Booster for Covid-19 Vaccination has to be within the last 9 months or 6 months of sailing date!!!???

[Itchy&Scratchy]

2 hours ago, aylamarguerida said:

So what does this mean for everybody?  I just plain can't cruise with MSC? Will they refund my money? I actually have 4 total doses. They are restricting adults who have had 4 doses of the vaccine!

I am not following your logic. When was your last booster? And the one before that? When and where are you sailing?

I am actually amazed that you managed to have two initial vaccinations and two boosters within a year. The adults in my family, including those over 70 yo, managed to have only 2 initial doses and one booster so far.

[aylamarguerida]

So I got my first dose in December... When only Pfizer was available before Moderna was even an option.  Healthcare.  I wasn't even the first in healthcare.  There were about 3 weeks of people before me.  But the point is, are they really trying to exclude people with 4 doses?  Do I need to get a 5th to sail with them?  Nevermind all the people out there who had 3 doses only who are outside of the window and don't qualify for a 4th dose because it isn't recommended for everybody. This just all seems crazy. They would be better off mandating all kids 5 and up be vaccinated, plus J+J not counting for being vaccinated (it really shouldn't).

 

Has anybody called them to see what their answer is? I don't cruise until the beginning of May.  What is the chance their policy will change before then? I am from the US and cruising in Europe starting from Southampton.

 

If I do call does anybody have any ideas of what I should say?  I have heard alot of bad stories about MSC and calling customer service!

[janlou77]

I can only speak as a UK citizen with info from the UK website, but I did call MSCs call centre twice and both times have been told 'if that's what it says on the website then that's the policy'. I get the impression the customer service reps don't have any more info than looking at the website themselves.

The trouble is the policy makes no sense as for the Northern European cruises it says 'vaccination/booster within 9 months' but for Meditteranean cruises it's 'vaccination within 9 months OR a booster dose'. 

I can't believe they really are saying I can't get on a cruise from my hometown of Southampton but I could get a cruise from Lisbon or Barcelona. Surely it is just poor wording on the website?  But I can't speak to anyone who has any real clue, I'm just told I have the option to change my cruise date - not really an option as I need to be in school holidays.

 

[styles27]

6 hours ago, janlou77 said:

I can only speak as a UK citizen with info from the UK website, but I did call MSCs call centre twice and both times have been told 'if that's what it says on the website then that's the policy'. I get the impression the customer service reps don't have any more info than looking at the website themselves.

The trouble is the policy makes no sense as for the Northern European cruises it says 'vaccination/booster within 9 months' but for Meditteranean cruises it's 'vaccination within 9 months OR a booster dose'. 

I can't believe they really are saying I can't get on a cruise from my hometown of Southampton but I could get a cruise from Lisbon or Barcelona. Surely it is just poor wording on the website?  But I can't speak to anyone who has any real clue, I'm just told I have the option to change my cruise date - not really an option as I need to be in school holidays.

 

Could it be the Mediterranean has stricter Covid protocols than Northern Europe?
For example the Caribbean cruises departing from US ports have different requirements than the Caribbean sailings leaving from Caribbean ports. 
I don’t think the cruise lines are making these policies I think it’s the regions/ports that are dictating who can and can’t enter their country. 
 

At this point none of it makes much sense anymore and it’s getting more difficult to know what is and what isn’t accepted. 

[steamboats]

3 hours ago, styles27 said:

Could it be the Mediterranean has stricter Covid protocols than Northern Europe?

 

Actually it would be Northern Europe has stricter protocols than the Med. But anyway, the answer is no regarding all EU countries. As Norway did join the EU covid certificate I doubt that they have set an expiration date for the 3rd/booster shot. Sweden, Finland, Denmark are EU countries. UK has no expiration date for the 3rd/booster shot.

 

steamboats

[styles27]

50 minutes ago, steamboats said:

 

Actually it would be Northern Europe has stricter protocols than the Med. But anyway, the answer is no regarding all EU countries. As Norway did join the EU covid certificate I doubt that they have set an expiration date for the 3rd/booster shot. Sweden, Finland, Denmark are EU countries. UK has no expiration date for the 3rd/booster shot.

 

steamboats

My reasoning about the Mediterranean was the 6 month post vaccination requirement vs the 9 month in Northern Europe but sounds like it’s a moot point if the countries don’t have an expiration date. 
 

I wonder why MSC would complicate things even more than they already are. Doesn’t make any sense. 

[steamboats]

15 hours ago, styles27 said:

My reasoning about the Mediterranean was the 6 month post vaccination requirement vs the 9 month in Northern Europe but sounds like it’s a moot point if the countries don’t have an expiration date. 

 

There´s no 6 months post vaccination requirement for Med cruises... You are only regarded as fully vaccinated (meaning 2 shots) for 270 days (9 months) after the second shot. Then you have to have the booster which has no expiration date for Med cruises on the MSC website. The 6 months is for Italian citizens only and also only for the second shot.

 

steamboats

[showingdiva]

For any UK MSC passengers - I don't wish to speculate on any other countries -  I have had an email confirmation that - as things stand at present, although may of course be changed in the future - all passengers over 12 years must have had a vaccine .. and that includes the booster .. within 9 months (270 days) of sailing.

 

This will unfortunately impact on a lot of healthcare workers who had their boosters in September / October 2021, and who MSC are actively promoting offers to.   

 

I did point out to them that the only groups anticipated to receive 4th (spring 2022) boosters are the over 75's, nursing homes and those immuno-compromised .. none of whom I am guessing form much of MSC's target market.   MSC's line of defence is that cruising is a very different type of holiday, and that they are required to keep passengers and crew safe (that part is perfectly understandable), but that's how things currently are.

[janlou77]

1 hour ago, showingdiva said:

For any UK MSC passengers - I don't wish to speculate on any other countries -  I have had an email confirmation that - as things stand at present, although may of course be changed in the future - all passengers over 12 years must have had a vaccine .. and that includes the booster .. within 9 months (270 days) of sailing.

 

This will unfortunately impact on a lot of healthcare workers who had their boosters in September / October 2021, and who MSC are actively promoting offers to.   

 

I did point out to them that the only groups anticipated to receive 4th (spring 2022) boosters are the over 75's, nursing homes and those immuno-compromised .. none of whom I am guessing form much of MSC's target market.   MSC's line of defence is that cruising is a very different type of holiday, and that they are required to keep passengers and crew safe (that part is perfectly understandable), but that's how things currently are.

Thanks for the information. It looks like as I'll be 290 days after my booster, and I very much doubt they will hand back my £400 deposit, they will make me get on a plane with 200 people, fly to Barcelona, and cruise from there. You couldn't make it up 🤦‍♀️

[showingdiva]

22 minutes ago, janlou77 said:

Thanks for the information. It looks like as I'll be 290 days after my booster, and I very much doubt they will hand back my £400 deposit, they will make me get on a plane with 200 people, fly to Barcelona, and cruise from there. You couldn't make it up 🤦‍♀️

 

I am in the unfortunate position that I don't fly, but whilst it won't affect the Virtuosa holiday I've just booked for May (243 days at return to Southampton), it will the short birthday trip in August (335 days) as things currently stand.    MSC have advised a ""watch and wait" approach to the latter, and thankfully it's only a £50 deposit I may need to wrestle from them.

[mtm103]

Hello. I am really interested in this as we want to sail next month and my husband had Covid 2 months ago. Where we live, he can’t have his booster as he needs to wait (he has a recovery certificate). More 9 months have passed since his last shot (we were moving countries). I sent an email to MSC so I will share what they say….

[Lisichka]

I got my booster (third) shot in early August.  MSC told me I need another booster by June to meet the 9 month rule.  Without a second booster they say I will be denied boarding seeing I would be over the 9 months rule.

Edited February 27, 2022 by Lisichka

[showingdiva]

1 hour ago, Lisichka said:

I got my booster (third) shot in early August.  MSC told me I need another booster by June to meet the 9 month rule.  Without a second booster they say I will be denied boarding seeing I would be over the 9 months rule.

 

This is exactly the problem.   If living in the UK, the only people getting a third booster in the spring will be over 75's, nursing home residents and those immuno-compromised.    Put simply, MSC come close to running out of passengers and potentially be faced with multiple cancellations.   Most other cruise lines state that a booster is a booster, irrespective when done, and that qualifies as "fully vaccinated".

Edited February 27, 2022 by showingdiva

[Lisichka]

19 hours ago, showingdiva said:

 

This is exactly the problem.   If living in the UK, the only people getting a third booster in the spring will be over 75's, nursing home residents and those immuno-compromised.    Put simply, MSC come close to running out of passengers and potentially be faced with multiple cancellations.   Most other cruise lines state that a booster is a booster, irrespective when done, and that qualifies as "fully vaccinated".

They are going to have to change that rule by then.  For cruises right now that rule may make sense, but not for cruises 4-5 months from now.

[HappyInVan]

Don't worry! Be happy! 😎

 

I have cancelled several cruises before FP. So, just wait for FP day, pay up if it looks doable. Cancel if it doesn't work for you! You can book another cruise with your deposit.

[awhcruiser]

Not applicable for US cruisers

[ukwizard]

Being 'clinically vunerable' I got a 4th covid jab on the NHS here in the UK,  BUT so far it has not appeared on the NHS app,  it still shows me as having 3 of 3 jabs with the last on 1st November,  no mention of my most recent jab at all so it may be the whole NHS app will need updating to show 4th jabs if that is what is going to happen.

 

Luckily our current sailing is in May so thats OK,  but it is putting me off booking another cruise with MSC later in the year.

[Croooser]

5 hours ago, awhcruiser said:

Not applicable for US cruisers

What is not applicable to US cruisers? - this policy or??

[Itochen33]

Hey everyone!

Just looked it up for everyone. Please check the Savety and Health sites of MSC and there the 'What you need to know about Embarcation' section and NOT just the 'What you need to know before your Cruise' section.

 

From the different Websites of MSC:

 

Here MSC UK: passangers with a booster are excempt from the 9 (6) Month rule for the vaccination.

 

 

MSC US: passangers with a booster are excempt from the 9 (6) month rule for the vaccination.

 

MSC Germany: for my fellow Germans here.  Gäste die bereits eine Booster-Impfung erhalten haben, sind von der 9-Monats-Regelung ausgenommen.

 

 

All of those infos are regarding Mediterranean cruises from now on until the end of summer season.

Northern Europe cruises still require you to have the booster in the last 9 month (or 6 if you are Italien). This should change in the next few weeks too though.

 

I hope i could clean up some confusion here.

 

Happy Cruising!!!!

Edited March 2, 2022 by Itochen33
Typos! It's 3 AM in the morning... cut me some slag...

[lasnev]

Has the language on the US site slightly changed?

 

"If your final dose was administered 270 days or more prior to the final day of your cruise, you must also complete a booster dose at least 14 days prior to departure."

 

Does this mean that the booster shot does not expire?

 

[Itochen33]

21 minutes ago, lasnev said:

Has the language on the US site slightly changed?

 

"If your final dose was administered 270 days or more prior to the final day of your cruise, you must also complete a booster dose at least 14 days prior to departure."

 

Does this mean that the booster shot does not expire?

 

 

Yes.

The boostershot does NOT EXPIRE. 

 

If you JUST have the 2 first jabs then THAT expires after 270 days.

[awhcruiser]

18 hours ago, Croooser said:

What is not applicable to US cruisers? - this policy or??

My bad,...Cruises in the Bahamas and Caribbean have a different vaccine policy.

Edited March 2, 2022 by awhcruiser

[lasnev]

On the Italian site, for non Schengen countries (including USA) it still requires the vax process to have taken place within the last 9 months (including booster).

It is still ambiguous, and still a big risk, to get all the way there and then be denied boarding.

Hoping for some clarity and uniformity between sites.

[hamrag]

On 2/23/2022 at 1:25 PM, aylamarguerida said:

So what does this mean for everybody?  I just plain can't cruise with MSC? Will they refund my money?  It isn't like I have a choice at this point.  There aren't any more boosters on offer here.  It isn't like I am unvaccinated and can just go and get a vaccine!  I have gotten all I can get.  I actually have 4 total doses.  Does MSC have any recommendations for how to obtain a 5th dose or a 3rd booster?  Are there any exceptions made if you have a 2nd booster you don't need to be within the timeframe? I would actually love to get another booster because the data does show the vaccine is much less effective after 6 months.  Would MSC offer any vaccination clinics in major US cities for people to get vaccinated outside of the typical US recommendations?  Do they have any advice as far as getting a booster within their timeframe?  I had been hoping there would be an omicron specific booster coming out before my cruise but that is looking less and less likely.  Originally we heard March but now in the news yesterday I saw it would be delayed.  I can't believe MSC allows unvaccinated kids under age 12 when a vaccine is available but they are restricting adults who have had 4 doses of the vaccine!

 

Does anybody have any advice?

The only advice I would offer is it's not a good idea to ask 6 questions in one post!!

[shepardo01]

On 3/2/2022 at 2:06 AM, Itochen33 said:

Hey everyone!

Just looked it up for everyone. Please check the Savety and Health sites of MSC and there the 'What you need to know about Embarcation' section and NOT just the 'What you need to know before your Cruise' section.

 

From the different Websites of MSC:

 

Here MSC UK: passangers with a booster are excempt from the 9 (6) Month rule for the vaccination.

 

 

MSC US: passangers with a booster are excempt from the 9 (6) month rule for the vaccination.

 

MSC Germany: for my fellow Germans here.  Gäste die bereits eine Booster-Impfung erhalten haben, sind von der 9-Monats-Regelung ausgenommen.

 

 

All of those infos are regarding Mediterranean cruises from now on until the end of summer season.

Northern Europe cruises still require you to have the booster in the last 9 month (or 6 if you are Italien). This should change in the next few weeks too though.

 

I hope i could clean up some confusion here.

 

Happy Cruising!!!!

Hi there Itochen.

Do you have a link for the UK info that you included above in relation to the booster not expiring?

I cannot find what you posted anywhere, on any part of any MSC site.

Many thanks.