Vaccinations

[Summerfruits]

Hello !

We are travelling to the Caribbean for a cruise with Princess and needed some guidance on vaccines.

I know you should be up to date with the regular ones however I'm concerned about Yellow Fever vaccine as we are stopping at Trinidad which has a Yellow Fever risk. I have read that it is not mandatory to visit Trinidad however any counties you are visiting after may require a certificate. We are due to stop at Martinque & Aruba, both what say you need a Yellow Fever certificate if you have been to a country with a Yellow Fever risk or have transitted in an airport for 12hrs or over. I have emailed Princess with no reply yet, I spoke to my Dr who said Yellow Fever vaccine isn't usually recommended for cruising passengers as the side effects of the vaccine outweigh the benefit/risk of contracting Yellow Fever. However from what I have read Martinque & Aruba both require Yellow Fever vaccine. We are completely new to cruising so have no clue what is normal. We have shore excursions booked in all countries mentioned above, just don't want to get off the ship and encounter any problems. Has anyone been required to show a Yellow fever certificate after travelling to Trinidad or before boarding the ship ?

 

Thanks for your help :)

[1025cruise]

You don't need a Yello Fever shot for a Caribbean cruise.

[Essiesmom]

 Been to Aruba many times and have never been asked about yellow fever.  EM

Edited July 29, 2023 by Essiesmom

[BklynBoy8]

 

Just Look Forward to the Sailing and Enjoy the Caribbean like we do and don't worry about illness.

 

Just keep informed with the Line's policies.

[Flatbush Flyer]

Lots of uninformed answers above.

 

if you receive any communication regarding a YF vaccine “requirement” or recommendation  from a cruise line or, better still, you proactively consult the country-in-question’s own public health website for clarification, you should, at the very least, obtain the WHO YF vaccination card with an exemption notation entered by an MD. 
If you live in/near and major metro city, that government should have some sort of “travel clinic” or there should be a medical school/county health/etc “infectious diseases unit” that regularly issues the WHO “Yellow” card.

[thinfool]

Not to drift too far away here, but an itinerary with Martinique included will require a valid passport.  US or otherwise.

[Meander Ingwa]

Totally agree with @Flatbush Flyer.  Get your information from the public health or the CDC travel page.  The follow on countries you are visiting can request to see your vaccine card.  This may be a response to a rise in disease in the prior country or other circumstance in progress.  

 

Just because others did not get asked doesn't mean you won't

 

Up to date info at the CDC.  Most major pharmacy chains have travel vaccine clinic as well as medical care networks.

 

[SbbquilterUT]

The Yellow fever vaccine is not recommended for cruise ship passengers per the CDC site - if you were going into deep jungle/forest it is. Those recommendations do change periodically so it is good to check.

[broadwaybaby123]

I'm glad that you spoke with your doctor first, that was my main recommendation.  I'd also check the CDC and WHO websites to see what the requirements are for each of the countries you plan to visit.

[Moondogy]

Welcome to cruise critic. 99 percent of our cruise have been to the caribbean. We have done east, west and southern with never getting the YF vaccine, and have never had any issues. As far as I know there is no mandate to have this done for US citizens. But if you are from another country, you may want to check with your health department.

[erby2283]

Funny story....or not.  My boss recently went on a cruise from Rio de Janiero.  No issues with that cruise.  Post cruise, they were going to spend a few days in Colombia.  They showed up at the airport in Rio to board their plane and were denied entry because they didn't have their yellow fever vaccine.  Had they planned their trip in reverse and traveled to Colombia from the US it wouldn't have been a problem, but because they were flying from Rio, they were denied access as Colombia has a list of countries in which they require vaccines.  He was never advised by an any airline that a yellow fever vaccine was required - who would think to check that?! He knows now. 🙂 Requirements also said that if you were on a flight and had a layover in any of the countries that Colombia requires a vaccine from, you also had to have a vaccine.  So it does pay to do research. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

7 hours ago, erby2283 said:

Funny story....or not.  My boss recently went on a cruise from Rio de Janiero.  No issues with that cruise.  Post cruise, they were going to spend a few days in Colombia.  They showed up at the airport in Rio to board their plane and were denied entry because they didn't have their yellow fever vaccine.  Had they planned their trip in reverse and traveled to Colombia from the US it wouldn't have been a problem, but because they were flying from Rio, they were denied access as Colombia has a list of countries in which they require vaccines.  He was never advised by an any airline that a yellow fever vaccine was required - who would think to check that?! He knows now. 🙂 Requirements also said that if you were on a flight and had a layover in any of the countries that Colombia requires a vaccine from, you also had to have a vaccine.  So it does pay to do research. 

One of the things I like about United Airlines is its Travel Ready Center. Conveniently positioned on both its website and in its app, this United service automatically informs you if your ticketed itinerary requires any particular documentation for entry into your destination country including passport/visa specifics and health inoculations/tests, 

 

It also is a great first step in the complete documentation research needed for a cruise. But, why “first step?”
 

From the Covid pandemic, we have learned that entry into a foreign country for travel in general, and cruises specifically, may involve numerous authorities - any one of whose own rules and regulations may differ from those of other authorities in the mix (and stop you dead in your tracks).
 

We encountered the perfect example in Sydney in early 2023. Flying from San Francisco, we knew that Oceania was then itself requiring vaccination and recommending (but not requiring) Covid pretests. (Nonetheless, we brought and used our tests  prior to embarkation.)

 

A quick review of the United Airlines Travel Ready website as well as the US State Department’s destinations website AND the websites of the Australian (national),  New South Wales (regional) and City of Sydney (local) public health departments stated that they too were not requiring testing for vaccinated folks.

 

So, why were so many embarking passengers  surprised when they arrived at the SYD cruise terminal where all were being asked for their proof of a negative Covid test?
 

It was because there was one more authority - the SYD Port Authority which was requiring negative test results of sll cruise passengers and crew. (That morning, lots of unhappy folks had to shell out $95 and a few of them suffered the fate of some disappointing results).

 

Was that the end of it? Not really. This was a month plus cruise with stops in numerous ports over several countries along the way - each with its own requirement. 
 

Lots of folks learned an important lesson in that cruise. Do your homework - ALL your homework!