Saga announces only vaccinated passengers can sail. Do you think Princess will follow?

[quakershaker]

It was mentioned upthread that many people do not have their childhood vaccination records. When I was in the military in the 90s I did not have immediate access to my childhood vaccination records and I needed them right away to prove vaccination. Guess what? I had to be revaccinated for everything. So, if Princess (or any cruise line) wanted to they could require vaccination records, no exceptions. People could get re vaccinated or get titers to prove immunity. As was also mentioned, if countries are going to require certain vaccinations, passengers will have no choice but to get them if they want to enter that country.

 

I think Princess will eventually require evidence of COVID vaccine to travel. If it isn’t required right away, it will be required once the vaccine is widely available. Children might be an exception since the vaccine is currently not available for them. There are currently clinical trials for children though, so that exception could soon disappear.

 

My opinion is that there will not be cruising this year, but time will tell.

[brisalta]

3 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

In the short term, you are probably right.  However, there is a difference between old people and middle aged people who either don't or are done w their kids.  Also, in today's world, many younger people decide not to have kids so the ship will not be 100% old people.

 

DON

 

During my cruises with Princess CL I have seen plenty of younger adult passengers on board without children.

[quakershaker]

5 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

I see a major point overlooked here, If every passenger is vaccinated they are approx 95% protected even if they cross paths with someone who isn't. The crew would be safe from passengers if all pax were vaccinated and vica versa. The danger would essentially be to the crew if they went ashore where it is unknown if the people they encounter are not vaccinated or carriers. Pax wouldn't be at such a risk if they had their vaccination. 

The problem right now is that we do not yet know if the vaccinated can transmit covid to others. Until that question is definitively answered we have to assume that the vaccinated can still be contagious to others. If this is the case, the crew is not protected.

[Syracusefan44]

After listening to a Princess webinar last week it sounds like the decision to require COVID19 vaccinations will come from the ports of call not the cruise line.

 

If Princess is traveling to a port of call that requires a COVID19 vaccine then they will require all passengers to be vaccinated prior to boarding the ship.

[jennybenny]

I am comfortable with the requirement. DH just got his first vaccination, and my oldest and I plan to get ours when they are available to us, but if Princess requires that all passengers have a vaccine to cruise that excludes my youngest son from eligibility. I was hoping children would have an exemption, but I wouldn't be mad at Princess. If Covid vaccinations were required for everyone it means cruising would be off the table for us for a few years and that's OK. 

 

Princess will do whatever they need to to survive. I'll patiently wait to see what happens when cruising resumes in the USA. 

Edited January 22, 2021 by jennybenny

[dog]

50 minutes ago, Syracusefan44 said:

After listening to a Princess webinar last week it sounds like the decision to require COVID19 vaccinations will come from the ports of call not the cruise line.

 

If Princess is traveling to a port of call that requires a COVID19 vaccine then they will require all passengers to be vaccinated prior to boarding the ship.

Good point. 
recently Canada has required testing prior to getting on a flight to Canada & then 2 week quarantine once here. 
what ports require will determine what is needed: testing negative / vaccine proof. Etc 

[SinbadThePorter]

3 hours ago, Ombud said:

So what will Carnival, Disney, & RCI do? The lines with playgrounds onboard. Will they remove those areas?

 

Leave the waterslides, they're fun even for old crocks like me.

 

I just wish they'd install a chair lift to the top. 😁

[Ombud]

Think of it as a stairmaster. Must work off daily desserts somehow

[Thrak]

We won't even consider cruising unless we've had the vaccinations so it's not a big deal to us. We're "in the queue" to be notified when it's our turn. I got the Hep A shots when we went to Tahiti. They weren't required but I got them anyway. If they require certain things and we want to cruise we will meet the requirements.

[beg3yrs]

4 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

Not likely... I don't need the MMR vaccination because I already had Measles, Mumps, and Rubella as a child. I also had Chickenpox. Having had those diseases I don't have any sort of vaccination records for them. Some of the others - Polio and DPT - were very commonly done when I was young but I don't have any sort of record to verify them. I guess the scar on my shoulder might provide partial proof. How in the world would people go about getting documentation of things done 60 or 70 years ago when they were children?

I think nini may have been a bit sarcastic. Not sure though...

[cruzsnooze]

5 hours ago, quakershaker said:

The problem right now is that we do not yet know if the vaccinated can transmit covid to others. Until that question is definitively answered we have to assume that the vaccinated can still be contagious to others. If this is the case, the crew is not protected.

I'm reading the Maderno vaccine prevents the virus from attaching to a host so you won't be a typhoid Mary but the pfizer does not so I won't take anything but Moderno.

[jennybenny]

6 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

I'm reading the Maderno vaccine prevents the virus from attaching to a host so you won't be a typhoid Mary but the pfizer does not so I won't take anything but Moderno.

I don't know that we will have a choice with Kaiser, but I also prefer Moderna. The reason being I don't trust the temperature requirements will be maintained during transportation and storage of the Pfizer vaccine.

[caribill]

11 hours ago, tcdcruiser said:

I remember passengers being denied boarding because they failed to get a Brazilian visa.   This will likely be just another boarding requirement. 

 

I remember passengers being denied boarding on Princess because they did not have proof of yellow fever vaccination on a cruise where Brazil required it.

[caribill]

10 hours ago, memoak said:

Several years ago I had to show proof of malaria protection to even get on an airplane to the Amazonia region of Brazil and show yellow fever vaccination proof to get on the ship in Manaus because our itinerary included Devils Island 

 

I am surprised at that. If you stop at Devil's Island on the way to Brazil, then Brazil requires this.

 

But if you join the ship in Manaus and then later stop at Devil's Island, Brazil does not care.

[caribill]

4 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

I'm reading the Maderno vaccine prevents the virus from attaching to a host so you won't be a typhoid Mary but the pfizer does not so I won't take anything but Moderno.

 

Usually you will have no choice what vaccine you will get. If you are lucky enough to get an appointment, you will get whatever they have that day.

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Usually you will have no choice what vaccine you will get. If you are lucky enough to get an appointment, you will get whatever they have that day.

I believe that is true. We got our vaccinations yesterday, and it was the Moderna. There really was no choice.

[sandancer]

Definitely no choice in the UK. I had the Astra Zeneca (NHS staff) and DH had the Pfizer. We were both so glad to get it that we were happy to take either. Just wish we didn’t have to wait 10 weeks for second shot. I understand the reasoning behind the way it is being distributed but still uneasy about the time between shots. 

[Tak8]

I can see the vaccine being required to sail.  Even without being 100%, cruise lines want to show they can be relatively safe again.  Required vaccines would help.

[deliver42]

I got the Moderna Thursday, and there was no choice. It depends on which one the provider gets. One thing is sure. Youcan't mix them. One shot of each. They both have to be the same.

[Grego]

Once again we have a variety of opinions based upon guesswork.  Only thing I know for certain is that we get our second vaccination next week and we have a Caribbean voyage booked for May 15th and we do plan on being on board.

[ontheweb]

25 minutes ago, Grego said:

Once again we have a variety of opinions based upon guesswork.  Only thing I know for certain is that we get our second vaccination next week and we have a Caribbean voyage booked for May 15th and we do plan on being on board.

You will be ok with the vaccine, but the questions are will the cruise line be sailing and will ports accept ships.

 

Wishing you luck with that date, and if it does go write a review so we can also see what will have changed and what remained the same.

[wowzz]

The point that has been missed is that to cruise with Saga you have to be over 50 (theoretically if you are under 50 you can cruise as long as your partner is over 50) and in practice the vast majority of pax will be 60 or older.

The intention in the UK is that every adult over the age of 55 will have had two vaccinations by mid summer,  so theoretically the new Saga policy will coincide with the UK vaccination schedule. Ships will sail at 80% capacity,  so 800 rather than 1000 pax, and masks, social distancing etc will remain in place.  Whilst the crew will not be vaccinated,  they will all have been quarantined prior to joining the ship, so, in theory, the ship will become a Covid free zone. The obvious issue relates to shore excursions, but I assume that the crew will not be allowed ashore.

A Carnival insider on the P&O forum, has said that Carnival UK will not be requiring cruisers to have been vaccinated as and when cruising restarts, because at present it could be the end of 2021 before every adult in the UK has been offered the vaccine.

 

[beg3yrs]

11 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

I'm reading the Maderno vaccine prevents the virus from attaching to a host so you won't be a typhoid Mary but the pfizer does not so I won't take anything but Moderno.

Both vaccines work by 'teaching' the immune system to attack the spike protein that allows the virus to attach and then penetrate cells.

[Daniel A]

30 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Ships will sail at 80% capacity,  so 800 rather than 1000 pax, and masks, social distancing etc will remain in place. 

According to a CNN news article: "Saga confirmed to CNN Travel that it will still instigate other safety measures on board its sailings, including reduced capacity, pre-departure Covid-19 testing, social distancing, increasing cabin air flow and improving on-board medical facilities."  There was no mention of a continuing need to wear masks onboard. 

[wowzz]

23 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

According to a CNN news article: "Saga confirmed to CNN Travel that it will still instigate other safety measures on board its sailings, including reduced capacity, pre-departure Covid-19 testing, social distancing, increasing cabin air flow and improving on-board medical facilities."  There was no mention of a continuing need to wear masks onboard. 

From the Saga website.

"Unless exempt, face coverings must be worn in all internal public areas, for all guests and staff."

Also, the chauffeur service will be changed so that there will be no shared vehicles.  (Saga provide an included chauffeur service to and from their ships)