In some breaking cruise news just more than a week ago, the CDC dropped its COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships effective July 18, 2022. Now, the cruise lines are beginning to announce updates to their health and safety measures.
Virgin Voyages became the first cruise line to drop its pre-embarkation testing requirements for U.S. sailings effective July 27th. Further, passenger vaccination requirements were lowered to 90% for U.S. sailings. This opened the opportunity for passengers who are not vaccinated to contact Virgin Voyages’ Sailor Services to book a sailing if these thresholds are met.
Now, Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Line follow suit and provide an update to their testing requirements.
Royal Caribbean Updates to Testing Requirements
On July 28th, Royal Caribbean published updates to its testing requirements on the cruise line’s website. These updated protocols better align with the travel and hospitality sector and meet destination regulations.
Starting with August 8, 2022 departures, Royal Caribbean protocols will include:
- Requiring testing for unvaccinated guests on all sailings, and for vaccinated guests on sailings that are six nights or longer.
- Maintaining a high percentage of fully vaccinated guests onboard all sailings, far above the general population.
- All crew will continue to be fully vaccinated and boosted when eligible, and tested regularly.
Current protocols remain in place for any cruises departing before August 8th.
These updates also apply to sister brand, Celebrity Cruises.
Carnival Updates to Testing Requirements
On July 29th, Carnival announced they are adjusting certain protocols to reflect the lifting of the CDC requirements for the U.S. cruise industry. These changes will be made in phases, with the first of these updates effective on August 4th and focused on short cruise itineraries of 5 nights or less.
Effective for embarkations on or after August 4th:
- No pre-cruise testing for fully vaccinated guests booked on cruises with itineraries 5 nights or less.
- Pre-cruise testing for itineraries 6 nights or longer can be conducted three days before departure.
- There will be no in-terminal testing for unvaccinated guests on day of departure. However, all unvaccinated guests ages 2 and older must provide proof of a negative antigen COVID test taken within three days before embarkation.
More changes will be announced shortly. All changes are subject to any requirements of destinations on the itinerary. Guests should continue to carefully review all pre-cruise communications and refer to the Have Fun. Be Safe. page on Carnival.com for more information.
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