Carnival Cruise Line To Drop Vaccination Requirement On Most Sailings

Good news for those who want to go cruising again, as Carnival Cruise Line is the latest to drop vaccination requirements on most sailings. However, there are still incidences where you will need them.

Carnival Cruise Line updating COVID vaccination requirements

Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line have recently announced a drop in vaccination requirements. Now, it is the turn of Carnival Cruise Line to join the trend. However, there are some instances where proof of vaccination will still be required

The second-largest cruise line made its announcement late on Friday. Effective September 6, it will no longer require passengers to provide proof of vaccination for most voyages. Meanwhile, the only exceptions are those sailings departing from Australia, as well as cruises 16 nights or longer.

However, those unvaccinated passengers wishing to sail out of Australia, or on a 16-night or longer cruise, can apply for a vaccine exemption.

No more proof of negative COVID-19 tests in most cases

Meanwhile, Carnival Cruise Line also advised that vaccinated passengers will no longer be required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test in most cases. However, proof of a negative test will still be required for vaccinated passengers before boarding cruises to Australia, Bermuda, Canada and Greece. In this case, testing relates to local regulations in those countries. However, testing will also still be required for 16-night and longer cruises.

In the case of unvaccinated passengers, they will still need to provide proof of a negative test before sailing. Meanwhile, the test must have been taken within 72 hours of embarkation.

Other new rules for Carnival

In its announcement, Carnival Cruise Line listed other details relating to the new rules as follows:

• All new policies are subject to local destination regulations
• Passengers under the age of 12 will be exempt from all vaccination and testing requirements on all Australian sailings
• Passengers under the age of 5 will be exempt from all vaccination and testing requirements on sailings from the US.

As noted before, voyages of 16 nights or more will continue to require vaccination and testing requirements, specific to the sailing itinerary.

Carnival President Christine Duffy said in a statement:

These guidelines will make it a simpler process and make cruising accessible for those who were not able to meet the protocols we were required to follow for much of the past 14 months.

Moreover, Duffy advised that the cruise line is in the process of updating its website, internal processes and communications. It will share more details with travel agents and passengers relating to the company’s new policies as they become available. Duffy added:

We appreciate the patience of our guests and travel advisor partners as we update all materials, but the end result is a very positive one for all who are looking forward to cruising with us.

Other cruise lines updating their policies

The announcement by Carnival comes two days after the world’s largest cruise line Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises made a similar announcement. In both cases, they are dropping COVID-19 vaccination requirements for most, but not all sailings, from September 5.

Meanwhile, Norwegian Cruise Line and its sister lines Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises also dropped vaccination requirements for a number of sailings from September 3.

Moreover, Carnival Cruise Line’s sister line, Princess Cruises, also made an announcement on Friday. It said it will remove the vaccination requirement for most voyages of less than 16 days from September 6.