08/23/2022
Many cruise lines have made some significant changes to their vaccine mandates. Here are the latest COVID vaccine and testing requirements for some of the top cruise lines!
Azamara:
Vaccinations: Required for all guests 12 years of age and older. A small number of exemptions are available but must be applied for.
Boosters: All guests 12 and older must get a booster dose once they become eligible to do so.
Testing: Azamara no longer requires pre-cruise COVID-19 testing, except when visiting ports where pre-travel testing is still required.
Carnival Cruise Line:
Vaccinations: Required for all guests ages 12 and older through September 5, 2022. For cruises departing September 6 and after, unvaccinated guests are welcome on sailings of less than 16 nights without applying for an exemption, with the exception of cruises in Australia.
Through September 5, vaccine exemptions are limited to a small number of guests (ages five and above) and are capacity-controlled based on the total number of vaccinated guests projected to be onboard. Exemptions must be applied for. On Panama Canal cruises of 16 days or longer, vaccine exemptions will not be granted for minors under 12.
Boosters: Not required, except on 2022 departures of Carnival Pride and Carnival Celebration in Europe, and on the Sept. 6 23-day Transpacific sailing of Carnival Splendor. For these sailings, vaccinated guests, ages 12 and older who are more than six months past their last initial vaccine series must present proof of booster shot.
Testing: Through September 5, there is no pre-cruise testing requirement for fully vaccinated guests on cruises with itineraries of five days or less. Starting September 6, pre-cruise testing is no longer required on any sailing for fully vaccinated guests except on cruises to Canada, Bermuda, Greece and Australia, and on voyages of 16 nights and longer.
Guests on sailings of six days or longer -- through September 5 -- must present proof of a negative PCR or lab-administered or supervised self-administered antigen COVID-19 test conducted within three days before departure.
All unvaccinated guests (or anyone who does not show proof of vaccination) must provide proof of a negative lab-administered or supervised self-administered antigen COVID-19 test taken within three days before embarkation. Guests traveling on back-to-back cruises will need to be tested in between voyages.
Children younger than 5 are exempt from vaccination and testing requirements in the U.S.
Except for Bermuda cruises, guests who have recovered from COVID-19 within three months of their sail date do not need the required pre-cruise test if they are at least 10 days past their positive test result date, have no symptoms, and produce a document of recovery from COVID-19.
Bermuda & Canada Cruises: Fully vaccinated cruisers traveling to Bermuda and Canada – on any length of sailing – can take either a PCR test within 72 hours prior to sailing, or an antigen test taken no earlier than two days prior to sailing.
Celebrity Cruises:
Vaccinations: Required for all guests ages 12 and older through September 4, 2022.
Starting September 5, 2022 all travelers, regardless of vaccination status, are welcome onboard all Celebrity cruises except those that sail to or from ports in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Galapagos cruises also require that all guests, ages 3 and older, be fully vaccinated.
Boosters: Not required.
Testing: Starting with August 5, vaccinated guests on sailings of nine nights or less do not need to present a negative COVID-19 test before boarding their ship (excluding sailings that visit Canada and Bermuda).
Vaccinated guests on sailings of 10 nights or longer or those that visit Canada and Bermuda must continue to present proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of boarding their ship. Celebrity will accept results from any commercially-available test, including unsupervised and self-administered tests, except on sailings that visit Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Greece or New Zealand, which all still require a supervised test.
Through September 4, all unvaccinated guests, ages 2 and older, must present a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of embarkation, but not on embarkation day, in order to board irrespective of sailing length. These guests will also be given an additional COVID-19 antigen test at the terminal prior to boarding.
Starting September 5, children under 5 years of age sailing from the U.S. and under 12 years of age sailing from Europe do not need to test prior to boarding.
Celestyal Cruises:
Vaccinations: Required for all guests ages 12 and older.
Boosters: Required for anyone whose last initial vaccine was more than 270 days before embarkation.
Testing: All guests ages 6 and older must present a negative supervised COVID-19 antigen test taken within 24 hours prior to embarkation.
Disney Cruise Line:
Vaccinations: Required for all guests ages 5 and older. (Starting September 2, the vaccination requirement applies only to guests ages 12 and older for sailings departing from the U.S. and Canada.)
Boosters: Not required for U.S.-based cruises, but may be required on some European itineraries.
Testing: Fully-vaccinated guests on sailings departing U.S. and Canadian ports must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 proctored antigen test or PCR test taken no more than two days before setting sail. (Fully-vaccinated guests on sailings departing European ports must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than one to two days before setting sail.)
Guests who have recovered from COVID-19 within 11 to 90 days of their sail date may submit appropriate documentation to be exempt from the testing requirement.
Children, ages 4 and under, (or younger than 12 after September 2) must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test result taken no more than three days before sail date. The test must be a Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT), a rapid PCR test or a lab-based PCR test. Rapid antigen tests are not accepted. Unvaccinated children must also complete a test at the terminal prior to embarkation.
Fully-vaccinated guests who do not upload pre-trip test results to the Safe Passage website by midnight prior to embarkation day will be tested at the terminal before boarding and charged for the cost of the test.
All guests on consecutive, back-to-back sailings, regardless of age and vaccination status, must undergo a COVID-19 test at the terminal after debarking the ship following their first cruise.
Holland America Line:
Vaccinations: Required for all guests ages 12 and older through September 5, 2022. Starting September 6, all guests regardless of vaccination status are welcome onboard most sailings of 15 days or less except on full Panama Canal transits, trans-ocean crossings, and when sailing to destinations where mandates are still in place.
Children under 5 are automatically exempt from the vaccination requirement, but through September 5 unvaccinated children between 5 and 11 need to go through an exemption process.
Booster: Not required for U.S.- and Canada-based sailings. Guests ages 18 and older sailing in Europe are required to have a booster if the last dosage of their initial vaccine series was more than 270 days before sailing.
Testing: Through September 5, all guests 2 and older must show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of sailing if they are up-to-date with their vaccines (ie have had booster if they are eligible for it) or within two days if they are not up-to-date with their vaccines. Guests who have recovered from COVID-19 within three months of their embarkation do not need a test before embarkation if they are at least 10 days past their infection, have no symptoms and produce appropriate documentation of recovery.
Guests aged 2 and older embarking in a Canadian port or a U.S. port that includes Canada in the itinerary must take either an antigen test within two days of embarkation of a PCR test within 72 hours prior to embarkation.
Starting September 6, vaccinated passengers are exempt from pre-cruise testing on most cruises under 15 days except on sailings where local regulations apply, such as in Greece and Australia. Unvaccinated passengers or those who do not show proof of vaccination must provide proof of a negative, pre-cruise test taken within three days of embarkation.
Norwegian Cruise Line:
Vaccinations: Starting September 3, vaccinations are only required for cruises visiting destinations that require it such as Canada, Bermuda and Greece. Guests aged 11 and under will not be subject to vaccination requirements or testing protocols of any kind
Boosters: On sailings that require vaccinations, vaccinated guests must meet the definition of “fully vaccinated” based on the destination they are embarking and/or traveling to and must provide proof of vaccination.
Testing: Starting September 3, testing is not required for vaccinated guests of any age. Unvaccinated guests, aged 12 and older, or those who cannot or decline to provide proof of vaccination, will need to present a negative medically administered PCR or Antigen COVID-19 test taken no more than 72 hours prior to boarding
Princess Cruises:
Vaccinations: Required for all guests ages 12 and older through September 5, 2022. Starting September 6, all guests are welcome onboard regardless of vaccination status except on voyages of 16 days or longer or that visit countries where mandates are still in place such as in Greece.
Boosters: Only for cruises departing from Europe, a booster dose is required for anyone over 18 years of age if the last dose of the primary vaccine series was more than 270 days prior to the date of disembarkation.
Testing: Through September 5, all guests, ages 5 and older, require proof of a negative medically-observed COVID-19 test taken within two days for antigen tests and within three days for PCR tests.
Starting September 6, vaccinated guests no longer have to test before their cruise, except on voyages of 16 days or longer, full Panama Canal transits, trans-ocean sailings and other special itineraries.
Unvaccinated guests ages 5 and older, or those who do not provide proof of vaccination status before their cruise, will need to upload proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of sailing.
In Europe, children under 5 are not required to take a pre-cruise COVID-19 test.
Any unvaccinated guests on Europe sailings ages 5 and older will need an embarkation day COVID-19 test performed at the terminal in addition to their pre-cruise PCR test.
Royal Caribbean International:
Vaccinations: Required for all guests ages 12 and older through September 4.
Starting with sailings departing on September 5 or after, all guests regardless of vaccination status are welcome onboard all sailings except those to and from Canada, Bermuda, Australia and Singapore.
Booster: Not required.
Testing: Starting September 5, testing is not required for vaccinated guests on cruises of nine days or less. Unvaccinated passengers over the age of 5 will need to present proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken with three days of boarding. All commerically-available tests are accepted, including self-tests.
On sailings of 10 nights or longer, all guests over the age of 5 must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of boarding.
Through September 4, on sailings of any length, unvaccinated kids ages 2 to 11 must show a negative test result for a PCR test (not antigen) taken no more than three days before boarding, but not taken on embarkation day. They will also need to take an antigen test at the terminal, as well as an antigen test before their cruise ends (on cruises of five nights and longer).
On European cruises, vaccinated guests who are up to date (have had a booster) must show a negative result for a PCR or antigen test taken no more than two days before boarding. Vaccinated guests who are not up to date will have a one-day window to take this test. Unvaccinated children ages 2 to 11 must show a negative result for a PCR or antigen test taken no more than one day before boarding. Guests 12 and up that are not up-to-date with their vaccinations will also need to take an antigen test within one day of disembarking.
