Do you think there will be a time soon when no vaccine is required to cruise?

[goldengirl123]

I am hoping for early 2023 is when I'll be back cruising again.  Wishful thinking?  What do you think?  Are you waiting for this time just like me?

[cruisemom42]

I'm not waiting. I'm vaccinated.

 

If others don't get vaccinated, we can likely anticipate even more variants of COVID to develop in them as the virus continues to circulate, which will then require new vaccine/boosters which will prolong the need for vaccinated cruises.

 

So those not getting vaccinated and hoping for unvaccinated cruises in future are not doing themselves any favors.

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 hours ago, goldengirl123 said:

I am hoping for early 2023 is when I'll be back cruising again.  Wishful thinking?  What do you think?  Are you waiting for this time just like me?

No. I’m hoping you’ll get vaccinated before you think a single thought about a future cruise.

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, goldengirl123 said:

I am hoping for early 2023 is when I'll be back cruising again.  Wishful thinking?  What do you think?  Are you waiting for this time just like me?

The more people thinking this way, the longer it will take for cruising (or many other activities) to return to normal.

[CruiserBruce]

Some reading on the boards would find this general topic discussed very frequently. It typically becomes heated. 

[Essiesmom]

3 hours ago, goldengirl123 said:

I am hoping for early 2023 is when I'll be back cruising again.  Wishful thinking?  What do you think?  Are you waiting for this time just like me?

Are you familiar with the quote “If you are not a part of the solution, you are part of the problem...”.   Get vaccinated.  EM

[sverigecruiser]

4 hours ago, goldengirl123 said:

I am hoping for early 2023 is when I'll be back cruising again.  Wishful thinking?  What do you think?  Are you waiting for this time just like me?

 

I don't really understand your question. Aren't there cruises right now which doesn't require vaccinations?

[zekekelso]

As long as Covid is around, I believe most mainstream cruises will require vaccinations. But I’m sure there will be options - some cruise somewhere that will take unvaccinated passengers. 
 

Unfortunately, given the high levels of vaccine resistance out there, I see Covid hanging around for a long time. 

[pris993]

I don't know and I don't care, I am vaccinated!!  

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

I don't really understand your question. Aren't there cruises right now which doesn't require vaccinations?

MSC are offering seacation cruises from Southampton that do not require passengers to be vaccinated. 

[Honolulu Blue]

10 hours ago, goldengirl123 said:

I am hoping for early 2023 is when I'll be back cruising again.  Wishful thinking?  What do you think?  Are you waiting for this time just like me?

 

There are cruises that are (and have) sailed without vaccine requirements.  It can be done reasonably safely.  However, almost all of them have tight restrictions on who can board (usually it's country residents only) and other protocols that we might not like.

 

As for cruising in the U.S., our CDC is offering two paths for the resumption of cruising - a slower, more restricted path that doesn't require vaccines; or a faster, less restricted path that sets high minimum percentages of vaccinated passengers and crew.  I think there will be a selection of ships that can be boarded without being vaccinated.  We'll have to see how it goes.

 

I don't think any vaccine requirement for cruise ships will be around forever, but it does depend on how much virus is around the world and when and where it shows up.

[isosika]

Regardless of what the cruise lines do, you might still need to be vaccinated to travel.  If the CDC instantly removed any vaccine requirement, but one country on your cruise itinerary has a requirement for vaccination, then you'll have to be vaccinated.  It does not matter whether or not you intent to go ashore since you are entering that country the moment your ship crosses the 12 mile limit countries maintain as jurisdiction.  Vaccination requirements would apply at that time.  Cruiselines will likely be required to insure that all passengers show proof of vaccination to board - just like showing your passport.

[Flatbush Flyer]

8 minutes ago, isosika said:

  .....It does not matter whether or not you intent to go ashore since you are entering that country the moment your ship crosses the 12 mile limit countries maintain as jurisdiction......

That would be 24 miles for the U.S.

 

[Sea Hag]

The virus and the new variants are going to be around for a long time, maybe permanently. I can't see why anybody would even want to go on a cruise where most people weren't vaccinated.

[sanger727]

No, I'm not waiting for that time. I am vaccinated and plan to get boosters as they become necessary. I'm personally motivated for us to achieve herd immunity and get covid under control well beyond and above the desire to travel. 

[Hlitner]

I have tried to avoid bias and agendas in my COVID posts and simply deal with facts.  So the issue of the unvaccinated is fascinating.  Most of the unvaccinated have either had COVID or they will eventually get COVID (it is just a matter of time).  Those that have so-called "natural immunity" may be as safe as the vaccinated, but how does one prove they have natural immunity.  The so called "spike antibody" test is about the only measure we have but that is a blood test and it does cost real money (often $50 - $150).  The CDC has not encouraged this test because there are still more questions then answers.   The kind of antibodies measured by this blood test would not pick up immunity gained through B and T cells.  And some argue there is still a lot about our body's antibody system that is not well understood.

 

But I can see a cruise line accepting a positive spike antibody test instead of vaccination.  Of course getting this blood test would cost the recipient more then getting the vaccine :).  Otherwise I suspect it could be a long time (measured in years) before many cruise lines will simply accept unvaccinated folks.  There is another issue which are the folks (like me) that would not want to go on a cruise ship that did accept the unvaccinated.  I do not have fear of getting COVID (I am fully vaccinated) but I do fear my cruise being interrupted and/or ruined because of a few folks with COVID.  That is a risk with any kind of onboard epidemic (such as Norovirus or Flu) but in the case of COVID we have the relatively easy means to mitigate nearly all the COVID risk....which is vaccination.

 

As an aside, I have followed the CC discussions about the Florida Law (that makes it a crime to demand proof of vaccination) and listened to the arguments made by Governor DeSantis.  The Governor makes some excellent points, but unfortunately he has just added to the politicization of what should be a scientific and numbers-based argument.   The Governor would have no problem with a ship requiring every soul to get multiple PCR Molecular tests (at about $150 per person/test) again and again and again.  But all that testing does absolutely nothing to prevent a person from getting COVID in any port and bringing it back on a ship to spread to other unvaccinated folks.  He makes a good case while one should not mandate vaccinations, but offers zero solutions for how to deal with the resulting COVID cases.

 

Hank

[LynnTTT]

On 5/31/2021 at 8:14 PM, goldengirl123 said:

I am hoping for early 2023 is when I'll be back cruising again.  Wishful thinking?  What do you think?  Are you waiting for this time just like me?

   No, I think as time goes by more ships will require vaccinations. And our cruises tend to be muti-national, so even if the cruise line doesn't require it, the ports will.

And right now thetheory is that virtually all unvaccinated people will get some variety of Covid in the future,  Just get the damn shots!

[kelkel2]

My biggest concern on this topic is my kids. We actually have a cruise booked for 2023 on the Carnival Mardi Gras, but if for some reason my kids aren’t vaccinated by then and can’t go, we won’t go. I do plan on getting my children vaccinated. But they’ll only be 3 this summer. So I think their time is a bit away still for them to get vaccinated. I’m sure there’s a lot of people that feel this way, and the cruise lines know this. 

[Joebucks]

I don't see any short-term cruises happening without vaccination. The cruise lines are too desperate to sail, and the panic is still too high. 

 

Long-term, unless the country mandates vaccination, I don't see it continuing on cruises forever. This unfounded fear that the unvaccinated create variants and breakthroughs on cruises only is not going to carry on its own momentum forever.

[ilikeanswers]

I was reading with the Carnival Alaska cruises there will be one ship that will only carry vaccinated passengers and it will be largely restriction free, you can even independently visit the ports. While the other ships will require masks, social distancing, contact tracing and excursion bubbles. Maybe this divided cruising is the future 🤔. 

[CruiserBruce]

13 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

I was reading with the Carnival Alaska cruises there will be one ship that will only carry vaccinated passengers and it will be largely restriction free, you can even independently visit the ports. While the other ships will require masks, social distancing, contact tracing and excursion bubbles. Maybe this divided cruising is the future 🤔. 

The Carnival website only lists one ship...Miracle, sailing Alaska this year. From other threads, all the major cruise lines in Alaska this year will be fully vaccinated. 

[ontheweb]

8 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

I was reading with the Carnival Alaska cruises there will be one ship that will only carry vaccinated passengers and it will be largely restriction free, you can even independently visit the ports. While the other ships will require masks, social distancing, contact tracing and excursion bubbles. Maybe this divided cruising is the future 🤔. 

Where exactly were you reading that? Everything else seems to say only fully vaccinated cruises to Alaska.

[ilikeanswers]

4 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Where exactly were you reading that? Everything else seems to say only fully vaccinated cruises to Alaska.

 

Got it on CC:

 

Carnival Cruise Line Outlines its Health and Safety Protocols For Alaska Sailings

[Pudgesmom]

I think the larger mass market ships would be the most likely to sail without vaccine requirements. US children can only be vaccinated above age 12 right now, and those ships carry a large number of families. 
 

The client base on the more upscale lines skews older. The percentage of adults vaccinated there will likely be much higher, partially due to an earlier availability of shots. These pax have a higher predisposition not to sail with the unvaccinated. 

 

I would only sail in a ship with 100% vaccinated pax and crew. I don’t want to be a part of any of the quarantine stories we watched on the news last spring. 

Edited June 3, 2021 by Pudgesmom

[CruiserBruce]

44 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Got it on CC:

 

Carnival Cruise Line Outlines its Health and Safety Protocols For Alaska Sailings

There is only one Carnival ship in Alaska, as mentioned in the article you link, and it is doing the full vaccination option, as are every other ship I have heard announce for Alaska. The other Carnival ship(s) based out of the other, non-Alaska, US ports seem to have to do the test cruises, probably to work with the Florida lawsuit.