming stops at the island.

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Having an Amazing Trip

You are going on a cruise! So, make the most of it.

Despite some increased health and safety protocols and minor changes to the onboard experience, a 2022 cruise will not look drastically different. It is still a cruise, and you will still have a good time.

Believe us. We sailed on 10 cruises last year and are currently onboard a cruise ship right now.

All the things you love about cruising will still be part of the voyage, even if slightly modified. The food, the service, the entertainment, the beautiful ports of call, and the opportunity to meet new people.

Even if you miss a port of call or a show gets cancelled because of unforeseen circumstances, it’s still better than being at work!

Comments

Do you have an upcoming cruise? Do you have anything else to add to our cruise planning guide on ‘How to Prepare for Your 2022 Cruise’? Drop us an anchor below to share your experiences cruising since the restart.