When 5-11 year olds are fully vaccinated but it's not required by RCCL yet, how does RCCL categorize them?

[CruiseMelissa]

This feels like a ridiculous question as I type it but stranger policies have happened.

 

We are booked on Brilliance for 12/29 with an 8 and 11 year old.  If the timeline goes perfectly I can have them fully vaccinated before that cruise (2nd shot 14 days before sail date).   I assume it will be a couple of months until RCCL requires this age group to be vaccinated given that they had a grace period for teens over the summer.

 

For our sailing's purposes, if we have the proper documentation and fit all of the criteria will they be treated just like a vaccinated teen/adult?   Or will age trump status for RCCL's purposes and they'll consider all of the "under 12s" the same way until it's required by them?  I'd love to avoid the embarkation test and restricted areas!

Edited October 26, 2021 by CruiseMelissa

[Biker19]

7 minutes ago, CruiseMelissa said:

For our sailing's purposes, if we have the proper documentation and fit all of the criteria will they be treated just like a vaccinated teen/adult? 

It may take RCI quite a while to figure that out.

[Miloomar]

Once they have the card saying 2 doses and it's 14 days past that... there is no reason why they wouldnt be considered fully vaxxed. NCL just had a case related to this. In Canada they are considering anyone turning 12 this year to be eligible. This means that if you still wont turn 12 until December, you could have still gotten the vaccine over the summer. A family tried to sail on an NCL ship and were denied boarding since "no vaccine was approved for an 11 year old" and since the family broke the rules they were not entitled to a refund ... but after getting help and confirmation from the Canadian gov, NCL admitted they were wrong and gave the refund. 

 

I fully expect that after today's ruling, we're going to see 5-11s who have their shots will start being considered vaccinated by mid december (2 weeks after their 2nd shot just like everyone else) and by Jan or Feb we'll see it being mandatory just like 12+ 

[BND]

They're not going to announce anything until kids start getting vaccinated.  After today, we'll probably see something.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

who knows, that age group may just get a one shot dose to be considered fully vaxxed. That would be nice. In that case, my kid may even be fully vaxxed before our Nov 21 cruise.

[CruiseMelissa]

2 hours ago, BND said:

They're not going to announce anything until kids start getting vaccinated.  After today, we'll probably see something.

 

Agreed, I guess I should have added the question.. what did they do this summer between when the 12+ vaccine was approved and RCCL required it, might help to learn about past practices... 🙂

[brillohead]

Other than the at-the-pier test and being able to do non-bubble excursions, I don't see vaccination status really affecting the on-board experience for kids.  The "no unvaxed allowed" areas aren't really areas that kids would/should be hanging out -- casino, solarium, bars, etc.

[JMKreno]

I think honestly they will keep the requirements for under 12 the same for the foreseeable future. I am sure given enough time they MIGHT make it mandatory (a few months) but I know the subset of those not willing to vaccinate their kids is even larger than those over 12 not willing to get the vaccine. That being said, we will be vaccinating our 6 yr old regardless as soon as it's available here in NV. Hopefully we can get to enjoy My Time Dining and other "fully" vaxxed areas WITH our youngest on our next cruise (albeit there won't be a whole lot of difference from our last cruise.) 

Edited October 26, 2021 by JMKreno

[Itchy&Scratchy]

10 minutes ago, brillohead said:

The "no unvaxed allowed" areas aren't really areas that kids would/should be hanging out -- casino, solarium, bars, etc.

although, having a dinner with the family at the Solarium bistro or using the buffet there during lunch would be very nice. It is not allowed on some ships. We would also love to use MTD.

Edited October 26, 2021 by Itchy&Scratchy

[eggnoodle]

6 minutes ago, JMKreno said:

I think honestly they will keep the requirements for under 12 the same for the foreseeable future. I am sure given enough time they MIGHT make it mandatory (a few months) but I know the subset of those not willing to vaccinate their kids is even larger than those over 12 not willing to get the vaccine. That being said, we will be vaccinating our 6 yr old regardless as soon as it's available here in NV. Hopefully we can get to enjoy My Time Dining and other "fully" vaxxed areas WITH our youngest on our next cruise (albeit there won't be a whole lot of difference from our last cruise.) 

I'm hoping that would be the case. We're scheduled to cruise on 12/12/21 with our 5 yr old. It'll be a sad day if we can't go. We already moved our April 2020 trip to this!

[AustinCruise]

They were pretty quick on requiring for 12&u.

 

They are also very strict for 12yo.  If they turn 12 the day before their cruise they are considered 12&u unvaccinated and cannot cruise. Even though they didn’t have the 5 weeks (shot day one, three weeks to 2nd, plus 2 week waiting period) even available to them…

 

 

[orville99]

My gest guess is that once the vaccines for the 5-11YO group are readily available, RCL will extend their vaccine requirements to that age group as well - just like they did for the 12-17 YO group when they became eligible.

[smplybcause]

1 hour ago, CruiseMelissa said:

 

Agreed, I guess I should have added the question.. what did they do this summer between when the 12+ vaccine was approved and RCCL required it, might help to learn about past practices... 🙂

 

They required 12+ starting in August. Not sure when the 12-17 set were approved to get vax. 

Edited October 26, 2021 by smplybcause

[smplybcause]

1 hour ago, JMKreno said:

I think honestly they will keep the requirements for under 12 the same for the foreseeable future. I am sure given enough time they MIGHT make it mandatory (a few months) but I know the subset of those not willing to vaccinate their kids is even larger than those over 12 not willing to get the vaccine. That being said, we will be vaccinating our 6 yr old regardless as soon as it's available here in NV. Hopefully we can get to enjoy My Time Dining and other "fully" vaxxed areas WITH our youngest on our next cruise (albeit there won't be a whole lot of difference from our last cruise.) 

 

I think one of the biggest factors is what the Bahamas does. Their vax only law is expiring soon. If they replace it with one covering 5+ then the cruise lines will have to follow. 

[AustinCruise]

4 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

 

They required 12+ starting in August. Not sure when the 12-17 set were approved to get vax. 

May 10,2021

 

Were cruises running during that time?

Edited October 26, 2021 by AustinCruise

[JMKreno]

2 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

 

I think one of the biggest factors is what the Bahamas does. Their vax only law is expiring soon. If they replace it with one covering 5+ then the cruise lines will have to follow. 

This is correct. I think once the vaccines become "widely available" in the US the Bahamas may require this. But, I do not think the cruise lines will willingly do this until they have no choice. 

 

That being said, I think they MIGHT change the access available to unvaccinated kids between 6-11, such as kids club usage (similar to what they do now for vaxxed/unvaxxed). Makes the impact fairly small IMHO.

 

But, as I mentioned before, this is moot for my family as our youngest will be vaccinated as soon as I can make an appointment in a couple of weeks. 

[smplybcause]

8 minutes ago, AustinCruise said:

May 10,2021

 

Were cruises running during that time?

 

First ones in the US were end of June - mid June for Bahamas.

 

So it was less than 3 months from the approval. I would expect it to be no longer than that for the 5-11 set. Possibly shorter. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

14 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

 

They required 12+ starting in August. Not sure when the 12-17 set were approved to get vax. 

I believe it was before July, because my friend's kid was turning 12 in July and we discussed vaccine availability with her. Her oldest kid is 14 or 15, and he was already vaccinated at that point.

[smplybcause]

7 minutes ago, JMKreno said:

This is correct. I think once the vaccines become "widely available" in the US the Bahamas may require this. But, I do not think the cruise lines will willingly do this until they have no choice. 

 

That being said, I think they MIGHT change the access available to unvaccinated kids between 6-11, such as kids club usage (similar to what they do now for vaxxed/unvaxxed). Makes the impact fairly small IMHO.

 

But, as I mentioned before, this is moot for my family as our youngest will be vaccinated as soon as I can make an appointment in a couple of weeks. 

 

There's the money factor though. If they do vax only for 5+ they only have to test 2-4 year olds. Cuts down on a lot of test cost. 7 day cruises is then paying for 3 tests per kid. 

 

Plus having vax be 5+ very likely means ships that start sailing can hit the 95% mark. So no test cruises. No masks. 

[pyrateslife4me84]

4 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

who knows, that age group may just get a one shot dose to be considered fully vaxxed. That would be nice. In that case, my kid may even be fully vaxxed before our Nov 21 cruise.

That will certainly not be the case. The trial did not examine that option. Neither the FDA nor the CDC will make up their own dosage. It’s “yes, 2 doses of 10 ug, 3 weeks apart” or “no vaccines.”

[JMKreno]

19 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

 

There's the money factor though. If they do vax only for 5+ they only have to test 2-4 year olds. Cuts down on a lot of test cost. 7 day cruises is then paying for 3 tests per kid. 

 

Plus having vax be 5+ very likely means ships that start sailing can hit the 95% mark. So no test cruises. No masks. 

I agree on this as well. Less infrastructure needed=less cost, and yes, no masks @ 95%. 

 

I am 100% in favor of this requirement when the vaccines are widely available. If people don't agree, they don't cruise. I followed all the rules for my 6 yr old to be able to cruise and dealt with the risks (of catching covid, of not passing testing, etc) so I expect others to do the same and accept the rules once this becomes a requirement and not complain. If this causes undue hardship and less people sail when a vaccine is required for their younger kids, that's fine by me as it keeps the crowds down! There are other vacation options. I booked Royal because I wanted to try Royal...I ended up cruising because Royal allowed my 6 yr old to cruise. I didn't end up on NCL or even Carnival as they either didn't allow my 6 yr old or made it really a crapshoot whether they would even go (and have a subpar experience). 

Edited October 26, 2021 by JMKreno

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, CruiseMelissa said:

 

Agreed, I guess I should have added the question.. what did they do this summer between when the 12+ vaccine was approved and RCCL required it, might help to learn about past practices... 🙂

RCCL made it a requirement almost immediately upon granting of the EUA for the age group; there was VERY little grace period.

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

5 minutes ago, pyrateslife4me84 said:

That will certainly not be the case. The trial did not examine that option. Neither the FDA nor the CDC will make up their own dosage. It’s “yes, 2 doses of 10 ug, 3 weeks apart” or “no vaccines.”

thanks for the info. Too bad, though. Still, a mom could dream...

 

I didn't mean that the FDA or CDC would make up their own dosage. More like - wouldn't it be nice if one dose was enough for 5-11 yo kids... then my kid would be fully vaxxed before we cruise.

[CruiseMelissa]

34 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

 

First ones in the US were end of June - mid June for Bahamas.

 

So it was less than 3 months from the approval. I would expect it to be no longer than that for the 5-11 set. Possibly shorter. 

During that three months, were 12+ treated as vaccinated adults if they were fully vaxxed or not until August when it was a requirement?  You may hold the key to my original question if you have that info 🙃

[Itchy&Scratchy]

FDA panel backs Pfizer’s low-dose COVID-19 vaccine for kids

 

the FDA hasn't approved it yet, but it's most likely happening soon.

Edited October 26, 2021 by Itchy&Scratchy