Removing requirement for proof of COVID vaccinations.

[Lazy Sailor]

Azamara have announced that from Dec 1st 2022, for cruises starting and ending in USA or in Europe, proof of COVID vaccinations is not required. How do people feel about being on board a cruise ship (however nice) with unvaccinated people? COVID might not kill vaccinated people, but it is still an unpleasant disease, so I for one don't really want to voluntarily mix in close quarters with the unvaccinated . Are Azamara rushing this relaxation?

Edited November 8, 2022 by Lazy Sailor

[blag]

Not really rushing - other cruise lines have already relaxed this requirement. Furthermore, there are now similar relaxations in restaurants, public transport etc. etc. more-or-less globally.

I share your concerns, and suggest that you take precautions accordingly.

[curmudgeon98]

I consider this a complete non-issue.  I've seen covid spread through fully-vaccinated groups quite readily multiple times.  I view the vaccines as (hopefully) providing protection against the impact of the illness, not the spread.  

 

For cruises which travel a long distance from quality shoreside medical facilities, I can see a stronger case for requiring vaccination (though medical certificates of health condition might be still more relevant).

[Host Jazzbeau]

We have passed the tipping point on Covid prevention – so many cruise lines, airlines, hotels, restaurants, you name it, have dropped all requirements that anyone who keeps them will lose more than they gain.  I will be getting a bivalent booster soon, and probably an annual flu/Covid combo every fall – but no one is going to force anyone else to do so, just as no one every forced people to get flu shots.

[federalexpress]

5 hours ago, Lazy Sailor said:

Azamara have announced that from Dec 1st 2022, for cruises starting and ending in USA or in Europe, proof of COVID vaccinations is not required. How do people feel about being on board a cruise ship (however nice) with unvaccinated people? COVID might not kill vaccinated people, but it is still an unpleasant disease, so I for one don't really want to voluntarily mix in close quarters with the unvaccinated . Are Azamara rushing this relaxation?

 

In the UK at least, if you haven't been vaxxed you've likely caught it and that amounts to the same thing. In my case, you can be vaxxed 3 times and still have caught it, such are the latest variants. At least I wasn't at all ill, and that might well have been down to the vax protection. But it won't stop us getting it, at least not much longer than a few months after the jab.

 

If anything, I'd sooner people were tested before boarding. But I can see why even that is getting dropped. Instead my intention is to get vaxxed as close as possible to my next cruise. Not because I fear Covid, I don't, but it gives me the best chance of not being confined to my room because at least being vaxxed somewhat reduces you chance of catching it, if only for a limited time post vax.

[Kelownadon]

I have had covid at least once that I know of with little impact and have been double boosted. Just got back from a Celebrity cruise where there was no vaccination requirement other than a negative test requirement prior to boarding and virtually nobody wore a mask while onboard. My feeling is at the moment that vaccinations stop you from getting seriously ill. If people don’t want to get vaccinated and risk serious illness then that’s their problem not mine. I have given up worrying about it but will keep getting boosted as need be. 

[Port Power]

On 11/9/2022 at 3:09 AM, Lazy Sailor said:

Azamara have announced that from Dec 1st 2022, for cruises starting and ending in USA or in Europe, proof of COVID vaccinations is not required. How do people feel about being on board a cruise ship (however nice) with unvaccinated people? COVID might not kill vaccinated people, but it is still an unpleasant disease, so I for one don't really want to voluntarily mix in close quarters with the unvaccinated . Are Azamara rushing this relaxation?

In Australian ports, Azamara still requires passengers to have either a PCR or proctored self administered test prior to boarding.  I understand this is required by the ports, not the ship.  However, I have first hand experience of passengers testing positive a day or two after said test.  It is so easy to catch the disease within the 24 hours between testing and boarding!

 

But no vaccination certificate needs to be seen.  As others have stated, I am fully vaccinated and will take appropriate measures to ensure as much as possible that I stay well.