Carnival Cruise Line took the weekend to decide, but is following other cruise lines that have made the decision to require vaccines for most of its passengers 12 and older for sailings to the Bahamas.
In a press release Sunday, the line announced it was changing protocols to limit passengers on ships to fully vaccinated only if over the age of 12, or if they have medical condition that prohibits vaccination.
“Effective Aug. 28 through October, for departures from all Atlantic and Gulf homeports, only children under 12 and adults with a medical condition that prohibits their vaccination are exempt from vaccination requirements to sail,” the line states. “Carnival is advising guests of this update, and any guests that have received an exemption applicable through October have been informed of this change and that exemptions beyond these two categories are rescinded.”
The move comes after Thursday’s updated emergency COVID-19 declaration signed by Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis, which will prohibit cruises ships from entering a Bahamas port, including the many cruise lines’ private islands, unless eligible passengers are fully vaccinated.
The order, which goes into effect Sept. 3 and lasts until Nov. 1., does allow for unvaccinated passengers or crew that have a medical excuse.
Royal Caribbean, MSC Cruises and Celebrity cruises all updated their sailing policies from Florida on Friday. Norwegian Cruise Line already had a vaccinated-only passenger policy in place. Disney Cruise Line has yet to update its policies as of Monday morning.
All of the lines feature the Bahamas as central to their restart plans after more than a year and and half of shutdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some other destinations in the Caribbean including the U.S. Virgin Islands, Antigua and Dominica, have similar limitations in place to stop the potential spread of the virus. Cruise lines have had to limit who can sail on voyages to those destinations as well.
The limits are at odds with a Florida law that went into effect on July 1 that prohibits companies from asking for proof of vaccination. The law threatens to fine companies $5,000 per instance for demanding so-called vaccine passports.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, which runs NCL, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas, took the state to court over the law and a federal judge granted an injunction against Florida from enforcing it.
At present, the case only applies to Norwegian, so it’s unclear whether the state will try and enforce the policy on other cruise lines once the limits and vaccine requirements are in effect.
Cruise lines were already juggling the law with requirements by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which had given cruise lines two avenues to return to business. One was to perform simulated sailings to prove out COVID-19 safety protocols and earn a conditional sailing certificate. The other, which lines like Carnival, Celebrity and Norwegian opted for, was the promise to sail with at least 95% vaccinated passengers.
Most lines sailing from U.S. ports have in place vaccine requirements for those 12 and older, except in Florida.
From Florida to deal with the law, lines have pivoted to allow for unvaccinated passengers that are eligible to vaccines to sail after all, but have put added costs of required COVID-19 testing and travel insurance on those passengers as well as some limits on their activities on board.
Carnival was allowing unvaccinated passengers from other ships outside of Florida as well, but on a case-by-case basis so that it could stick with the 95% threshold set by the CDC.
Most of those were for passengers traveling with children, but the shift in policy did affect some.
“This actually only affects about 1% or so of people who are booked,” said Carnival brand ambassador John Heald. “This means that guests who were previously accommodated will not be able to travel, and for that we say a sincere apology. It’s a very small group of you but that should not diminish the disappointment that I know that those people are feeling.”
