‘100% vaccinated’: Norwegian announces vaccine requirement for all passengers, crew on cruises
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., parent company to Norwegian Cruise Line, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises, announced Monday that it would require all passengers and crew on its ships to be “100% vaccinated” two weeks before boarding.
“That one-two punch is ironclad,” Frank Del Rio, the company’s president and CEO, told USA TODAY on Monday, pointing to the new vaccination requirement and health and safety protocols the company has said will be implemented on board. “No one can argue that being on a cruise ship under those conditions is not the safest place on Earth.”
The requirement comes on the heels of additional guidance for cruise ships released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday as part of its Framework for Conditional Sailing Order, initially published in October, which is meant to help guide cruise lines as they return to sailing.
Friday’s announcement from the CDC that fully vaccinated people can travel at low risk.
In his letter to Walensky, Del Rio laid out plans for resumption including:
- All passengers embarking or disembarking at a U.S. port show proof of being fully vaccinated no less than two weeks before departure.
- All crew must be vaccinated at least two weeks before their duties onboard are scheduled to begin.
- Norwegian cruise lines will incorporate safety protocol developed by the Healthy Sail Panel, a task force put together with Royal Caribbean. Protocol includes testing, mask-wearing, sanitizing and more.
- Norwegian lines will start sailing on July 4 with limited capacity starting at 60% and ramping up by 20% every 30 days.
Royal Caribbean announced that on certain sailings it will require passengers and crew to be vaccinated. Crystal Cruises and Virgin Voyages have also announced a vaccine requirement.
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