Cruising with Children

[Lscruiser]

Princess called me today, two weeks to the day before my scheduled family cruise, and told me my two 9 year old grandchildren cannot cruise because they have not been vaccinated.   Seriously?   They were not eligible until last week and their pediatrician says it does not have pediatric vaccines yet.   

 

[jimbo1683]

Come on. They're unvaccinated and this is a suprise to you?

[franktown]

Don't know where they live but here in Florida Walgreens, CVS and Publix will all be giving children covid vaccines this week.  This has been Princess policy for some time.

[Steelers36]

38 minutes ago, Lscruiser said:

Princess called me today, two weeks to the day before my scheduled family cruise, and told me my two 9 year old grandchildren cannot cruise because they have not been vaccinated.   Seriously?   They were not eligible until last week and their pediatrician says it does not have pediatric vaccines yet.   

 

I agree with the posters above.  Unless you have been living in a cave, it has been very common knowledge that currently Princess is only accepting fully vaccinated pax.  Many have posted they are hoping to get the jabs in for their kids - plus 14 days after - in time for Christmas/NY sailings.

 

ETA:  OTOH, Princess could have notified you sooner.  Did you book directly or with a TA.  You ought to have been duly warned at time of booking as to the risk of expecting to have kids cruise.

Edited November 8, 2021 by Steelers36

[Lscruiser]

I booked directly with Princess in May.  There was no requirement that children under 12 be vaccinated.  The CDC guideline was that 95% of the guests needed to be vaccinated so that no more than 5% could be children under 12.   Princess did not inform me of this new rule for children until today.   Their website says: "As the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine becomes available to children 5-11 years old, following the CDC's recommendation, we look forward to welcoming vaccinated guests of all ages."  As of right now, it is not available through their doctor.   I don't know what the CDC is currently recommending.  

 

[Dnoetn]

My understanding has always been Princess required 100% vaccination rate.  Thus children would not be sailing.  I think the 95% was for some cruise lines however.  I am sorry for your dilemma

 

[ChutChut]

3 hours ago, Lscruiser said:

I booked directly with Princess in May.  There was no requirement that children under 12 be vaccinated.  The CDC guideline was that 95% of the guests needed to be vaccinated so that no more than 5% could be children under 12.   Princess did not inform me of this new rule for children until today.   Their website says: "As the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine becomes available to children 5-11 years old, following the CDC's recommendation, we look forward to welcoming vaccinated guests of all ages."  As of right now, it is not available through their doctor.   I don't know what the CDC is currently recommending.  

 

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear you will be able to take your cruise unless the children are fully vaxxed. I would demand Princess fully refund your fare or transfer the the money to another sailing in the future when the kids are vaxxed. 

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, Lscruiser said:

I booked directly with Princess in May.  There was no requirement that children under 12 be vaccinated.  The CDC guideline was that 95% of the guests needed to be vaccinated so that no more than 5% could be children under 12.   Princess did not inform me of this new rule for children until today.   Their website says: "As the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine becomes available to children 5-11 years old, following the CDC's recommendation, we look forward to welcoming vaccinated guests of all ages."  As of right now, it is not available through their doctor.   I don't know what the CDC is currently recommending.  

 

Yes, it would be nice if Princess could generate an email letter to anyone booked with kids under 12.  There are other instances I have read on CC where something happened or changed and they didn't mass email.  I guess they expect guests to be periodically checking Princess.com.  They were often updating and adding to Covid-19 policies over the recent months.

[caribill]

7 hours ago, Lscruiser said:

I booked directly with Princess in May.  There was no requirement that children under 12 be vaccinated. 

 

 

And then Princess changed what CDC rules they would follow, only allowing fully vaccinated passengers on a cruise.

 

A number of people have posted that soon after that change they were notified their cruise was cancelled.

 

Somehow Princess failed to notify the contact on the booking for your grandchildren in a timely manner. Very poor on their part.

 

Since even a child must be fully vaccinated to cruise, this would require a minimum of five weeks from the first jab.

 

I fully understand your frustration and, I suspect, anger at the way this has occurred.

[john watson]

I was booked on a cruise sailing 30 October 2021 ex-Southampton.  A month before the sail date Princess made it clear that children (under 18 years of age) could board the ship and sail if they had a quayside PCR test which gave a negative result.  The expectation was that people's family holidays were going ahead with no problems.  Then two weeks prior to sailing they changed the rules that all passengers including children must be double vaccinated.  Anyone who had children booked on the cruise had their cruises cancelled.

 

I think the problem is that there has been no forewarning which Princess could have sent by email months ago about the possibility of unvaccinated passengers of any age could find that they would be denied boarding and have cruise bookings cancelled.

 

Regards John

[skynight]

Yes, Princess should have notified you sooner. However, Princess has been open since the re-start that only fully vaccinated individuals can board. You should have been aware. 

[CruisinFinsUp]

15 hours ago, Lscruiser said:

Princess called me today, two weeks to the day before my scheduled family cruise, and told me my two 9 year old grandchildren cannot cruise because they have not been vaccinated.   Seriously?   They were not eligible until last week and their pediatrician says it does not have pediatric vaccines yet.   

 

I find it hard to understand how you are surprised by this.  The info has been clear on the Princess website for a long time about the fully vaxxed rules.  This has been also covered in the media as the CDC changes rules and affects local economies near cruise ports, and on websites such as this one which you have recently found.    
 

We had cruises booked earlier this year, and we've been checking the Princess  website weekly to keep up with all the changing government requirements.  We've cancelled a couple cruises as we didn't qualify to go at the time of final payment. 
 

Given the constant changing requirements in response to the pandemic, I think the cruiselines have done a decent job posting the info on their websites about conditions required to cruise.   Just like obtaining Visa's, travel & medical insurance, and having passports, we, the traveller, need to keep on top of what we are required to do.  
 

[CruisinFinsUp]

6 hours ago, john watson said:

 

I think the problem is that there has been no forewarning which Princess could have sent by email months ago about the possibility of unvaccinated passengers of any age could find that they would be denied boarding and have cruise bookings cancelled.

 

Regards John

While I agree Princess could have sent mass emails stating

 

"watch the website for your cruise because as the pandemic changes and as governments update and change regulations for travel worldwide, Princess may have to change the rules for your cruise" 

 

but I think Princess figured cruisers were smart enough to understand world events were in flux, and travellers didn't need to be told to pay attention to world events.  
 

Based on many posts here, I guess they were wrong.  

[MishelleMcc]

We've received multiple emails regarding the evolving protocols...  (2 adults sailing - no children) but others have said that they've not received any.

 

While I agree that it is incumbent upon us to stay informed about all requirements regarding our travel, I hope Princess is willing to fully refund or re-schedule your family cruise!  Good luck!

[Tedferg]

Isn't this moot now that children 5 - 11 can be vaccinated ? We are planning to take granddaughter cruising next Feb. and thought this was a done deal.

[1025cruise]

1 hour ago, Tedferg said:

Isn't this moot now that children 5 - 11 can be vaccinated ? We are planning to take granddaughter cruising next Feb. and thought this was a done deal.

Possibly. But the OP is cruising in two weeks, not long enough to get the full series and the waiting period.

[Tedferg]

Got it, thanks. Just wanted to be sure I was not misunderstanding current situation.

[rbtan]

On 11/8/2021 at 5:40 PM, Lscruiser said:

Princess called me today, two weeks to the day before my scheduled family cruise, and told me my two 9 year old grandchildren cannot cruise because they have not been vaccinated.   Seriously?   They were not eligible until last week and their pediatrician says it does not have pediatric vaccines yet.   

 

Hate saying it(many have already)YOU should know better! This has been policy on Princess & nearly ALL cruiselines. Sorry, but no sympathy here.

[Shelly97060]

@Lscruiserhow is Princess handling your cruise now that your grandchildren cannot sail?  Are they giving you a refund or a future cruise credit? 

Edited November 11, 2021 by Shelly97060

[john watson]

In the UK Princess specifically said that unvaccinated children were permitted to sail under special circumstances which they described.  There was no suggestion that these rules might change at some point.  People might have an opinion on future rule changes but the foregoing two weeks prior to sailing seem a bit definate.

 

Regards John

[CruisinFinsUp]

On 11/11/2021 at 2:43 AM, john watson said:

In the UK Princess specifically said that unvaccinated children were permitted to sail under special circumstances which they described.  There was no suggestion that these rules might change at some point.  People might have an opinion on future rule changes but the foregoing two weeks prior to sailing seem a bit definate.

 

Regards John

We are experiencing a global pandemic.  Its obvious that the rules may change any day.  
Cruising is not an essential service and is very much responsive to worldwide government health protocol rule changes, not at the forefront or a catalyst to those changes.   Two weeks has been a very long time during this pandemic! 

 

We have a cruise booked for January, as we are trying to do a bit of "normal" in this not normal time.  However, we have full expectations that rules will change between now and then, perhaps many times.  In addition, we have insurance in place in case we are no longer qualified to travel due to future unpredictable but expected rule changes.    That is the world we live in now.   Any other expectation is unrealistic, in my opinion.  

 

 

[john watson]

3 hours ago, CruisinFinsUp said:

We are experiencing a global pandemic.  Its obvious that the rules may change any day.  
Cruising is not an essential service and is very much responsive to worldwide government health protocol rule changes, not at the forefront or a catalyst to those changes.   Two weeks has been a very long time during this pandemic! 

 

We have a cruise booked for January, as we are trying to do a bit of "normal" in this not normal time.  However, we have full expectations that rules will change between now and then, perhaps many times.  In addition, we have insurance in place in case we are no longer qualified to travel due to future unpredictable but expected rule changes.    That is the world we live in now.   Any other expectation is unrealistic, in my opinion.  

 

 

 

I should be of a similar expectation.  I was just saying that Princess would do well to have a warning for people who are not as intuitive.  These days with the social media and people turning to the media one often finds a clip on the news about an allegedly terrible story of how someone has ended up in a situation which any sensible person may have easily anticipated.  I remember a story where a woman who was intoxicated had fallen off a cruise ship balcony into the sea.  Her complaint was that it took 90 minutes to pick her back up.  The news programme was criticising the cruise line for not having the cameras which picked up the incident manned.

 

Regards John

[Stevie17]

4 hours ago, CruisinFinsUp said:

We are experiencing a global pandemic.  Its obvious that the rules may change any day.  
Cruising is not an essential service and is very much responsive to worldwide government health protocol rule changes, not at the forefront or a catalyst to those changes.   Two weeks has been a very long time during this pandemic! 

 

We have a cruise booked for January, as we are trying to do a bit of "normal" in this not normal time.  However, we have full expectations that rules will change between now and then, perhaps many times.  In addition, we have insurance in place in case we are no longer qualified to travel due to future unpredictable but expected rule changes.    That is the world we live in now.   Any other expectation is unrealistic, in my opinion.  

 

 

We are sailing on January 2nd, and I'm of the same mindset. We bought the "Cancel for any reason" insurance through Princess, and are frankly prepared for just about anything. I feel like so many things have fallen through in the last 19 months that I wont truly believe that we're taking this cruise until I'm stepping onto that ship. We're vaxxed (and boosted), we will take our Covid tests before hand, we wear masks, and we are essentially putting ourselves into a self-imposed quarantine for the week prior to the cruise. That's about all we can do. The rest is out of our hands. 

[goldiemom]

I booked a 2021 Thanksgiving cruise for DH, myself, DS, DIL and granddaughters (ages 2 & 4) last December.  This July it became very clear that ALL PAX must be vaccinated on all Princess's cruises.  I was never sent an email.  I heard about it on Cruise Critic.  I called Princess directly and all they would say is that ALL PAX MUST be vaccinated regardless of age.  So, I cancelled and after much research I found a cruise line that would accept unvaccinated children under age 12 with negative COVID tests.  We all have to take COVID 19 tests prior to boarding and all must be negative.  CDC kept changing the rules, port stops where changed, and airline flights changed, but at least we will be able to cruise.

 

Bottom line is that you have to be proactive regarding specific requirements for any travel arrangements during the next several months.

[nocl]

On 11/8/2021 at 3:24 PM, Lscruiser said:

I booked directly with Princess in May.  There was no requirement that children under 12 be vaccinated.  The CDC guideline was that 95% of the guests needed to be vaccinated so that no more than 5% could be children under 12.   Princess did not inform me of this new rule for children until today.   Their website says: "As the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine becomes available to children 5-11 years old, following the CDC's recommendation, we look forward to welcoming vaccinated guests of all ages."  As of right now, it is not available through their doctor.   I don't know what the CDC is currently recommending.  

 

For US based cruises back on June 12 there were posts from people with Children getting notified by Princess that their bookings were being canceled because all people needed to be vaccinated and since there was no vaccine for Children under 12 the bookings were being canceled. 

 

So the requirement for all people, including children having to be vaccinated has been in the Princess protocol pages since that time, as well as plenty of discussion on CC about the requirement.

 

Basically is there is a vaccine and children are vaccinated completely with the second shot being at least 2 weeks before a cruise they can cruise, if they are not vaccinated, even if there is not a vaccine approved they cannot.

Edited November 12, 2021 by nocl