Major cruise lines including
and Norwegian are loosening onboard mask rules starting Tuesday.
Carnival Cruise Line recommends—but doesn’t require—masks on board starting March 1. The same policy goes for
Ships departing from US ports.
relaxed its mask requirements for fully vaccinated guests in February. They are optional for fully vaccinated guests.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lowered the risk advisory for cruises from a “very high” to “high” in February. The agency now advises passengers to be up-to-date with vaccinations before cruise ship travel. Some cruise lines canceled or postponed sailings as a result of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in January.
Many of the mask policies come after major cruise lines opted into the CDC’s updated voluntary Covid-19 program for cruise ships, which includes the option to drop mask requirements throughout the ship if at least 95% of both crew and passengers are fully vaccinated.
The Cruise Lines International Association said that lowering the threat level “is a step in the right direction,” noting that almost all people are vaccinated and that ships have medical, isolation and quarantine facilities on site.
Passengers from Norwegian Cruise Line ships explored Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands in January. Norwegian will allow unvaccinated children under age 12 aboard starting March 1.
Photo:
Gabby Jones/Bloomberg News
Cruise ships operating in US waters reported 1,050 Covid-19 cases among passengers and crew between Feb. 12 and 25, according to CDC data. Between Dec 15 and 29 there were 5,013 Covid cases among passengers and crew on ships.
Masks are still required during the embarkation and debarkation process, as the federal mask mandate remains until at least March 18. Under the policy, face masks must be worn over the mouth and nose by all travelers on airplanes, ships, trains, subways, buses , taxis and ride-shares and inside airports, bus or ferry terminals, train or subway stations and seaports.
still requires guests 2 and older to wear face coverings indoors except when in their staterooms or actively eating or drinking. The cruise line requires all eligible guests 5 and older to be fully vaccinated at the time of sailing.
Carnival says that while not broadly mandated, masks may be required in certain venues and events.
Under the CDC program, cruises can exempt unvaccinated children under 5 when calculating the ship’s vaccination rates.
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Norwegian previously required all cruise line guests to be fully vaccinated, but will allow unvaccinated children under age 12 beginning March 1. A spokesperson said all guests who are 12 and older and crew must be fully vaccinated. Guardians of unvaccinated passengers under 12 need to be aware of any travel restrictions in place at the visiting destinations and be ready for additional tests at the time of sailing and disembarkation from a US port.
Booster shots are recommended, but generally not required. A Norwegian spokesperson notes that many countries, especially in Europe, now require booster shots to visit if guests have been fully vaccinated more than a certain number of months.
When buying a respirator mask on Amazon, it’s tough to know you’re getting a good one. WSJ put eight N95 and KN95 masks to the test and found not all tested at the required 95% filtration efficiency. Here are experts’ tips for spotting a lesser quality mask. Photo illustration: Ryan Trefes
Many cruise lines say they expect to operate their full fleets by summer and increase the number of guests onboard.
Carnival says the cruise line has no self-imposed capacity restrictions at this time. The cruise line expects many ships to be full headed into spring break.
Others are still restricting passenger totals. Virgin Voyages says it doesn’t have any immediate plans to increase capacity, which it has capped at 50%. Royal Caribbean Group says it expects to return the full fleet before summer 2022 and have passenger numbers approaching pre-pandemic levels later this year.
A number of cruise lines have also dropped stops at Russian ports following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Norwegian removed all St. Petersburg calls through the end of the year. Carnival says it is modifying its itineraries in the coming week once alternative ports can be confirmed.
Write to Allison Pohle at allison.pohle@wsj.com
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