Yellow Fever Vaccination

[Monthend]

Did anyone receive a memo stating they must have a Yellow Fever Vaccination to visit Barbados?

[suzinva]

This is per the CDC:

 

Before visiting Barbados, you may need to get the following vaccinations and medications for vaccine-preventable diseases and other diseases you might be at risk for at your destination: (Note: Your doctor or health-care provider will determine what you will need, depending on factors such as your health and immunization history, areas of the country you will be visiting, and planned activities.)

To have the most benefit, see a health-care provider at least 4–6 weeks before your trip to allow time for your vaccines to take effect.

Even if you have less than 4 weeks before you leave, you should still see a health-care provider for needed vaccines and other medications and information about how to protect yourself from illness and injury while traveling.

CDC recommends that you see a health-care provider who specializes in Travel Medicine. Find a travel medicine clinic near you. If you have a medical condition, you should also share your travel plans with any doctors you are currently seeing for other medical reasons.

If your travel plans will take you to more than one country during a single trip, be sure to let your health-care provider know so that you can receive the appropriate vaccinations and information for all of your destinations. Long-term travelers, such as those who plan to work or study abroad, may also need additional vaccinations as required by their employer or school.

Although yellow fever is not a disease risk in Barbados, the government requires some travelers arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever virus transmission to present proof of yellow fever vaccination. If you will be traveling to Barbados from any country other than the United States, this requirement may affect you. For specific requirement details, see Yellow Fever & Malaria Information, by Country.

Be sure your routine vaccinations are up-to-date. Check the links below to see which vaccinations adults and children should get.

Routine vaccines, as they are often called, such as for influenza, chickenpox (or varicella), polio, measles/mumps/rubella (MMR), and diphtheria/pertussis/tetanus (DPT) are given at all stages of life; see the childhood and adolescent immunization schedule and routine adult immunization schedule.

Routine vaccines are recommended even if you do not travel. Although childhood diseases, such as measles, rarely occur in the United States, they are still common in many parts of the world. A traveler who is not vaccinated would be at risk for infection.

[Herfnerd]

Only needed for those arriving from countries with the risk of yellow fever transmission - the US is not one....

 

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2012/chapter-3-infectious-diseases-related-to-travel/yellow-fever.htm

[Monthend]

Only needed for those arriving from countries with the risk of yellow fever transmission - the US is not one....

 

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2012/chapter-3-infectious-diseases-related-to-travel/yellow-fever.htm

 

That is what the CDC advised me but my travel agent says Carnival may require it anyway.

[golfadj]

This would be news to me. Suggest you contact Carnival.

[suzinva]

That is what the CDC advised me but my travel agent says Carnival may require it anyway.

 

I think it would only apply if you are not a U.S. citizen.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

For our trip to South America ..

[cocontom]

We sort of got caught in this a few weeks ago- Tom and I were the first ones in our group to get tagged, then the TA got the letter for everybody else, and the travel agent sent it up the flagpole. Our TA said they got it fixed with Carnival- you might want to have yours give them a call.

[Herfnerd]

We are sailing to Barbados for our honeymoon cruise (in 45 days!!) and we have yet to get any sort of notification requiring us to get this vaccine....

[JennN]

We also got this notice and it's quite confusing. I wish they would say something like: anyone NOT from the US must get one.

 

How do they tell or keep track? By your passport?

[Monthend]

We also got this notice and it's quite confusing. I wish they would say something like: anyone NOT from the US must get one.

 

How do they tell or keep track? By your passport?

 

It's a bit complicated. If you are from the US but have traveled to a country with yellow fever before traveling to Barbados you would need vaccine.

[bbohbbneedacruise]

OP

Re-read the letter ....

If you will be traveling to Barbados from any country other than the United States, this requirement may affect you.

 

If you live in the USA you are NOT required to have this.

Edited January 5, 2013 by bbohbbneedacruise

[Shellstars]

It's a bit complicated. If you are from the US but have traveled to a country with yellow fever before traveling to Barbados you would need vaccine.

 

I have been going stir crazy trying to get someone in the know to give me a definite yes or no to whether or not I need this vaccine. I am U.S. citizen arriving from the U.S on an upcoming Valor cruise to Barbados. I did take the South American cruise in Feb, and visited Argentina which has portions of infected areas. It doesn't appear to me that I was in such an area but everyone I speak to including a phone call to the CDC, consulate and Carnival just keep reiterating the wording on the sheet and stating I should get it to be on the safe side. Carnival rep told me he was not a doctor and I need to contact a doctor, but that doesn't tell me if I'm going to be denied boarding if I don't have it. I can't seem to confirm if it is if you are only arriving from infected or have traveled to such an area and if so how long ago it needs to have been. I was in Argentina in Feb/Mar 2013.

 

Does anyone know or have recently had this itinerary where they had at some point prior traveled to an infected area and whether or not it was necessary to have? I really don't want to get it if it's not necessary.

I've sent so many emails and made so many phone calls with no yes or no.

 

Any help appreciated!

Thanks,

Shelli

[RhondaC]

Was there on the Valor two weeks ago. No mention of it whatsoever. If you are from the US, you do not need to worry about it. Barbados does NOT have yellow fever. They are requiring people from countries that do have it, to be vaccinated, so they don't bring it to Barbados.

[pghsteelerfan]

We were on Valor this past May. We never received the letter but others on our Roll Call did. We contacted our sales agent whom we booked our cruise through and asked her about it, just in case. She told that the emails are mainly for non-US citizens but many times get sent to US citizens anyway. She said that they would be able to tell by our passport that we had not been to any of those countries but recommended that we also take our flight information (flight to San Juan) to the cruise check-in, just in case. The flight information would prove that we did not fly through an airport in one of the affected countries. When we checked in for our cruise, it was never even an issue and we were never asked about it.

 

To sum it up, you would only need the vaccine if you've been to an affected country and if not, your passport is enough proof, but take your flight info. just in case.

[Mrs.G's Mr.G]

I received the letter prior to my Valor cruise this past April. I called Carnival for a laymans explanation. Just as others have said, it is for anyone that has traveled to a country that requires a yellow fever vaccine of if you are from a country that has it.

 

I was in Rwanda in 2008 on a church mission and we had an unexpected 24 hour lay over in Nairobi Kenya when we were returning home. Both countries require the vaccine and my passport was stamped for both countries. The rep I spoke to told me to bring my documentation (passport yellow card) that proved I had the vaccine.

 

No one, either in San Juan where we embarked or in Barbados when I was boarding at the end of the day ever noticed my African stamps or asked for my documentation. But better safe than sorry.

[JenniLynn]

Thank you CC family! I just received this email for our trip that we booked yesterday, that leaves in 23 days... and I was pretty sure that we were OK, but came here to check. I knew the answer and research was already done, and I knew it would be here! So, THANK YOU, good people of CC for already having this cleared up so I didn't have to look any further! Now I can focus on the important things, like what to pack and how much money we're gonna want to bring!

[4x4TX]

Glad to hear that as a US citizen that has never been to a country with yellow fever there is nothing to do here!