COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Rules Overview for Every Major Cruise Line

Going on a cruise can be a little complicated right now.

With COVID-19 strains and policies ever-evolving, cruise lines have undergone a number of changes over the past few years. When cruises resumed sailing in 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) enacted their COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships, outlining certain health and safety measures for cruise lines to enforce. But things have changed a lot since then. If you’re going on a cruise soon you may be wondering what you have to do before boarding, so we’ve decided to take a look at all the major cruise lines’ current COVID-19 policies.

As of July 18th, 2022, the CDC discontinued their COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships, stating that they would, however, continue to provide health and safety guidance to cruise lines. Since then, the CDC has said that pre-cruise testing, masks, and vaccine requirements are no longer necessary, which means that each cruise line can now determine their COVID-19 testing and vaccination policies.

At this point, each major cruise line has different COVID-19 policies in place, which can get confusing if you’re not totally up-to-date. Let’s review the requirements for each cruise line — and what you have to do to board your cruise.

Virgin Voyages

One of the first cruise lines to drop COVID-19 testing requirements was Virgin Voyages, which no longer requires vaccinated passengers to submit a negative COVID-19 test prior to boarding. Virgin does require 90% of passengers to be fully vaccinated.

A limited number of spaces are reserved for unvaccinated guests, so you need to call the cruise line to check for availability if you fall into that category. Unvaccinated passengers will need to bring a negative COVID-19 test or take one at the terminal.

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean is changing its policies soon. Starting September 5th, guests who aren’t vaccinated will be able to sail on almost ALL Royal Caribbean cruises from the United States and Europe, except for cruises that visit Bermuda or Canada.

In terms of COVID-19 testing, rules for that are changing too. Starting September 5th (for U.S. cruises that don’t visit Canada or Bermuda) COVID-19 testing will NOT be required for vaccinated cruisers going on sailings that are shorter than 10 nights.

Unvaccinated guests on these sailings (ages 5 and up), however, will need to take a COVID-19 test within 3 days of boarding for all cruises. Starting September 5th, Royal Caribbean will also start accepting at-home COVID-19 tests that you administer yourself, but specific rules apply so be sure to check their website and get the latest on that.

There are specific rules for European cruises when it comes to COVID-19 testing, so again, be sure to check the website for those details.

If you’ll be going on a Royal Caribbean cruise from Australia or Singapore, a cruise that leaves from or visits Canada or Bermuda, or a transatlantic sailing, Royal Caribbean’s existing COVID-19 vaccine and testing requirements will remain in place (and the changes listed above won’t change that). So just keep that in mind!

Additionally, guests 2-11 years of age who aren’t fully vaccinated need to bring a negative COVID-19 test result that was taken within 3 days of embarkation day. And fully vaccinated guests need to bring a negative COVID-19 test taken within 3 days before boarding for sailings that are 6 nights or longer.

Learn more about Royal Caribbean’s COVID-19 policy here.

Carnival Cruise Line

Like Royal Caribbean, Carnival is changing its policies. For cruises that depart on September 6th, 2022, or later, the following new policies will be in place:

Vaccinated passengers have to continue to provide evidence of vaccination before embarking on the cruise
Pre-cruise testing is no longer required for vaccinated passengers that provide evidence of their vaccination (except for cruises to Canada, Bermuda, Greece, and Australia, or cruises that are 16 nights or longer)
Unvaccinated guests don’t have to apply for a vaccine exemption (except on cruises in Australia or cruises that are 16 nights or longer)
Guests who don’t provide proof of vaccination or who are unvaccinated must present a negative COVID-19 PCR or antigen test taken within 3 days of embarkation
Guests that are under the age of 5 are exempt from vaccination and testing requirements in the U.S. (this applies to those under the age of 12 from Australia)
Sailings that are 16 nights or longer will still have vaccination and testing requirements

Until that change is made in September, there’s no pre-cruise testing required for fully vaccinated guests on cruises 5 days or less (except cruises visiting Bermuda). For cruises 6 days or longer, COVID-19 testing requirements remain in place for guests ages 2 and up. Generally, all guests must be vaccinated on cruises (until those changes in September), though there are a small number of vaccine exemptions available to a small number of guests (only those ages 5 and above).

Check out more details about Carnival’s changes here

Norwegian Cruise Line

If you have an upcoming Norwegian Cruise booked, rules are changing for sailings that start September 3rd, 2022. Starting September 3rd, all guests will be invited to sail with Norwegian once again, “regardless of vaccination status.”

And effective October 4th, 2022, all COVID-19 testing, masking, and vaccination requirements have been removed from Norwegian Cruises.

Disney Cruise Line

Disney Cruise Line has also made some recent changes to its policies. As of October 14th, 2022, sailings from the U.S. on the Disney Wonder, Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy, and Disney Wish no long require guests to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Guests will not be required to be vaccinated on sailings from the U.S. on the Disney Magic as of October 21st, 2022.

Fully vaccinated guests are no longer required to provide negative COVID-19 tests but unvaccinated guests ages 5 and up will be required to submit a negative COVID-19 test one to two days before their sail date. Unvaccinated children under 4 years old are not required to undergo testing.

Fully vaccinated guests ages 5 and up must submit proof of vaccination by midnight before their sail date to be exempt from COVID-19 testing, and unvaccinated guests must upload their negative COVID-19 best by midnight before their sail date. An observed antigen test, a rapid or lab-based PCR test, or a Nucleic Acid Amplification Test will be accepted.

Make sure you have all your documents with you so that there are no hiccups with the boarding process!

Click here for our complete guide to COVID-19 testing for Disney Cruise Line

If you have a cruise planned soon, it’s a good idea to review your cruise line’s policies and prepare accordingly! Keep in mind that with the ever-evolving COVID-19 pandemic things change often, so we recommend staying as up-to-date as you can on your cruise line. Keep following AE for more cruise tips!