When did RCCL make vaccinations mandatory for adults?

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, CUontheC said:

Oh wow thank you so much!!!!

If you do book a cruise probably best to book for an off time when not a lot of kids are sailing since ships are only allowed 10% unvaccinated.   And as soon as you book apply for the exemption request.   Do not wait until closer to your sailing.  I have read on CC some people wait till they are 30 days within sailing and then find out a couple days before sailing they were denied.

Edited July 13, 2022 by Sunshine3601

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, CUontheC said:

It just seems like the vaccine was given last year.  I wonder how effective it is at this point.  You don't need a booster just the vaccine.  And so many people have had it already.  I so want to cruise but am unable to get the vaccine.  Have been doing many other vacations which have been wonderful.  But would love to get back on a ship again.  Hopefully one day...

You do realize that you need to load your vaccine record AND your booster record when you check in for a cruise. 

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, CUontheC said:

Princess, NCL, Celebrity, Disney, Carnival, Royal Caribbean do not.  

They do for countries that require it. And at least Royal requires you to load your booster records at check in. For us, we load the same card twice. 

[MommaBear55]

3 hours ago, time4u2go said:

Some cruise lines do require a booster.

It's the country the ship is sailing to that actually requires a booster if your initial doses are more than 270 days prior to the cruise. 

[pcur]

26 minutes ago, CUontheC said:

I was reading about that.  Wow that is not enough notice.  Seriously why would they not know sooner.  I sure hope it works out for you and your family and you all get to go. 

I think this statement is "running the show" about how many unvaccinated people can be on any given cruise:

 operational capacity restrictions that restrict the number of unvaccinated guests we can carry

Meaning, it's dependent upon how many overall passengers there are, and how many vaccination accommodation requests they've received.  My guess is they will fill the ship first, and then take a look at the vaccination accommodation requests. 

 

I'd book with a refundable deposit, or move the booking to another cruise if you cannot sail.  I'd also book with an airline that gives credits for cancelled reservations.  I love Southwest for this.  

 

Also, the cruise ship may be your destination in some ports.  

 

 

[skyking]

1 hour ago, Marie51 said:

We have a cruise booked for the end of August with my granddaughter who cannot get vaccinated due to medical reasons. We submitted all the necessary paperwork including a letter from her doctor explaining all the reasons she should not get the vaccine for Covid. We have now been told that we will be notified in the middle of August as to whether or not we will be going on the cruise. So this is really only two weeks notice. 

And it will most likely be denied, they percentage is super low 

[kitkat343]

 

1 hour ago, Sunshine3601 said:

If you do book a cruise probably best to book for an off time when not a lot of kids are sailing since ships are only allowed 10% unvaccinated.   And as soon as you book apply for the exemption request.   Do not wait until closer to your sailing.  I have read on CC some people wait till they are 30 days within sailing and then find out a couple days before sailing they were denied.

 

 

It may get easier - until recently, a large percentage of the vaccine exemptions went to children under 5, who couldn't be vaccinated.  But since they can now, there may be more space for people like the previous poster who stated he cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.  Your recommendation to sail during the school year is still a good one, because vaccination rates among children are lower than adults, so the unvaccinated poster has a better chance of having their exemption accepted with fewer other applicants (plus I would imagine it should be at least a little safer if more people on the ship are vaccinated for those unable to be vaccinated.  Obviously still a higher risk decision to cruise, but maybe a little safer than a summer cruise with lots of unvaccinated kids). 

Edited July 13, 2022 by kitkat343

[hazeleyes46]

13 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

You do realize that you need to load your vaccine record AND your booster record when you check in for a cruise. 

You don't need a booster to cruise on most ships. I haven't even uploaded my kids vaccination records yet and we are checked in. 

[Marie51]

13 hours ago, pcur said:

I think this statement is "running the show" about how many unvaccinated people can be on any given cruise:

 operational capacity restrictions that restrict the number of unvaccinated guests we can carry

Meaning, it's dependent upon how many overall passengers there are, and how many vaccination accommodation requests they've received.  My guess is they will fill the ship first, and then take a look at the vaccination accommodation requests. 

 

I'd book with a refundable deposit, or move the booking to another cruise if you cannot sail.  I'd also book with an airline that gives credits for cancelled reservations.  I love Southwest for this.  

 

Also, the cruise ship may be your destination in some ports.  

 

 

In our case I have considered moving to another cruise but then we have to go through the whole process of submitting everything and waiting and waiting and waiting until two weeks before the cruise to find out if we’re going. Right now our cruise is the end of August going to CocoCay and Labadee so no other ports to worry about. School starts mid August where we live so perhaps that will cut down on the number of kids on board.

Southwest does not fly out of the city where we live so that’s not an option.

[Biker19]

15 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

You do realize that you need to load your vaccine record AND your booster record when you check in for a cruise. 

No, you don't.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

15 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

You do realize that you need to load your vaccine record AND your booster record when you check in for a cruise. 

We sail Sunday (knock on wood).  We didn't upload booster records (only DW has one).  Boosters are only required for certain sailings.

[crzndeb]

17 hours ago, skyking said:

Unless you are cruising those cruise lines in Europe, which then it is required no longer than 270 days. 

Can you point me where it says that? I think the majority of people got their vaccines in the early part of 2021, which makes them well over a year now. So if you are talking about recent boosters, all I see on Royal’s website is “highly recommended”, not required. 
The wording can be very confusing. Unfortunately, what Royal posts on their website, and what certain European countries “require” are 2 different things. It’s hard to keep up.

Edited July 13, 2022 by crzndeb

[lovesthebeach2]

19 hours ago, CUontheC said:

It just seems like the vaccine was given last year.  I wonder how effective it is at this point.  You don't need a booster just the vaccine.  And so many people have had it already.  I so want to cruise but am unable to get the vaccine.  Have been doing many other vacations which have been wonderful.  But would love to get back on a ship again.  Hopefully one day...

A booster was needed on the TA to Rome if your last shot was more than 270 days

[exm]

19 hours ago, flamingos said:

Some countries require a vaccine within 270 days.

most if not all dropped that requirement

[lovesthebeach2]

11 minutes ago, crzndeb said:

Can you point me where it says that? I think the majority of people got their vaccines in the early part of 2021, which makes them well over a year now. So if you are talking about recent boosters, all I see on Royal’s website is “highly recommended”, not required. 
The wording can be very confusing.

In our case we knew we needed boosters for Europe and had them, but when we did the Checkin we could only put the original vax card and couldn’t show the back that had the boosters.  When we boarded we showed them the back and thought all was well. 

it wasn’t. The day before we got off the ship our card was locked to any further charges and it was because at the start of the cruise the agent never recorded our booster. Thankfully guest services straightened it out. 
I think now you’re able to upload more than 1 photo so you can show boosters.
 

[crzndeb]

Just now, lovesthebeach2 said:

In our case we knew we needed boosters for Europe and had them, but when we did the Checkin we could only put the original vax card and couldn’t show the back that had the boosters.  When we boarded we showed them the back and thought all was well. 

it wasn’t. The day before we got off the ship our card was locked to any further charges and it was because at the start of the cruise the agent never recorded our booster. Thankfully guest services straightened it out. 
I think now you’re able to upload more than 1 photo so you can show boosters.
 

I added to my post, that what Royal “recommends” and each country “requires” can be 2 different things. I sail from Barcelona in Oct. and as of Mar/2022, Spain requires a booster if original vaccines are over 270 days, but when you pick Barcelona on Royal site, it just highly recommends….UGH

[Diver2014]

We're cruising on Wonder OTS in January.  If they require a booster then, we'lre not going.  Period.

[kitkat343]

1 hour ago, Diver2014 said:

We're cruising on Wonder OTS in January.  If they require a booster then, we'lre not going.  Period.

I think that was exactly what the cruise with confidence policy was designed to address.  At the time I booked my august cruise, unvaccinated children were required to be on a bubble tour.  I booked in April because of cruise with confidence allowing me to cancel 48 hours in advance for full credit because I knew we wouldn't go unless that  policy changed (it mostly did unless the ports themselves require bubble tours) and that there was a chance my child could be fully vaccinated by August (which thankfully is likely to occur).  Given how fluid the requirements are, its helpful to give everyone an out if the policies change to something that doesn't work for their individual circumstances.

[flamingos]

1 hour ago, Diver2014 said:

We're cruising on Wonder OTS in January.  If they require a booster then, we'lre not going.  Period.

OK.  But there is no use speculation what's going to happen in January. No one has any idea.

[exm]

I don't think boosters will ever be required. No worries.

[time4u2go]

25 minutes ago, exm said:

I don't think boosters will ever be required. No worries.

They already are on some cruise lines.