Carnival Cruise Line has two ships lined up to sail from Port Galveston in July. Carnival Vista is scheduled on July 3 while Carnival Breeze will sail on July 15. However, the cruise line announced that they are going to require passengers to get fully vaccinated before they go on board. Passengers will have to complete the COVID19 recommended dose 14 days ahead of the trip.
This Friday, Carnival is going to release the onboard protocols for Carnival Horizon. The Carnival Horizon is scheduled to sail from PortMiami. Carnival already announced that it is already coordinating with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding Florida’s law that banned businesses from requiring proof of vaccination.
Paying Passengers or Test Voyage?
Based on CDC’s list of approved cruises, both Carnival Vista and Carnival Horizon were approved to conduct test cruises with volunteer passengers. On the other hand, Carnival Breeze is not yet on the list.
That’s when mandatory vaccination for passengers of Carnival Breeze gets tricky. Texas Governor Greg Abbot signed a law that will prevent businesses from asking their customers’ vaccine status. This will include cruise lines sailing in Texas.
To bypass the test sailing requirement by the CDC, cruise ships must maintain a high vaccination threshold among passengers and crew. According to the CDC, 95% of crew and 95% of passengers must be fully vaccinated.
If the cruise ship can’t meet the vaccination rate, the cruise line will need to conduct a test voyage with nonpaying passengers. During the test voyage, non-paying passengers will not have to complete their vaccination but they are still required to share their vaccination info. Royal Caribbean is the first cruise line to announce that they are going to have a test voyage.
Choosing to Operate With Vaccinated Passengers
Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy said that “The current CDC requirement for cruising with a guest base that is unvaccinated will make it very difficult to deliver the experience our guests expect, especially given the large number of families with younger children who sail with us”.
