ORLANDO, Fla. — Carnival Cruise Line announced it will keep its vaccine requirement policies in place for sailings in November and December this year while also announcing more restart plans from U.S. ports including Tampa and Miami, but pushing several other restarts to 2022.
The line is advising its guests already booked that they will need to present both proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test at check-in, although it will continue to allot a number of capacity-restricted exemptions to children under 12 as well as others who cannot be vaccinated.
Also beginning Sept. 13, following new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, those COVID-19 test results need to come within 48 hours of sailing, which is up from the previous 72-hour window. So if a person is sailing on a Saturday, the test has to have been taken on Thursday or Friday, with results back in time before departure. The cost of that testing falls on the cruisers.
