Children under 5 Covid vaccination

[gkrykewy]

I responded to their email:

"Thank you for your response, ___.

I'm disappointed that Disney Cruise Line is not acknowledging that children 6 months to 4 years of age are now eligible to be vaccinated. As my son will be two weeks after his final vaccine shot, he should be treated the same as every other vaccinated guest regarding testing, regardless of age. I sincerely hope this policy is reconsidered."

This is all just annoying at this point. Even if they updated their policy to acknowledge that Under 5s can be vaxxed in the US, but they want more tests for them anyway-- okay, I can accept that. But no updates at all and leaving us all in this situation to fend for ourselves is just lame.

Personally I am more concerned about finding a NAAT/PCR 3 days prior than about the testing at port. It seemed like recently, kids in this situation were approved by Safe Passage for the regular 2-day rapid test, and/but still being tested at port-- sort of a halfway policy change.

My instinct is that Disney hasn't updated on this because they are about to remove a bunch of their testing requirements like other lines have done, and would do everything at once, but who knows. My kid is 'DCL vaxxed' (shot 2 plus 14 days) as of today.

 

[nancipants]

UGH, so someone shared on another site an email they received from Safe Passage. Apparently Disney is updating its policy so vaccinated toddlers don't need a PCR test, but still need to test at the port. If this is true, this is SUCH (a word I cannot say here). Fully vaccinated means fully vaccinated! If you're going to test my 2.5 year old, you need to go back to testing EVERYONE at the port.

Really, really, really unhappy with this nonsense.

 

[Princesca]

UGH, so someone shared on another site an email they received from Safe Passage. Apparently Disney is updating its policy so vaccinated toddlers don't need a PCR test, but still need to test at the port. If this is true, this is SUCH (a word I cannot say here). Fully vaccinated means fully vaccinated! If you're going to test my 2.5 year old, you need to go back to testing EVERYONE at the port.

Really, really, really unhappy with this nonsense.

Oh man, if that's the case, I'm going to be livid.

 

[nancipants]

Oh man, if that's the case, I'm going to be livid.

Right??? If they don't want to require vaccinations for that age group, fine. But treat my fully vaxxed toddler like everyone else!!!

 

[nancipants]

I called Safe Passage for my cruise in August for DS4. The individual I talked to said as long as they were considered fully vaccinated for Disney (2 weeks prior to sail date) they would be treated as a fully vaccinated individual and just need the antigen testing.

Hi there - just wondering if you have submitted your docs to Safe Passage yet?

 

[Princesca]

Right??? If they don't want to require vaccinations for that age group, fine. But treat my fully vaxxed toddler like everyone else!!!

Yeah, I can't think of any justification for doing otherwise.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Hi there - just wondering if you have submitted your docs to Safe Passage yet?

I have, awaiting a response for my 4yo still. I submitted his vaccine card (his second dose was last early last week) as well as the FDA approval documentation.

At the very least I’d like to avoid having to get the PCR test for him up to 3 days prior as I will be in WDW at that time.

 

[nancipants]

I have, awaiting a response for my 4yo still. I submitted his vaccine card (his second dose was last early last week) as well as the FDA approval documentation.

At the very least I’d like to avoid having to get the PCR test for him up to 3 days prior as I will be in WDW at that time.

Thanks, please keep us updated if you can!

 

[yourpalAL]

Appreciate all the work you all are putting into figuring this out -- we don't cruise until January, so I'm imagining (hoping) things will be sorted by then. My 4-year-old gets her first shot on August 15th. She'll turn 5 shortly before the cruise, so it's a weird limbo of "policy."

 

[Jetku]

I have, awaiting a response for my 4yo still. I submitted his vaccine card (his second dose was last early last week) as well as the FDA approval documentation.

At the very least I’d like to avoid having to get the PCR test for him up to 3 days prior as I will be in WDW at that time.

Got my and my daughter’s approvals yesterday, my wife’s overnight and still waiting for my 3yo fully vaxxed…

 

[disneylandlocal]

Disney FINALLY got back to me via email and said kids under 4 still have the same testing protocols. Nothing mentioned about vaccination status at all. P

I’m super pissed off and gonna fight it when Safe Passage opens. He is fully vaccinated, I should NOT have to test him at the port.

That’s so frustrating!!! When is your cruise? I can complain as well and maybe a group of us can make impact.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Got my and my daughter’s approvals yesterday, my wife’s overnight and still waiting for my 3yo fully vaxxed…

Yeah same happened for me. Myself, wife and DS6 came through pretty quick, mom came overnight and waiting on the fully vaxxed 4yo response.

 

[nancipants]

Got my and my daughter’s approvals yesterday, my wife’s overnight and still waiting for my 3yo fully vaxxed…

Thank you for the update!

That’s so frustrating!!! When is your cruise? I can complain as well and maybe a group of us can make impact.

August 27. I joked with my husband that between this board and other sites, I'm trying to start a movement of parents of vaccinated toddlers.

 

[lanejudy]

@zig26 posted a couple of weeks ago that he was finally able to get his kids vax cards accepted. I think they were cruising in July and only needed the antigen test 2 days prior like other vaxxed passengers. I suspect the letter mentioned above is a misunderstanding or not clear communication about the pre-arrival or embarkation test.

 

[Chica1581]

Right??? If they don't want to require vaccinations for that age group, fine. But treat my fully vaxxed toddler like everyone else!!!

This is so disappointing. We decided to vaccinate our 4 year old because we have a cruise in November. Hope they clear up that it’s not an age thing but a vaccinated versus unvaccinated issue. So not fair to treat vaccinated kids like they are not.

 

[nancipants]

@zig26 posted a couple of weeks ago that he was finally able to get his kids vax cards accepted. I think they were cruising in July and only needed the antigen test 2 days prior like other vaxxed passengers. I suspect the letter mentioned above is a misunderstanding or not clear communication about the pre-arrival or embarkation test.

I'm hoping that's the case. Eager to hear from some of the folks on this board cruising before me (and to speak to Safe Passage myself). Annoying we have to worry about this at all.

 

[nancipants]

This is so disappointing. We decided to vaccinate our 4 year old because we have a cruise in November. Hope they clear up that it’s not an age thing but a vaccinated versus unvaccinated issue. So not fair to treat vaccinated kids like they are not.

Exactly. How can they justify that? That gets them into really murky waters if they want to argue the toddler vaccines aren't as effective as others.

 

[Mommb]

Exactly. How can they justify that? That gets them into really murky waters if they want to argue the toddler vaccines aren't as effective as others.

I don't think it's an issue of effectiveness, but an issue of tracking, especially for masking onboard. All passengers ages 5 and up must be vaccinated, so previously they could use age as a proxy for vaccination and treat kids under 5 differently from those 5 and up. The DCL system linked to Key to the World cards has long tracked age, based on the birth certificates or passports presented before sailing. This allowed DCL to determine when kids aged out of the kids clubs and determine who was allowed in adult areas.

Because, as of now, kids under 5 can be vaccinated but don't have to be, the onboard system that scans kids entering the Club/Lab may not "know" whether young kids are vaccinated, so it is easier to just keep the same mask requirements even if they are. An alternative is to provide an additional wristband for vaccinated kids, but that requires producing and monitoring such bands. That would also require kids' club staff to have access to vaccine records, which they didn't previously need.

Giving vaccinated 3- and 4-year olds the same pre-cruise testing requirements as vaccinated older kids should be easier, though, because Safe Passage does have vaccine records. They were able to change the protocol when DCL started allowing vaccinated guests over 5 to test either pre-cruise or at the port. Allowing vaccinated 3 and 4 year olds to test in advance as well should be equally easy since every passenger has a unique Safe Passage file indicating vaccination status. However, because Safe Passage follows directions from DCL on how to approve passengers for sailing, they need to get updated directions in order to allow this. If DCL is about to make changes to the vaccination or testing rules, they may be waiting to make all changes at once.

I hope that the more people who complain about the testing (and mask) requirements, the more incentive DCL will have to change them, and all vaccinated kids will be treated identically soon.

 

[four42two]

@zig26 posted a couple of weeks ago that he was finally able to get his kids vax cards accepted. I think they were cruising in July and only needed the antigen test 2 days prior like other vaxxed passengers. I suspect the letter mentioned above is a misunderstanding or not clear communication about the pre-arrival or embarkation test.

Today I spoke with both Safe Passage and shoreside concierge, who both confirmed that passengers under 5, regardless of vaccination status, are subject to both pre-arrival testing (not rapid antigen) between 3-1 days prior to sailing, and embarkation-day testing at the port. We're going to be a group of 7 adults traveling with one fully vaccinated 4-year-old, so the annoyance of doing a separate procedure for her is real. I expressed considerable frustration and got nowhere, although the concierge said she would pass my comments along to leadership.

Shoreside concierge did say that if the policy were to change prior to our sailing, any changes would almost certainly apply immediately. So there's at least a possibility that we'll be able to avoid this somewhat arbitrary testing - I suspect that the more folks who call in and ask about it, the sooner things will change.

 

[galacticb]

Today I spoke with both Safe Passage and shoreside concierge, who both confirmed that passengers under 5, regardless of vaccination status, are subject to both pre-arrival testing (not rapid antigen) between 3-1 days prior to sailing, and embarkation-day testing at the port. We're going to be a group of 7 adults traveling with one fully vaccinated 4-year-old, so the annoyance of doing a separate procedure for her is real. I expressed considerable frustration and got nowhere, although the concierge said she would pass my comments along to leadership.

Shoreside concierge did say that if the policy were to change prior to our sailing, any changes would almost certainly apply immediately. So there's at least a possibility that we'll be able to avoid this somewhat arbitrary testing - I suspect that the more folks who call in and ask about it, the sooner things will change.

Thanks for the update. This is incredibly frustrating. It will be interesting to hear the responses from people who actually go through this during submission and try to fight it there. (There was a response somewhere in this thread that someone finally got Safe Passage to approve based on a bunch of documentation and clinical trial information.)

Are you already in the 15-day submission window or are you asking in advance of that?

Hoping that the answer changes before you (or any of us) sail.

Also, as an aside, we are doing to the fall Transatlantic sailing, so if anyone has updates on what Prenetics is doing on under 5 vaccination, that would be interesting to hear. (In theory, they should be the same. But then again, in theory, they should be honoring the vaccination status of under 5 yr olds so I'm not assuming anything at this point.)