These Cruises Will Require Guests to Have COVID Vaccinations
© Courtesy of Crystal
These Cruises Are Requiring COVID Vaccinations for All Guests
Courtesy of Crystal The luxury expedition vessel “Crystal Endeavor” is set to debut in summer 2021—and all who sail must be vaccinated prior to embarkation.
If you’re wondering whether being vaccinated will open up certain travel opportunities that you wouldn’t have otherwise, several cruise lines have responded with a resounding “yes, yes it will” by requiring all guests show proof of COVID-19 vaccination prior to boarding.
Windstar and Lindblad are the latest to join a growing list of cruise lines that began mandating COVID vaccines as early as February, just on the heels of the vaccine rollout in the United States.
“Vaccination is another layer of safety for all of us, and it’s the responsible course of action as our yachts resume cruising and our guests travel the world,” said Christopher Prelog, president of Windstar Cruises, in the announcement that Windstar will resume operations in June.
The following cruise lines require COVID vaccines and testing of some kind:
Windstar Cruises
Windstar, our AFAR Travelers’ Awards winner for best small-ship and yacht cruises, will return to sailings on June 19, 2021, in the Caribbean and Mediterranean at reduced occupancy. Guests will have to show that their COVID vaccines were completed at least 14 days prior to embarkation date; they will also have to provide negative COVID-19 test results.
The ships will have enhanced cleaning protocol called Beyond Ordinary Care: “HEPA filters and UV-C germicidal irradiation to filter and disinfect the air, plus backpack sprayers to sanitize all surfaces throughout our yachts,” said Andrew Todd, CEO of Windstar and parent company Xanterra.
Lindblad
Expedition cruise line Lindblad (another AFAR Travelers’ Awards winner) announced the following requirements for passengers: proof of COVID vaccination for guests age 16 and up; two negative COVID-19 tests prior to boarding (one before leaving home, and a rapid test administered by ship staff at embarkation); and that you self-isolate at home and follow CDC guidelines for five days prior to leaving home. Lindblad has also been using an enhanced cleaning protocol since before the coronavirus pandemic, ACT CleanCoat (see more at expeditions.com/purity).
Virgin Voyages
Virgin Voyages, Richard Branson’s forthcoming adult-only cruise line, will require both passengers and crew to have been vaccinated for COVID-19 prior to boarding. The line’s 2,770-passenger Scarlet Lady was originally slated to debut in April 2020. After numerous pandemic-related delays, it is now scheduled to launch this July.
“Our goal is to ensure that we’re providing the safest travel experience, which means vaccinations for both our crew and passengers,” Virgin Voyages president and CEO Tom McAlpin said in a statement sent to AFAR. “This is a step toward the safe return to sailing and is the right decision for Virgin Voyages. We’re really encouraged by the latest rollout plans in the May time frame from the new administration, and we know the future is about vaccinations.”
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He added that “there’s a huge pent-up demand for travel.”
Crystal Cruises
Luxury cruise line Crystal announced in February that all guests will need to be fully vaccinated (meaning both doses if two doses are needed) at least 14 days prior to their cruise. The crew will also be expected to be vaccinated once the company resumes sailings—but having 100 percent of the crew fully vaccinated “may not be a viable option for all crew members given their age and/or the availability of vaccines in their home countries,” Crystal stated.
Crystal plans to resume its river cruises in May 2021 and its ocean sailings in June 2021, beginning with seven-night Bahamas cruises.
At that time, guests and crew will also be required to procure negative COVID-19 tests before each cruise, and they will be subject to temperature checks prior to boarding and an onboard masking policy. There will also be social-distancing guidelines and reduced capacity.
Crystal’s decision was driven in part by a recent Cruise Critic survey of nearly 3,000 people, 80 percent of whom said they would cruise if a vaccine were required.
Crystal passengers will need to fill out an online form acknowledging the vaccine requirement before finalizing their cruise booking. They can find out all the details about the new policy on the Crystal website.
Celebrity Cruises
When Celebrity Cruises returns to the Caribbean on June 5, 2021, with cruises on the 2,218-passenger Celebrity Millennium, adult passengers and crew sailing the seven-night cruises out of St. Maarten will all need to be vaccinated. Children under the age of 18 will need to present a negative COVID-19 test result procured within 72 hours of embarkation.
Royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean plans to begin sailing in Mexico and the Caribbean in June. For cruises through August, the crew will be vaccinated and only adult passengers fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be able to board—passengers under 18 with negative COVID-19 test results will be able to join the cruises as well.
River cruises
River cruise line Avalon Waterways is requiring that prior to sailing, passengers show proof of COVID-19 vaccination completed at least 14 days before travel, proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR or antigen test taken no more than 72 hours before travel, or proof of recovery from a COVID-19 diagnosis within three months of travel.
Vaccination will also be required by U.S. river cruise company American Queen Steamboat Company and its sister cruise brand Victory Cruise Lines, the latter of which operates cruises to Canada, the Great Lakes, New England, and Alaska.
Effective July 1, COVID-19 vaccination will be mandatory for all American Queen and Victory Cruise Lines guests as well as for all shipboard crew members and nonshipboard employees across all seven vessels in the fleets.
American Queen and Victory Cruise Lines also require precruise COVID testing for all guests and crew and have a mask mandate in place for all public areas of the ships where social distancing cannot be maintained.
According to the CDC’s vaccine rollout recommendations, Phase 1c of the rollout includes essential workers engaged in transportation, thus American Queen Steamboat Company feels confident that vaccinations should be available to crew members in time for the July 1 target date.
This story was originally published on February 24, 2021, and was updated on April 2, 2021, to include current information. Laura Dannen Redman contributed reporting.
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