Alongside several other cruise lines, Celebrity Cruises announced new health and safety protocols for ships sailing from the United Kingdom and Europe and all sailings that depart from Los Angeles. All travelers, regardless of vaccination status, can cruise onboard Celebrity Cruise ships starting September 5.
While this is undoubtedly a move to return cruising to normal, the cruise line does caution guests that there are still several locations where stricter protocols are still in place.
Celebrity Cruises Want All Guests To Sail
What procedures are in place for which cruise lines can be confusing. Add to the mix a variety of destinations that have announced they will not allow cruise lines to relax protocols, and it all starts getting very confusing.
Celebrity Cruises certainly agrees with that, as it mentions on its website: “As destinations around the world relax their travel requirements, we are working to provide even more ways to feed your love of travel. The health and safety of our guests and crew remain at the forefront of every decision we make.”
“We know that all of these changes can get confusing! Ultimately, we’re working our way back to all of this being easy…and everyone can sail with us once again.”
During the time Celebrity is adjusting its protocols to suit as many guests as possible, it has already released a new set of guidelines that will benefit many guests who have waited to cruise until this moment. These mimic the guidelines released by Royal Caribbean earlier this week.
Starting September 5, 2022, all cruise ship passengers sailing on a Celebrity cruise, regardless of their vaccination status, can sail from several destinations as long as they meet any testing protocols that might be in place.
The cruises that are included are voyages sailing from the United Kingdom, from Europe, except Iceland, and all US departures from Los Angeles.
The company released news earlier that the cruise brand will no longer require vaccinated guests to take a pre-cruise test on shorter sailings under six nights in length from all U.S. ports. This went into effect on August 8. The difference in protocols between various ports comes as local governments are at odds on what to require from cruise ships visiting their countries.
Celebrity Cruises Homeports That Still Require Vaccination
Besides the ports that we mentioned above, several ports still require guests to be fully vaccinated before sailing.
For guests sailing from Australia and New Zealand, the local government requires all guests ages 12 and older to be fully vaccinated to sail. COVID-19 booster vaccine shots are not currently required to sail but are highly recommended.
Read Also: Cruise Lines That Don’t Require Vaccine and Pre-Cruise Testing
All guests must be fully vaccinated for cruises to Bermuda and present negative test results. The country also does not accept a recovery certificate instead of a negative test result.
Before arrival, guests should fill in the Travel Authorization form, upload their negative test results, and pay an associated fee directly through Bermuda’s dedicated website.
Guests sailing to the Galapagos Islands from Ecuador need to pay close attention to the guidelines, as it may become a costly trip. All guests must be fully vaccinated from the age of three years old.
However, anyone who during the flight or upon arrival in Ecuador presents symptoms related to COVID-19, regardless of their vaccination status or negative RT-PCR test, will be evaluated by the Public Health authorities before entering the migration area.
If that person is considered a suspect case, an antigen test will be taken. If the result is positive, the traveler must undergo a 10-day quarantine locally.
Although Celebrity Cruises and several other cruise lines have already moved to not requiring vaccines at all for select sailings, such as Princess Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line, cruising is far from being back to normal. It will take the entire industry with all its resources before we will see all nations receiving cruise ships taking on the same rules and protocols.
