Both Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and Carnival Cruises have stated that they’ll be dropping a portion of their COVID-19 testing protocols.
During Thursday’s earnings call, Jason Liberty, President and CEO, Royal Caribbean, stated that RCCL would be dropping pre-embarkation COVID-19 testing for vaccinated guests on cruises of five days or less starting in early August. Liberty stated that the company would still test unvaccinated guests and that he expected to drop testing for vaccinated guests on longer cruises in the near future. RCCL has not issued a formal statement as of the time of this post, but it will be added here once it’s released.
On Friday, Carnival Cruise Line announced that beginning August 4, 2022, vaccinated passengers would not need to undergo pre-embarkation COVID-19 testing on cruises lasting five nights or less. Their official statement is below.
Carnival Cruise Line is pleased to announce that we are adjusting certain protocols to reflect the lifting of CDC requirements for the US cruise industry. We remain, as always, committed to the health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we serve.
These changes will be made in phases, with the first of these updates effective on Thursday, August 4, 2022, and focused on short cruise itineraries of 5 nights or less. More changes will be announced shortly, and all changes are subject to any requirements of destinations on the itinerary.
This all comes in the wake of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention completely dropping its COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships.
Whether or not Disney Cruise Line will alter their current protocols remains to be seen. It is very important that you stay in the know with DCL’s Know Before You Go information if you have an upcoming sailing.