Royal Caribbean rolled out a contact tracing wristband that will be mandatory for both crew and guests. Royal Caribbean says that the wearable contact tracing wristband will help them “in the unlikely event of an onboard health concern”. The Tracelet will make it easier to track a person’s contact with a COVID19 passenger or crew member.
The Tracelet contact tracing wristband was made by TraceSafe. Royal Caribbean’s website says that the Tracelet “is a comfortable, water-resistant, hypoallergenic wearable worn by all guests and crew during the cruise”.
More Than Just a Contact Tracing Wristband
But more than a contact tracing device, it also comes in handy as a room key and a payment method onboard the ship. Royal Caribbean also said that the Tracelet also lets them know “how close you’ve come to people who have been identified as COVID19 risks and how long you were near them”.
For passengers concerned about their information, only Royal Caribbean will have access to users’ data collected by Tracelet. Also, Royal Caribbean has assured guests that data will only last for 24 days after the guest’s cruise trip ended.
Level 3 Risk Classification
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifies cruising at Level 3 risk classification. According to the CDC, “COVID19 spreads easily between people in close quarters aboard ships, and the chance of getting COVDI19 on cruise ships is high”.
The health agency recommends passengers to complete their COVID19 vaccination first before they go on cruises. Also, CDC recommends that individuals with “increased risk of severe illness” should avoid cruising.
Cruise operators also need to meet a 95% vaccination rate for both crew and passengers. Operators like Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise even added testing requirements for passengers before they can board. Passengers will need to test negative two days before the trip. Royal Caribbean sells FDA-approved antigen tests that will be used while supervised live over video by a telehealth representative. Passengers who will test positive will have to reschedule their trip.
