Under 12 vaccine exemptions for July Galveston cruises

[kevin_p]

I’m just curious, has anyone actually received an exemption for their kids’ vaccine requirement due to being under 12?

 

I responded to the original email within an hour to request an exemption due to age ineligibility, and despite being platinum VIFP and with a group of 7 people (3 cabins), our 10 year old son was denied.  When I finally spoke to someone at Carnival, they said all the exemptions had been granted already.  I haven’t been able to find anyone who has actually received the exemption yet, so I thought I would check here.  
 

Has anyone had any luck?  Any idea if it’s first come, first served or is status considered?  
 

 

[firefly333]

Sorry to hear your son was denied. I been saying this is the elephant in the room. Really suks for you having 3 cabins. Everyone been wondering how they choose. Stinks. 

[TNcruising02]

I am sorry!  That has to be so disappointing.  I read one of Carnival's emails that stated that even though they can exempt up to 5%, it will be less.  It will be interesting to see if anyone is approved.

[crazy4themouse]

I thought John Heald had said in his video the other morning that no exemptions will actually be granted now?

 

 

[dandeck]

11 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

I am sorry!  That has to be so disappointing.  I read one of Carnival's emails that stated that even though they can exempt up to 5%, it will be less.  It will be interesting to see if anyone is approved.

Interesting post!  I really don't see how they can take the risk of ANY unvaccinated folks being allowed to board.  The industry is really in a bind.  Any outbreak would be extremely difficult to accept by either the lines or the cruising public.  

[TNcruising02]

10 minutes ago, crazy4themouse said:

I thought John Heald had said in his video the other morning that no exemptions will actually be granted now?

 

 

He did, but it seems Carnival is still communicating that they will allow a small number of exemptions.  Flip Flop.

[crazy4themouse]

2 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

He did, but it seems Carnival is still communicating that they will allow a small number of exemptions.  Flip Flop.

 

Ah, gotcha. I really do feel for people caught in the situation... I know the guidance keeps changing all the time and Carnival is just trying to get back to sailing as soon as possible -- which we all want -- but the back-and-forth isn't making things any easier.

 

[WhaleTailFlCruiser]

1 hour ago, kevin_p said:

I’m just curious, has anyone actually received an exemption for their kids’ vaccine requirement due to being under 12?

 

I responded to the original email within an hour to request an exemption due to age ineligibility, and despite being platinum VIFP and with a group of 7 people (3 cabins), our 10 year old son was denied.  When I finally spoke to someone at Carnival, they said all the exemptions had been granted already.  I haven’t been able to find anyone who has actually received the exemption yet, so I thought I would check here.  
 

Has anyone had any luck?  Any idea if it’s first come, first served or is status considered?  
 

 

 

I highly doubt your "Status" Will remotely play a role in this. Others probably just beat you to it. 

[Tapi]

Don’t have an answer to your question, but just wanted to say that I’m really sorry that your travel plans have been derailed. As a dad with two kids under the age of 12, I feel your pain. Hopefully we will not have any unpleasant surprises when we sail in 81 days. 

[stellarose]

as unpopular as this might be. I think the cruise lines might need to consider the vaccinated with 5% kids under 12 until the end of 21'.   get a few months under their belt and then open it up.  I do feel bad for those with kids denied getting on the ships.  I am sorry.

[IntrepidFromDC]

Happy for Tapi, remembering from another thread that Tapi found an alternative so his kids could enjoy a vacation soon (does that rhyme?) and sorry for Kevin, unless he also finds a great alternative.  

 

My daughter is now 21, and I had amazing vacations with her when she was 7, 9, 10, 12... Venice, Tropea, Sicily, Rome, Paris, London, Budapest, Salzburg, Firenze, Morocco, South Africa (we saw "the big five" on our safari!)...  then at 13 we tried a cruise and since then that's what she enjoys most, so that's ALL we do (SMH)... it breaks my heart to hear of anybody's kid not getting the vacation they (and parents) planned...

Edited June 13, 2021 by IntrepidFromDC

[mondello]

Wow, I just thought of a diabolical scheme. I had posted before that Carnival could just deny a slot to all unvaxxed over 12 pax by saying, "Sorry, you were denied due to overwhelming demand." No body can prove who gets the slots. What if they deny ALL unvaccinated pax, not because of demand but to cruise totally vaccinated without announcing that as their protocol.This dastardly plot can be shot down as soon as someone posts that they have actually received a 5% slot. The reason Carnival's hands are tied is because they can not truly know the exact number of 5% slots until sail away because of no shows. Danged if they do, danged if they don't.

Edited June 14, 2021 by mondello
Correction

[deweytrader]

I am on the 7/24 Breeze and have not heard anything yet.  Curious, how did you find out he was not allowed an exemption?

[deweytrader]

This is the conformation I received after I submitted the exemption:

 

Thank you for your waitlist request. We will not know the total number of exemptions available for each cruise until we have processed all final payments that are due on June 14. We expect to begin notifying guests who agree to the protocols and verifications, beginning the week of June 21, and by order of sailing date.

 

 

[TNcruising02]

This is part of the email they sent to some August cruisers.  I bolded and underlined the important part.

"We will be sending details next week about this exemption process, and additional protocols as they are finalized.  It’s important to note that the number of exemptions will be a very small subset, will largely be children under 12, and it will be less than 5 percent of guests to account for no shows and other operational matters.  And, we cannot begin to process these exemptions until after all final payments are received and we have certainty on the total number of guests on board – so that we can determine the number of exemptions.  But we are committed to moving as quickly as possible."

[Saint Greg]

1 hour ago, crazy4themouse said:

I thought John Heald had said in his video the other morning that no exemptions will actually be granted now?

 

 

 

He said something to the effect of "vaccinated guests would be on those ships." I noticed he never said unvaccinated would not. The next day I got an email saying that this week they'd be sending out information to request an exemption. I'm on the 8/28 Mardi Gras.

[TNcruising02]

3 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

He said something to the effect of "vaccinated guests would be on those ships." I noticed he never said unvaccinated would not. The next day I got an email saying that this week they'd be sending out information to request an exemption. I'm on the 8/28 Mardi Gras.

When he talked about July and August cruises in the facebook video I saw, he said no unvaccinated guests.

[BlerkOne]

I think the only exemptions considered would be for people unable to get the vaccine because of some federally protected reason such as ADA. Under 12 would not be allowed. 

 

That seems to be in line with what Carnival has posted on their website 

[Saint Greg]

14 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

When he talked about July and August cruises in the facebook video I saw, he said no unvaccinated guests.

ehhh. The one from Friday he says “they are vaccinated cruises for guests who are fully vaccinated.” And you have to keep in mind that the cdc allows a 5% exemption on that. He also said “when and if there is an exception, we will let you know.” That’s at like the 16minute mark of his Friday video.

 

 

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by Saint Greg

[Tapi]

1 hour ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Happy for Tapi, remembering from another thread that Tapi found an alternative so his kids could enjoy a vacation soon (does that rhyme?) and sorry for Kevin, unless he also finds a great alternative.  

 

My daughter is now 21, and I had amazing vacations with her when she was 7, 9, 10, 12...

 

Thanks Intrepid! 
 

I truly hope that it’s “smooth sailing” with our upcoming cruise plans. I’m feeling pretty confident about it, but in the back of my head I’m preparing for possible setbacks. 
 

It is because of the kids why I’m trying to make this cruise happen. Ever since they were one year old, we’ve cruised every single year, and we make sure that we try something new, whether it’s a cruise line we’ve never sailed on before, or a new country that we’ve never visited. So far we’ve done pretty well. We were even able to cruise in 2020 a few weeks before the cruise industry shut down. 

Edited June 14, 2021 by Tapi

[TNcruising02]

44 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

ehhh. The one from Friday he says “they are vaccinated cruises for guests who are fully vaccinated.” And you have to keep in mind that the cdc allows a 5% exemption on that. He also said “when and if there is an exception, we will let you know.” That’s at like the 16minute mark of his Friday video.

 

 

 

At around 14:45 John Heald:
 

"And of course, I have to mention very briefly, that these are, the cruises that we have listed for July and  the new ones into August, are vaccinated cruises for guests who are fully vaccinated."

"These vaccinated cruises, I understand of course, leads into families and many of you have written to me today and you ask me the question will there be an exemption allowed for this. Um, at the moment, um, there isn't. But, if and when there is, Carnival Cruise Lines will let you know. Ok?

So again, I don't have any news on that at all. Um, but, if and when there is an exemption, we will let you know.  But at the same time, I have to apologize, and I mean this as sincerely as a human being can mean it. And I mean it not just as a brand ambassador, I am saying this as a father and I mentioned this the other day. You know, the last year I've had to tell my daughter about all of the things that have been cancelled, friends, school, clubs, holiday.

My family hasn't had a holiday.  I haven't had a holiday for 15 months. It's the same for you.  You now have to tell your children that you can't cruise, at the moment, because of covid. And it was a very difficult decision for us to make, but under the current CDC regulations, this is what we had to decide to do. 

So to any parent, grandparent or guardian that has to sit in front of their young children today and tell the four year old, the seven year old they can't go on the big boat, at the moment, um, I'm thinking of you..."

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by TNcruising02

[BoozinCroozin]

I think the entire exemption process is flawed. It was never going to be fair and never thought out. It should have been a lottery system where everyone had to submit each individual in their cabin (not groups of cabins) by Date XX/XX. Once that deadline arrives each of those individuals are put into a hat and drawn at random to see who gets an exemption. 

• VIFP status has no bearing
• Having more than 1 kid in a cabin could result in 1 getting an exemption and the other not. The family having to decide not to travel with one of the kids. It shouldn't be a family with two kids under 12 only need one of them to be selected for both to benefit. The same would go for two unvaccinated adults in a cabin. Each has an individual chance and the other not getting an exemption.
• Being part of a group could be that some get an exemption and others do not.

It should have never been first come first served. It could have been earliest reservations first, but not who submitted to the email first.

Edited June 14, 2021 by BoozinCroozin

[ontheweb]

11 hours ago, deweytrader said:

This is the conformation I received after I submitted the exemption:

 

Thank you for your waitlist request. We will not know the total number of exemptions available for each cruise until we have processed all final payments that are due on June 14. We expect to begin notifying guests who agree to the protocols and verifications, beginning the week of June 21, and by order of sailing date.

 

 

So if I am reading this correctly, potential passengers would have to make their final payment before they would know if anyone not vaccinated, for instance their children 11 and younger, would be allowed onboard. 

[ontheweb]

10 hours ago, Tapi said:

Thanks Intrepid! 
 

I truly hope that it’s “smooth sailing” with our upcoming cruise plans. I’m feeling pretty confident about it, but in the back of my head I’m preparing for possible setbacks. 
 

It is because of the kids why I’m trying to make this cruise happen. Ever since they were one year old, we’ve cruised every single year, and we make sure that we try something new, whether it’s a cruise line we’ve never sailed on before, or a new country that we’ve never visited. So far we’ve done pretty well. We were even able to cruise in 2020 a few weeks before the cruise industry shut down. 

I was wondering if you were going to end that with until the pandemic interfered last year. Happy for you and your kids that you did manage a 2020 cruise before it all came crashing down.😊

[Tapi]

14 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

I was wondering if you were going to end that with until the pandemic interfered last year. Happy for you and your kids that you did manage a 2020 cruise before it all came crashing down.😊

Thanks ontheweb! 
 

In retrospect, that last cruise right before the industry shut down felt like crossing a railroad  track with lights flashing right before a huge cargo train came barreling down at full speed! Barely made it. 😂