Yellow fever vaccine and concerns on a Panama Canal cruise

[MandyGirl]

We did 15-nt full transit on Celebrity in November, and there was quite the discussion on our rollcall over if it was required or not for YF vaccine. Celebrity said no but always consult with your personal doctor or CDC. Then CDC website said required if going to Costa Rica *after* coming from an infected country (such as Colombia or Panama - which we were - and those on rollcall said we would not be admitted if didn't have proof). Some people were told by their travel doctors it was required or they needed a note stating they could not have it (over 60, immunocompromised, etc). I had also come across a Costa Rica Embassy website that said "no" which was different from CDC (and ironically had flown to Costa Rica from the US in July, September and October for land vacations - but that was from the US which is a non-infected YF country). Plus the whole discussion of being "in transit" and in Colombia (Cartagena) and Panama (Colon) for under 12 hours in port, whereas a website only mentioned the airport being considered as "in transit".

 

Long story short, not one word was said about the YF vaccine onboard. Our family of 4 (kids age 6 and 10) chose to take the risk and not get it nor did MIL in her late 60s. No note from any of us. Literally did not see one mosquito. Took repellant. Had no problems visiting Costa Rica and Guatemala as some had said on the rollcall were required. I did ask at the shore excursions desk and shared the disconnect conversations from our rollcall thread, but they said other itineraries Yes and Celebrity notifies those passengers, and if you are going deep in the Amazon of course. It was just very interesting people who had travel doctor specialists tell them it was required or compulsory as the term was used, yet once onboard not a single word was said. Honestly made me wonder how much the pharmaceutical companies donate to CDC leaders or travel doctors with all the new hype about over-vaccinating these days. Thankfully no shots being mentioned for our HAL Alaska cruise in June ;)

[Turtles06]

We did 15-nt full transit on Celebrity in November, and there was quite the discussion on our rollcall over if it was required or not for YF vaccine. Celebrity said no but always consult with your personal doctor or CDC. Then CDC website said required if going to Costa Rica *after* coming from an infected country (such as Colombia or Panama - which we were - and those on rollcall said we would not be admitted if didn't have proof). Some people were told by their travel doctors it was required or they needed a note stating they could not have it (over 60, immunocompromised, etc). I had also come across a Costa Rica Embassy website that said "no" which was different from CDC (and ironically had flown to Costa Rica from the US in July, September and October for land vacations - but that was from the US which is a non-infected YF country). Plus the whole discussion of being "in transit" and in Colombia (Cartagena) and Panama (Colon) for under 12 hours in port, whereas a website only mentioned the airport being considered as "in transit".

 

 

The confusion that you reference (I had similar concerns after reading the CDC web site) stems from the fact that, as our travel doc explained it, there are medical requirements and governmental requirements for Yellow Fever vaccines, and they aren't the same. Our doc confirmed that there is no medical reason for us to get the YF vaccine for our Canal cruise. (And given our ages, it's contraindicated.)

 

The issue for us, as it was for you, is whether we would somehow be barred from Costa Rica because of a prior port call in Cartagena, Colombia, without having proof of YF immunization. This is the governmental (not medical) requirement issue. I wrote to NCL about this and was assured in writing that no proof of YF immunization is needed for any port on our cruise.

[MandyGirl]

The confusion that you reference (I had similar concerns after reading the CDC web site) stems from the fact that, as our travel doc explained it, there are medical requirements and governmental requirements for Yellow Fever vaccines, and they aren't the same. Our doc confirmed that there is no medical reason for us to get the YF vaccine for our Canal cruise. (And given our ages, it's contraindicated.)

 

The issue for us, as it was for you, is whether we would somehow be barred from Costa Rica because of a prior port call in Cartagena, Colombia, without having proof of YF immunization. This is the governmental (not medical) requirement issue. I wrote to NCL about this and was assured in writing that no proof of YF immunization is needed for any port on our cruise.

 

Yep - They were saying it was a government thing on our rollcall because of the CDC page and infected countries including previous ports unless you had a medical reason to not have it ( http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/costa-rica ) . I called Celebrity and they also checked a different dept. After researching previous posts here on CC with the same order of ports, I felt fine going into it, but the discussion and those saying it was required or being denied entry was definitely concerning. Ironically none of that discussion started until a month before the cruise, so for those with work trips it was pressing time to get appointments scheduled. Talk about semi-last-minute stress haha! I'm a planner :)