Royal Caribbean reverses, won’t require passengers on U.S. cruises to be vaccinated

[RCIGUY]

Too bad you caved to Desantis. Looks like no cruising in the immediate future for us!

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

I still dont know how posters can act surprised. There have been many posts about doing test cruises. I said several times why would they be doing test cruises if they were going the vaccinated route. They dont want to cut the kids, 5% isnt enough for this line. 

 

It was obvious to me. 

Yes, I understood all of that but if they are now saying that adults dont need to be vaccinated, then forget it.  I'm not risking my vacation being cut short because a bunch of non vaccinated people got covid.

 

[firefly333]

6 minutes ago, RCIGUY said:

Too bad you caved to Desantis. Looks like no cruising in the immediate future for us!

Odd you place no blame on the cdc. Cdc could have said 85% vaccinated or 90% is ok to allow for the children.

 

When you blame only one party of two, it's just politics. 

 

I cant believe anyone is surprised. 

[Coralc]

2 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

If true, and I would imagine the Herald has some confirmation or they wouldn’t go to print — we won’t be sailing Royal.  I didn’t see how this would impact the sailings out of the Bahamas, so will wait to see if we need to cancel or not.  Although confident in the vaccine, I think it’s a recipe for disruption to go this route.

Wait. What? Now they have backed off on the Bahamas cruises from being 95% vaccinated?  That is ridiculous. Who the heck wants to be worried about a Covid outbreak while they are in a foreign country? I thought that at least initially, ALL of their cruises were going to be with vaccine eligible guests. Even though we are not booked on any of the early cruises, that is extremely disappointing. 

[3kidsncats]

38 minutes ago, dominicr said:

This is hilarious.  Why do people who are vaccinated even care what people who are unvaccinated do?  If you’ve been vaccinated you can still get it and carry it....your symptoms are just minimized .  This argument by vaccinated people is getting beyond old.  

Because if the unvaccinated cause a significant enough outbreak, it could interfere with us getting home when we expect to.  Some of us have kids, pets, work to get back to and an extended delay could be a problem.  We have no protocols yet — so we have no idea what to expect, whereas before we could expect very low risk of any delay.  

[jptoz]

Do you think these cancelled cruises coincide  with kids school schedule. RCI canceled up to the end of the summer recess. That way eliminating  unvaccinated kids ,and  the possibility of a outbreak . This kind of gets RCI out of a sticky situation by  getting rid of unvaccinated passengers without having to come out and say " we don't want your unvaxxed kid onboard". 

[Russ Lomas]

1 hour ago, harkinmr said:

 This link is blocked if you don't have a subscription.

The link worked fine for me and I do not have a subscription.

 

1 hour ago, shutterbug63 said:

 I am not sure we'll sail if they don't require vaccines. I understand from the press release that passengers who aren't vaccinated will probably be required to test and there will be other as yet unspecified "protocols".

 

I'm sorry to see them cave to DeSantis.

Maybe I read the releases from a different viewpoint.  I did not think they caved to DeSantis, though maybe I misread the articles today.  I think those yet "unspecified protocols" you mentioned may be very restrictive to those who are not fully vaccinated, thus RCCL basically can really control those who are unvaccinated on their ships.  I will put more below about this.

 

1 hour ago, newcruzer2 said:

Does this mean I will have to be masked all the time even though I'm vaccinated

From what was previously shared by RCCL and assuming they are not changing things, those fully vaccinated will not have to be masked.

 

1 hour ago, harkinmr said:

And how many staff do they hire to check everybody's wristband in every venue at all times of the day? Not really practical.  The separate venues is an idea that has been suggested, but can you imagine the on board reaction from those who have been "segregated"?

No need to segregate those vaccinated or not vaccinated, but the post below had the same idea I had.

 

40 minutes ago, garywatson said:

They haven't announced the protocol, but they could offer a colored wristband for those who voluntarily show proof of vaccination, which would tell the crew that you don't have to do the masking and distancing thing.  Or the opposite, where they make everybody wear an annoying wristband and only cut it off you if you voluntarily show proof of vaccine.

You, my friend, are thinking just like I am.

 

1 - if you are unvaccinated, you must take a test prior to boarding.  If it is positive, you do not board and you do not sail.  They refund your cruise fare.

 

2 - Everyone will have to wear a tracelet anyways.  They announced this previously.  You give a certain colour one to those vaccinated and a different colour one to those not vaccinated.  If you are not wearing one which shows you are fully vaccinated, you MUST wear a mask in public spaces.  This is a really easy visual that any crew member can easily see and enforce.  If you argue, security will be glad to escort you to your cabin for the remainder of the cruise.

 

3 - It was already stated that only those fully vaccinated will be permitted off the ship in ports and can do their own excursions.  You are not fully vaccinated, you may stay on the ship and enjoy it while it is in port.  Those in the other countries have the ability to deny you entry, which will be on your seapass card when you try to sneak off the ship.

 

I know that those who are not vaccinated will not like the rules above, but it is within RCCL's rights to enforce them while they are at sea and not under Florida's jurisdiction.  They just need to be transparent before people who are unvaccinated book and board the cruise and they will not be able to complain.  You knew the rules when you booked, you cannot complain.

 

To the poster who commented about DeSantis "winning", if RCCL chooses to put rules like those above into place the minute they are in international waters and they have stated these rules and consequences prior to sailing to ALL passengers, I do not think people would be able to argue.  DeSantis may have appeared to win, but once the ship is in international waters, the rules may change.  Cruisers who wish to cruise unvaccinated will have to follow RCCL's rules, and if they do not like them, there are always lots of land resorts willing to accept them.

 

 

[broadwaybaby123]

There's nothing on the RC FAQs that says that vaccines are optional at this time unless you're under the age of 12: Do I Need a COVID-19 Vaccine To cruise? | Royal Caribbean Cruises

[3kidsncats]

1 minute ago, Coralc said:

Wait. What? Now they have backed off on the Bahamas cruises from being 95% vaccinated?  That is ridiculous. Who the heck wants to be worried about a Covid outbreak while they are in a foreign country? I thought that at least initially, ALL of their cruises were going to be with vaccine eligible guests. Even though we are not booked on any of the early cruises, that is extremely disappointing. 

We don’t know yet.  There was only a vague “international departures will depend on that country’s requirements” type of comment (ie, not quoting exactly)

[centurycruiser]

I plan on cruising as soon as I can. I got the J&J jab expecting it would be required to cruise. Whether it is required or whether it is not, I am protected and ready to go.

[firefly333]

2 minutes ago, broadwaybaby123 said:

There's nothing on the RC FAQs that says that vaccines are optional at this time unless you're under the age of 12: Do I Need a COVID-19 Vaccine To cruise? | Royal Caribbean Cruises

Unless it's been updated in the last few hours it says from nassau and seattle  nothing about other ports.

[lr657]

The information in the link appears to be accurate and up-to-date. It's a real shame that Royal decided not to require vaccinations. A fully vaccinated cruise would have much less restrictions and be a much better cruise experience. We're not interested in cruising if it means we have to abide with mask wearing and numerous other restrictions. We got vaccinated to avoid this. Looks like we'll probably be cancelling our Royal cruises and either sailing with a cruise line that requires vaccinations or taking land vacations. Hopefully the cruises that sail without vaccination requirements don't end up with a Covid outbreak because that will be the end of cruising again.

[cured]

So glad I canceled everything.  Italy is open and two weeks on the Amalfi coast is sounding better and better everyday rather than sitting cooped up on a ship with a bunch of unvaccinated people, having to follow the unvaccinated protocols.

 

I do have one FCC that needs to be booked by April 2022 but due to Royal Caribbean caving after 85+% of their customers strongly indicated that they preferred vaccinated cruises, I am more than willing to eat it and vacation elsewhere.  

 

I am amazed at their decision. Just look at this thread with everyone saying they won't cruise unless the ship is 95% vaccinated.  I wish the 15% unvaccinated well and enjoy your cruise.  But then, as much as they have changed their mind, when people start canceling, this could change once again.  I have almost a year to decide if cruising with Royal Caribbean is in our future.

[Russ Lomas]

6 minutes ago, jptoz said:

Do you think these cancelled cruises coincide  with kids school schedule. RCI canceled up to the end of the summer recess. That way eliminating  unvaccinated kids ,and  the possibility of a outbreak . This kind of gets RCI out of a sticky situation by  getting rid of unvaccinated passengers without having to come out and say " we don't want your unvaxxed kid onboard". 

All depends where you live.  School does not start until after Labour Day in September here, so cruises will be sailing for all of August, and in some cases all of July as well prior to our kids returning to school.

[CPT Trips]

18 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Makes perfect sense to me. I've been saying celebrity is going the no mock cruises, vaccinated route, rcl isnt. If folks wanted vaccinated they could have booked celebrity. 

 

I think the cdc says in the cso if unvaccinated masks required. ..though tbh I hope this is lifted before I cruise, but I have no faith the cdc will change its mind. It is what it is. 

We booked our Royal cruise in 2019, well before the whole COVID mess. We were stuck because they wouldn’t refund us, only grant FCC for Royal, not X. And as we cruise out of Cape Liberty, there only a few options for cruises to the Caribbean - none of them on X.

My preference is not to spend 10 days/2 weeks on a ship with who knows how many unvaccinated. I would not buy a cruise today unless I knew all pax and crew are vaccinated. I’m prepared to be very disappointed if Royal continues to go the unvax route and won’t offer refunds. 
 

[At Sea At Peace]

9 minutes ago, 3kidsncats said:

Because if the unvaccinated cause a significant enough outbreak, it could interfere with us getting home when we expect to.  Some of us have kids, pets, work to get back to and an extended delay could be a problem.  We have no protocols yet — so we have no idea what to expect, whereas before we could expect very low risk of any delay.  

 

Then you shouldn't book a cruise at this time if you believe that, after 15 months learning about treating the virus, who is the most at risk, the vaccinations and the natural immunities, a Princess cruise virus outbreak could even occur.

[jptoz]

2 minutes ago, Russ Lomas said:

All depends where you live.  School does not start until after Labour Day in September here, so cruises will be sailing for all of August, and in some cases all of July as well prior to our kids returning to school.

If you look at the cancelation, they coincide, in the northeast, cruises are canceled till Sept. In Florida  most ships canceled till mid Aug. Don't know for sure, but I thought that's when school started back up for kids in the southern U.S. states.

[At Sea At Peace]

58 minutes ago, dominicr said:

This is hilarious.  Why do people who are vaccinated even care what people who are unvaccinated do?  If you’ve been vaccinated you can still get it and carry it....your symptoms are just minimized .  This argument by vaccinated people is getting beyond old.  

 

Exactly.

[James4me]

I’m pretty sure the people grumbling how they will cancel their expensive suites because it’s now not all vaccinated will still be going on their cruse.  

[3kidsncats]

2 minutes ago, At Sea At Peace said:

 

Then you shouldn't book a cruise at this time if you believe that, after 15 months learning about treating the virus, who is the most at risk, the vaccinations and the natural immunities, a Princess cruise virus outbreak could even occur.

I booked a cruise that clearly required all adult passengers to be vaccinated and therefore the risk was acceptably low — at this point, we don’t know if that will still be the case.  If the cruise had been sold as vaccine optional, we would NOT have booked it.

[3kidsncats]

2 minutes ago, James4me said:

I’m pretty sure the people grumbling how they will cancel their expensive suites because it’s now not all vaccinated will still be going on their cruse.  

You may be correct — because that would be the only reason we would go.  I could care less about the shows, casino or pools.  I can dine with the full MDR menu on my suite balcony, relax on the lounger, and comfortably hang out with our friends.  BUT, if I can’t get my kid to college when she needs to be there, I wouldn’t enjoy my trip very much. So if our sailing goes vaccine optional, and I can’t arrange a plan B for our daughter and our pets, then that expensive suite will sail without us.

[lr657]

1 hour ago, dominicr said:

This is hilarious.  Why do people who are vaccinated even care what people who are unvaccinated do?  If you’ve been vaccinated you can still get it and carry it....your symptoms are just minimized .  This argument by vaccinated people is getting beyond old.  

 

A major reason is that vaccinated people will have to follow restrictions that are only in place because there are non-vaccinated people sailing. I am vaccinated and don't worry at all about getting Covid, I do feel that spread among non-vaccinated people can cause an outbreak resulting in missing ports or delays in being able to disembark.

 

You can choose whether to be vaccinated or not, but don't insult those that are vaccinated for wanting a cruise experience that doesn't require rules that are in place due to non-vaccinated people sailing. 

[bajathree]

I honestly don't believe any of them anymore......Fain last week assured that cruises would require anyone of age to be vaccinated. They all lie.

[cured]

24 minutes ago, Russ Lomas said:

The link worked fine for me and I do not have a subscription.

 

Maybe I read the releases from a different viewpoint.  I did not think they caved to DeSantis, though maybe I misread the articles today.  I think those yet "unspecified protocols" you mentioned may be very restrictive to those who are not fully vaccinated, thus RCCL basically can really control those who are unvaccinated on their ships.  I will put more below about this.

 

From what was previously shared by RCCL and assuming they are not changing things, those fully vaccinated will not have to be masked.

 

No need to segregate those vaccinated or not vaccinated, but the post below had the same idea I had.

 

You, my friend, are thinking just like I am.

 

1 - if you are unvaccinated, you must take a test prior to boarding.  If it is positive, you do not board and you do not sail.  They refund your cruise fare.

 

2 - Everyone will have to wear a tracelet anyways.  They announced this previously.  You give a certain colour one to those vaccinated and a different colour one to those not vaccinated.  If you are not wearing one which shows you are fully vaccinated, you MUST wear a mask in public spaces.  This is a really easy visual that any crew member can easily see and enforce.  If you argue, security will be glad to escort you to your cabin for the remainder of the cruise.

 

3 - It was already stated that only those fully vaccinated will be permitted off the ship in ports and can do their own excursions.  You are not fully vaccinated, you may stay on the ship and enjoy it while it is in port.  Those in the other countries have the ability to deny you entry, which will be on your seapass card when you try to sneak off the ship.

 

I know that those who are not vaccinated will not like the rules above, but it is within RCCL's rights to enforce them while they are at sea and not under Florida's jurisdiction.  They just need to be transparent before people who are unvaccinated book and board the cruise and they will not be able to complain.  You knew the rules when you booked, you cannot complain.

 

To the poster who commented about DeSantis "winning", if RCCL chooses to put rules like those above into place the minute they are in international waters and they have stated these rules and consequences prior to sailing to ALL passengers, I do not think people would be able to argue.  DeSantis may have appeared to win, but once the ship is in international waters, the rules may change.  Cruisers who wish to cruise unvaccinated will have to follow RCCL's rules, and if they do not like them, there are always lots of land resorts willing to accept them.

 

 

How are they going to distribute the correct color of tracelet if they are not allowed to ask for vaccination status while in port?  Are they going to call everyone to the theater in the evening once the ship is in international waters to show their proof of vaccination?

 

I can see it work if they make it voluntary to show your vaccine id at check in and get the proper colored tracelet. Vaccinated people would be crazy to refuse to show it and have to follow the unvaccinated protocols.

 

However, I wonder what the Vegas odds are that the Florida law will be amended to forbid presentation of a vaccine card, even voluntary, when it becomes apparent to the Florida legislature that there will be a 2 tier system with the unvaccinated having to undergo more rigorous protocols.  I think DeSantis' goal is that vaccination status should not matter, ever.

 

Then we are back to the logistics of checking 3,000 - 6,000 passengers vaccine status after the ship has sailed. Reinstate a muster drill type of gathering to check vaccine status? And if they can't ask vaccine status at the port, does that mean everyone has to be tested?  Sorry, I did my part to get vaccinated. I am no longer having my brains tickled to accomodate a small percentage of passengers who don't want to get vaccinated (or recent lab results of proof of immunity.)

[ReneeFLL]

1 hour ago, M8VER3 said:

I said I was going to avoid these Covid threads. Shame on me. 
 

We are both vaccinated. We don’t want to wear a mask. We are ready to sail no matter what Royal chooses to do. 

Will you sail if masks are required? We have a cruise in October which I will cancel if masks are required.

 

Edited June 5, 2021 by ReneeFLL