Vaccination requirements for kids?

[Takoyaki]

If a child hasn't been 5 long enough to be fully vaxxed is there an exemption

 For example my daughter turns 5 early April so if we sail on the 20th she couldn't possibly be 2 weeks past 2nd dose. Any info would be much appreciated 

[BirdTravels]

5 minutes ago, Takoyaki said:

If a child hasn't been 5 long enough to be fully vaxxed is there an exemption

 For example my daughter turns 5 early April so if we sail on the 20th she couldn't possibly be 2 weeks past 2nd dose. Any info would be much appreciated 

5 year olds must be fully vaccinated. 
 

Effective for sailings March 1, 2022 and beyond.

For all cruises departing and/or returning to US ports:

All guests age five and over, as well as all crew, must be fully vaccinated, at least 2 weeks prior to departure, in order to board. While we welcome unvaccinated children ages four and under onboard, it is the responsibility of the guest to be aware of any local protocols and/or travel restrictions in place at the visiting destinations at the time of sailing.

[Takoyaki]

18 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

5 year olds must be fully vaccinated. 
 

Effective for sailings March 1, 2022 and beyond.

For all cruises departing and/or returning to US ports:

All guests age five and over, as well as all crew, must be fully vaccinated, at least 2 weeks prior to departure, in order to board. While we welcome unvaccinated children ages four and under onboard, it is the responsibility of the guest to be aware of any local protocols and/or travel restrictions in place at the visiting destinations at the time of sailing.

Ok that's what I saw too, I was just curious if anyone had any experience with our birthday situation 

[njhorseman]

9 minutes ago, Takoyaki said:

Ok that's what I saw too, I was just curious if anyone had any experience with our birthday situation 

NCL does not permit any exceptions to its vaccination rules whether you're 5 or 75.

[FlGoodShips]

1 hour ago, Takoyaki said:

If a child hasn't been 5 long enough to be fully vaxxed is there an exemption

 For example my daughter turns 5 early April so if we sail on the 20th she couldn't possibly be 2 weeks past 2nd dose. Any info would be much appreciated 

Cannot sail. Sorry.

[Takoyaki]

Thanks everyone. Gonna look to sail either before she turns 5 or after vaxxed. Appreciate the answers 

[julig22]

NCL just updated the policy to allow non- vaccinated children under 12 for cruises outside the US.

[njhorseman]

28 minutes ago, julig22 said:

NCL just updated the policy to allow non- vaccinated children under 12 for cruises outside the US.

It's probably worthwhile to start a new thread with that information because it' s radical departure from previous NCL policy.

[julig22]

3 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

It's probably worthwhile to start a new thread with that information because it' s radical departure from previous NCL policy.

Just did - I needed to get to my PC so I could post a copy the actual policy.

[BermudaBound2014]

It's so nice to see things moving in the right direction! 

[mpk218]

Dont forget  Parvo and  Heartworm  ; )

[pandncruisers]

Looks like NCL updated vaccine requirements again,

Mandatory Vaccinations Against Covid-19

Effective for all sailings with embarkation dates through February 28, 2022

In order to provide the safest cruise experience possible, all guests and crew will need to be fully vaccinated for all sailings. As science, technology and government regulations evolve, we will update our health and safety protocols as needed and appropriate.

Effective for all sailings March 1, 2022 and beyond

All guests age twelve and over, as well as all crew, must be fully vaccinated at least 2 weeks prior to departure in order to board. While we welcome unvaccinated children ages eleven and under onboard, it is the responsibility of the guest to be aware of any local protocols and/or travel restrictions in place at the visiting destinations at the time of sailing.

[BermudaBound2014]

2 hours ago, pandncruisers said:

Looks like NCL updated vaccine requirements again,

Mandatory Vaccinations Against Covid-19

Effective for all sailings with embarkation dates through February 28, 2022

In order to provide the safest cruise experience possible, all guests and crew will need to be fully vaccinated for all sailings. As science, technology and government regulations evolve, we will update our health and safety protocols as needed and appropriate.

Effective for all sailings March 1, 2022 and beyond

All guests age twelve and over, as well as all crew, must be fully vaccinated at least 2 weeks prior to departure in order to board. While we welcome unvaccinated children ages eleven and under onboard, it is the responsibility of the guest to be aware of any local protocols and/or travel restrictions in place at the visiting destinations at the time of sailing.

 

Is this true for US sailings also? If so, that is a big change and probably warrants it's own thread. I suspect LOTS of folks will start booking if children under 12 do not need to be vaccinated. 

 

Just a FYI: Sailings outside of the US already changed to allowed 11 and under to forego the vaccination.

Edited February 19, 2022 by BermudaBound2014

[pandncruisers]

That is what is on NCL sail safe page but then on the same page under 'face coverings' is this info so one of the notices is not correct.

Effective fleetwide on March 1, 2022:

Our cruises will operate with 100% vaccination of crew and guests age five and over, therefore face coverings are not required while onboard. However, we recognize the added protections provided when wearing a mask covering and recommend that all guests do so onboard when indoors, except when actively eating or drinking, or seated at a table in a dining setting, or when in their stateroom. Mask coverings are also recommended outdoors when physical distancing of at least six (6) feet cannot be maintained. The decision to wear a mask covering when onboard is at the discretion of each guest.

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Is this true for US sailings also? If so, that is a big change and probably warrants it's own thread. I suspect LOTS of folks will start booking if children under 12 do not need to be vaccinated. 

 

Just a FYI: Sailings outside of the US already changed to allowed 11 and under to forego the vaccination.

The vaccine requirement on the NCL website is not limited to international. 

[Takoyaki]

Very interesting because sail safe says 12 and over but if you go to book a cruise it still says 5 and over. I understand regulations but at least be consistent 

[jstewartgt]

On 2/13/2022 at 2:56 PM, Takoyaki said:

If a child hasn't been 5 long enough to be fully vaxxed is there an exemption

 For example my daughter turns 5 early April so if we sail on the 20th she couldn't possibly be 2 weeks past 2nd dose. Any info would be much appreciated 

 

We initially thought we might run into this in Alaska, but it ended up not being an issue with our timeline and vaccines being released for 12 and under.  In our case it was an 11 year old turning to 12 and our solution was we were going to just start the vaccine a couple weeks before the birthday.  I don't think there is anything magic about the actual birthday and as long as it's close there should be an issue.

[MinnieSconie16]

We are booked for a cruise in 40 days.  When we made our final payment, it was fully vaccinated requirements for 5 and over.  We then got a letter saying the mask mandate was removed and 0-4 could be unvaccinated was implied in the letter (wasn’t fully called out) but the website Sail Safe still said over 5 were to be fully vaccinated EXCEPT for non-US cruises.  However, now the Sail Safe does say under 11 can be unvaccinated.  I am a NCL fan normally but am very frustrated that this keeps changing after we are paid in full.  I can understand something like a mask mandate being “fluid” but the vaccine requirement constantly changing on cruises after they are past the “pay in full” date does feel wrong and like we had a bait & switch pulled on us.  We were continuing to cruise with NCL due to their vaccination stance and now aren’t sure what we are going to do as we have under 12s that we would prefer to be around fully vax’d peers and that’s what we thought we had bought into.

[moosecrouse]

They still need to sail with 95% vaccination rate for all passengers so it will be interesting to see how that works. Even at full capacity you'd only be talking about 200 total unvaccinated and they aren't close to full.

[MinnieSconie16]

Yeah but 200 unvaccinated would be all under 12 and all together at Splash Academy as I will make a bet it will be open again.  At the very least, they should put restrictions in like other lines as to venues that unvaccinated can be at like maybe no Splash Academy?

[njkate]

On 2/14/2022 at 8:51 PM, julig22 said:

Just did - I needed to get to my PC so I could post a copy the actual policy.

Hmm so if you were to do an Alaska cruise Vancouver/Vancouver the under 12 unvaccinated would apply?

[BermudaBound2014]

5 hours ago, moosecrouse said:

They still need to sail with 95% vaccination rate for all passengers…

Are you sure? I thought that the 95% rule was voluntary now. At this point I don’t see any cruise line actively turning away paying guests. 

Edited February 22, 2022 by BermudaBound2014

[Karaboudjan]

12 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Are you sure? I thought that the 95% rule was voluntary now. At this point I don’t see any cruise line actively turning away paying guests. 

You need 95% vaccinated to be considered 'Highly Vaccinated' by the CDC.  All NCL ships are opted in and listed under that classification so they should be adhering to the 95%.  Same for pretty much everyone else except MSC.

[BermudaBound2014]

8 minutes ago, Karaboudjan said:

You need 95% vaccinated to be considered 'Highly Vaccinated' by the CDC.  All NCL ships are opted in and listed under that classification so they should be adhering to the 95%.  Same for pretty much everyone else except MSC.

Except ncl opted to remove masks. My understanding is that changes everything according to the cdc. What am I missing? 

[Karaboudjan]

13 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Except ncl opted to remove masks. My understanding is that changes everything according to the cdc. What am I missing? 

 

That is not clear to me.  I have seen in multiple news stories that ships are allowed to lift masking requirements if 95% of passengers and crew are vaccinated.  However, from what I can see in the CDC documents you would have to meet the Vaccine Standard of Excellence to be exempt from masking.  Someone did point out some verbiage about 'discretion' so maybe the CDC is using that discretion to not require masks for Highly Vaccinated ships at this point.