RCCL just announced a new policy - basically ALL Canadians will be considered unvaccinated even after 2 shots!!!!

[Russ Lomas]

I think we will all need to flood Michael Bayley's email to have them QUICKLY reverse this decision.

 

Based on what is now posted on the RCCL website, you must have both of your vaccines (regardless of type) less than 42 days apart, otherwise you are considered unvaccinated by RCCL rules.  I do not think there are any (or VERY few Canadians) who were vaccinated less than 42 days apart due to supply shortages.

 

From the RCCL website below:

 

The U.S. CDC advises that a vaccine series should be completed with products from the same manufacturer, as the safety of a mixed-product series has not been fully evaluated. However, Royal Caribbean will accommodate guests who are vaccinated with mixed mRNA vaccines, such as 1 shot of Pfizer and 1 shot of Moderna. The doses must be separated by at least 28 days and not more than 42 days.

 

If you look at the CDC website, this is their recommendation:

You should get your second shot as close to the recommended 3-week or 4-week interval as possible. However, your second dose may be given up to 6 weeks (42 days) after the first dose, if necessary. You should not get the second dose early. There is currently limited information on the effectiveness of receiving your second shot earlier than recommended or later than 6 weeks after the first shot.

 

That will basically mean all Canadians are now considered UNVACCINATED according to the new info on the RCCL site.  This really screws us fully vaccinated Canadians who got two of the same vaccine.

 

Our travel agent has reached out to RCCL for clarification, but I think Mr. Bayley's email needs to be flooded to get them to reverse this decision.

 

mbayley@rccl.com

 

[canadianbear]

Wow, just wow.  Yup-that would eliminate most, if not all, Canadians.  That’s just crazy and hope this gets changed ASAP. 

[iancal]

NP. RCI is not the only game in town.

 

It is their cruise line, they make the rules. We can vote with our feet and with  our wallets.

 

We are beginning to think the same way about travel to Florida.

[DirtyDawg]

Chill, it's Saturday, by Monday they might change the rules again. And then the following week, something completely different. And the following week ...

 

Looks like we'll be experiencing some rough seas until this mess gets resolved. 

[K_e_short]

This is getting insanely frustrating.

 

Yes there are other cruiselines but i they are using the CDC as their rules (which I know they aren't following what the CDC says but thats what they are saying), then what stops other cruiselines from doing the same thing?

 

 

[trtog7]

Is RCCL going to refund money to Canadians that are booked on their cruises because they changed the rules about vaccinations?

[iancal]

20 minutes ago, trtog7 said:

Is RCCL going to refund money to Canadians that are booked on their cruises because they changed the rules about vaccinations?

IF you have a booking why not ask them? If not, it hardly matters.

 

I have no doubt that this will change.  It is probably a minor hiccup. 

 

Keep calm, keep your hair on.   Wait for updated information.

 

Not worth jumping off a bridge at this point in time.

Edited July 24, 2021 by iancal

[cruzincanuck]

We will wait and see if the policy is relaxed a bit. .  By September- early October, we will have to make a decision on our Jan cruise.  We are fully vaccinated, 2 doses of Pfizer....but 9 weeks apart.  Sad that we are being penalized at this time.  I do not want to cruise on RCL if I am considered unvaccinated.  Not being able to access to some venues and having to take ship sponsored excursions at inflated prices are not flying well with me at this moment.   

[pastis]

If you take a closer look at what was mentioned from the RCCL website, the separation of the doses schedule is pertaining to mixed vaccines from different manufacturers.  

[cruzincanuck]

19 minutes ago, pastis said:

If you take a closer look at what was mentioned from the RCCL website, the separation of the doses schedule is pertaining to mixed vaccines from different manufacturers.  

Thanks 🙂   It was not clear to me as it referred to the CDC guidelines which I do not know if they require strict adherence to the timeline prescribed by the manufacturer

Edited July 25, 2021 by cruzincanuck

[billyu]

I read as this only applies if you does are mixed

 

[Russ Lomas]

6 hours ago, iancal said:

IF you have a booking why not ask them? If not, it hardly matters.

 

I have no doubt that this will change.  It is probably a minor hiccup. 

 

Keep calm, keep your hair on.   Wait for updated information.

 

Not worth jumping off a bridge at this point in time.

We tried asking them but they have to run it up the flagpole to an appropriate person who does not work weekends.  I agree that this will change, but what about those of us who have flights booked in a couple of days for a cruise next week and have had this sprung on us at the last minute?  We met all of RCCL's policy requirements as of Friday morning and then Friday afternoon they add this one on.  If RCCL only has one or two people questioning this decision, they will not feel any urgency to address the policy.  If people realize it may affect them, then standing together to write a short email may get their attention faster and help those of us (hopefully) cruising soon.

 

5 hours ago, pastis said:

If you take a closer look at what was mentioned from the RCCL website, the separation of the doses schedule is pertaining to mixed vaccines from different manufacturers.  

I too read it that way but my travel agent, who follows these board closely, referred me to a post of an individual who called RCCL and spoke to a supervisor.  That individual posted on CruiseCritic that the supervisor told them that it not only refers to those with mixed vaccinations but to ALL individuals who received their 2nd dose outside of the 2 week window.

 

5 hours ago, cruzincanuck said:

Thanks 🙂   It was not clear to me as it referred to the CDC guidelines which I do not know if they require strict adherence to the timeline prescribed by the manufacturer

Please see my comment above for my concerns why this will affect those of us who got the same vaccine twice outside of the 42 day window.

 

4 hours ago, billyu said:

I read as this only applies if you does are mixed

Please see my comment above for my concerns why this will affect those of us who got the same vaccine twice outside of the 42 day window.

[Magicat]

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-vaccines-are-accepted

 

Here is the link on Royal's website for types of vaccines accepted.  There seems to be different rules for different regions.

[Magicat]

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/do-i-need-a-covid-vaccine-to-cruise-what-counts-as-proof

 

Here is another interesting one that details vaccination requirements per ship, port and sailing.  Interesting that the Harmony TA will require ALL guests and crew to be vaccinated.  

[squadron]

19 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

I think we will all need to flood Michael Bayley's email to have them QUICKLY reverse this decision.

 

Based on what is now posted on the RCCL website, you must have both of your vaccines (regardless of type) less than 42 days apart, otherwise you are considered unvaccinated by RCCL rules.  I do not think there are any (or VERY few Canadians) who were vaccinated less than 42 days apart due to supply shortages.

 

From the RCCL website below:

 

The U.S. CDC advises that a vaccine series should be completed with products from the same manufacturer, as the safety of a mixed-product series has not been fully evaluated. However, Royal Caribbean will accommodate guests who are vaccinated with mixed mRNA vaccines, such as 1 shot of Pfizer and 1 shot of Moderna. The doses must be separated by at least 28 days and not more than 42 days.

 

If you look at the CDC website, this is their recommendation:

You should get your second shot as close to the recommended 3-week or 4-week interval as possible. However, your second dose may be given up to 6 weeks (42 days) after the first dose, if necessary. You should not get the second dose early. There is currently limited information on the effectiveness of receiving your second shot earlier than recommended or later than 6 weeks after the first shot.

 

That will basically mean all Canadians are now considered UNVACCINATED according to the new info on the RCCL site.  This really screws us fully vaccinated Canadians who got two of the same vaccine.

 

Our travel agent has reached out to RCCL for clarification, but I think Mr. Bayley's email needs to be flooded to get them to reverse this decision.

 

mbayley@rccl.com

 

 

[cruzincanuck]

3 hours ago, squadron said:

 

Email sent to mbayley@rccl.com  🙂

Edited July 25, 2021 by cruzincanuck

[poffles]

Feel bad for anyone sailing in the near future as this is all so muddled and ever changing.  Glad I'm not sailing anytime soon as this is just too much stress to have to add to all the other things one has to consider to travel even under 'normal' times 😞  I have same first/second (Pfizer) vaccine but ironically I was just saying to a friend yesterday that technically the time lapse between our doses is a tad longer than advised so that could come into play and then I read this today ... !

 

I can't imagine showing up to the cruise port to have it go like this:  

       Cruise agent:   That is not an acceptable vaccine to be considered 'vaccinated'.

       Me:  It was yesterday, I double checked.

       Cruise agent:   Yes that was yesterday, welcome to today.

 

Good luck to everyone sailing soon and hope this all settles to something sensible.

[JillK]

First off, thanks for posting this both here and on the Royal discussion thread. This is a policy I was not aware of. 

 

I'm not cruising with Royal until Aug 2022 and hope that things are different by then. I have a $3500 FCC that I'm stuck with forcing me to cruise with Royal by Sept 2022 or loose the investment.

 

Unless this new policy changes (for us there is plenty of time for it to do so- that's the good news) that would mean only my husband could cruise "vaccinated" while my daughters and I would be considered unvaccinated (48, 49 and 43 days between doses)... and we were accelerated due to living in a Delta-variant hotspot! 

 

FWIW, there is no way that I am going to cruise if, as someone who is considered fully vaccinated at home, I am restricted to unvaccinated spaces only. I'm just not comfortable with this - we have all been through so much here in Ontario with the various lockdowns that my family has strictly adhered to and we have done our due diligence to protect both ourselves and those in our community by getting vaccinated. If this policy remains in place, I will walk away from my money so Royal will win the short term, but I will choose not to cruise with them again. 

 

My mother and father also have an FCC as they were going to join us last year and they are currently booked to cruise in November. I have sent them your thread as I know they are beyond 42 days between doses and may want to review their options and be flexible watching for a policy change. 

 

What Americans reading these threads in particular likely do not appreciate is all the extra expense we Canadian cruisers take on.... flying is significantly more expensive for us as we do not have a competitive market and the exchange rate hasn't been favourable in some time. These ancillary considerations do factor into our cruise vacation overall. 

Edited July 26, 2021 by JillK

[DHLuCruise]

@JillK I'm 100% with you on this. We've all been vaccinated in our household with everyone getting matching vaccines (the adults by luck not by choice) and 3/4 of us from 50-64 days in terms of vaccination intervals. There is no way I'm getting on a cruise ship to be considered unvaccinated when we are truly protected and last I checked -- we're doing pretty well here in Canada.

 

Royal needs to CYA and I get it. I just wont cruise until this gets resolved. Its not such a hard choice.

[3Shelaghs]

15 minutes ago, JillK said:

First off, thanks for posting this both here and on the Royal discussion thread. This is a policy I was not aware of. 

 

I'm not cruising with Royal until Aug 2022 and hope that things are different by then. I have a $3500 FCC that I'm stuck with forcing me to cruise with Royal by Sept 2022 or loose the investment.

FWIW, there is no way that I am going to cruise if, as someone who is considered fully vaccinated at home, I am restricted to unvaccinated spaces only. I'm just not comfortable with this - we have all been through so much here in Ontario with the various lockdowns that my family has strictly adhered to and we have done our due diligence to protect both ourselves and those in our community by getting vaccinated. If this policy remains in place, I will walk away from my money so Royal will win the short term, but I will choose not to cruise with them again. 

 

What Americans reading these threads in particular likely do not appreciate is all the extra expense we Canadian cruisers take on.... flying is significantly more expensive for us as we do not have a competitive market and the exchange rate hasn't been favourable in some time. These ancillary considerations do factor into our cruise vacation overall. 

AMEN!! Exactly our story! Only difference is our FCC is $6900.Cdn. We pushed 3rd time, to fall 2022 (after persistence)so time may be the healer, but we are in full agreement to walk from money if necessary, and will NOT give them notice to prevent cruise line from resale of cabin. We have been loyal long time cruisers, and there are hundreds of us who will spend our money elsewhere in future. 
In addition to very expensive flights there has always been car rentals, pre and post cruise hotels, restaurants, shopping etc etc etc etc. All monies spent in US states.

 

btw- Celebrity promised us last week “all will work out, we will be fine to cruise”...how come one branch of a company can know this but the others don’t?

[iancal]

hat Americans reading these threads in particular likely do not appreciate is all the extra expense we Canadian cruisers take on.... flying is significantly more expensive for us as we do not have a competitive market and the exchange rate hasn't been favourable in some time. These ancillary considerations do factor into our cruise vacation overall. 

Edited 7 minutes ago by JillK

 

Extra expense?

 

Our experience in buying flights to Europe, Asia, and even SA over the last few years is that airfares from Canada are as low and in some instances lower than those from the US-adjusted for currency.

 

Certainly our domstic fares are higher, but once we start shopping prices to international destinations  we have found the fares competitive, adjusted for currency.

 

There have been times when we have paid almost the same fare to fly to Bangkok or London/Rome from western Canada as we would  have paid to fly to Toronto!  

Edited July 26, 2021 by iancal

[poffles]

47 minutes ago, JillK said:

First off, thanks for posting this both here and on the Royal discussion thread. This is a policy I was not aware of. 

 

I'm not cruising with Royal until Aug 2022 and hope that things are different by then. I have a $3500 FCC that I'm stuck with forcing me to cruise with Royal by Sept 2022 or loose the investment.

 

Unless this new policy changes (for us there is plenty of time for it to do so- that's the good news) that would mean only my husband could cruise "vaccinated" while my daughters and I would be considered unvaccinated (48, 49 and 43 days between doses)... and we were accelerated due to living in a Delta-variant hotspot! 

 

FWIW, there is no way that I am going to cruise if, as someone who is considered fully vaccinated at home, I am restricted to unvaccinated spaces only. I'm just not comfortable with this - we have all been through so much here in Ontario with the various lockdowns that my family has strictly adhered to and we have done our due diligence to protect both ourselves and those in our community by getting vaccinated. If this policy remains in place, I will walk away from my money so Royal will win the short term, but I will choose not to cruise with them again. 

 

My mother and father also have an FCC as they were going to join us last year and they are currently booked to cruise in November. I have sent them your thread as I know they are beyond 42 days between doses and may want to review their options and be flexible watching for a policy change. 

 

What Americans reading these threads in particular likely do not appreciate is all the extra expense we Canadian cruisers take on.... flying is significantly more expensive for us as we do not have a competitive market and the exchange rate hasn't been favourable in some time. These ancillary considerations do factor into our cruise vacation overall. 

 

Hope it all works out for you.  I think the other thing that is also yet to be realized is for now this all might be fine but eventually industries will be impacted without cruisers like us outside the US since Canada is not the only country that is doing what they deem necessary (within reasonably acceptable means yet to be validated with time) to keep COVID at bay  .. our data seems to be supporting what we've done so I will not fault our government.

 

My future cruises might have to be from the UK or other countries that recognize our country practices. Alternatively I think it will work itself out when global organizations have the scientific evidence they require to expand what is recognized as vaccinated.

 

Liability is surely in play here with organizations having to work with 'official' statements from Pfizer and Moderna and other health organizations that guide each country, a lot of tied hands and so much back and forth which reminds us that COVID has so many levels across the world and it's not disappearing anytime soon.  😞

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by poffles

[bob&france]

My conversation with Royal ´confirmed ´ my thoughts… for double vaccinated guests with the same provider (  and from the approved list )

there is no mention of timeline between the doses. The only place timeline restrictions are mentioned is for mixed doses. It seems like the original poster chose to neglect the first paragraph ?

just my 2 cents..

[poffles]

18 minutes ago, bob&france said:

My conversation with Royal ´confirmed ´ my thoughts… for double vaccinated guests with the same provider (  and from the approved list )

there is no mention of timeline between the doses. The only place timeline restrictions are mentioned is for mixed doses. It seems like the original poster chose to neglect the first paragraph ?

just my 2 cents..

 

Well that is definitely an important distinction.

[karebare22]

On 7/24/2021 at 3:46 PM, Russ Lomas said:

I think we will all need to flood Michael Bayley's email to have them QUICKLY reverse this decision.

 

Based on what is now posted on the RCCL website, you must have both of your vaccines (regardless of type) less than 42 days apart, otherwise you are considered unvaccinated by RCCL rules.  I do not think there are any (or VERY few Canadians) who were vaccinated less than 42 days apart due to supply shortages.

 

From the RCCL website below:

 

The U.S. CDC advises that a vaccine series should be completed with products from the same manufacturer, as the safety of a mixed-product series has not been fully evaluated. However, Royal Caribbean will accommodate guests who are vaccinated with mixed mRNA vaccines, such as 1 shot of Pfizer and 1 shot of Moderna. The doses must be separated by at least 28 days and not more than 42 days.

 

If you look at the CDC website, this is their recommendation:

You should get your second shot as close to the recommended 3-week or 4-week interval as possible. However, your second dose may be given up to 6 weeks (42 days) after the first dose, if necessary. You should not get the second dose early. There is currently limited information on the effectiveness of receiving your second shot earlier than recommended or later than 6 weeks after the first shot.

 

That will basically mean all Canadians are now considered UNVACCINATED according to the new info on the RCCL site.  This really screws us fully vaccinated Canadians who got two of the same vaccine.

 

Our travel agent has reached out to RCCL for clarification, but I think Mr. Bayley's email needs to be flooded to get them to reverse this decision.

 

mbayley@rccl.com

 

Thanks for bringing attention to this. I’ve looked carefully at the wording on vaccine requirements (same vaccine for both vs mixed vaccines) and it’s still not clear to me. Email sent. Just by pure luck, my family received doses of the same vaccine so I thought we would be OK for our Aug 20 Alaska Ovation of the Seas cruise, but now I’m concerned. It was 47 days between the doses for my hubby and I. I asked for clarification before we book our flight to Seattle, and any excursions.