DCL Has Their Protocol Out!!!

[dvcdisney]

FYI, DCL has updated their policy section on "Providing Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination and Negative PCR Test", specifically as it pertains to "vaccinated Guests arriving from outside the United States ": <bold below is added by me to highlight the new information>

Voluntarily Choose to Provide Proof of a COVID-19 Vaccination
Guests who are fully vaccinated may choose to provide proof of vaccination in order to be exempt from pre-arrival and Embarkation Day COVID-19 testing (unless arriving from outside the United States). The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers people to be fully vaccinated 14 days after the final dose has been administered. Guests may visit the Safe Passage website beginning 33 days before—but no later than 24 hours before—sailing to upload an image file (PDF, JPG, TIFF, etc.) showing proof of vaccination, preferably a vaccination card. For Guests choosing this option and to be exempt from certain policies on board, it is recommended to bring proof of vaccination (vaccination card) to the port for embarkation. Keep in mind, vaccinated Guests arriving from outside the United States who are required to undergo the rapid test on Embarkation Day will not be charged for the test. Additionally, travel insurance is not required for vaccinated Guests arriving from outside the United States on sailings originating in the United States.

Source: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/why-cruise-disney/experience-updates/before-you-leave-home-us/

I did NOT find anywhere where they address the issue of which vaccines they consider acceptable, including whether those who have so-called "mixed doses" (either two different brands of mRNA, or AZ followed by an mRNA) would be considered acceptable.

Personally, if I was in the situation of having been vaccinated outside the US, I would want to verify with DCL myself, in writing, whether the vaccines I have are considered acceptable or not. And if I was "arriving from outside the US" I would also want to verify the above in bold is correct since it is a change from the previous wording.

For our family, we never step foot in the US without travel insurance anyway, but I understand others may choose otherwise.

SW

Thanks for posting! It's good to see some clarification.

From reading this, it appears that my question to the CM was not addressed. I guess I can assume "arriving from outside US" still means non-US citizens/residents and not literally "arriving" since some US citizens could be living in a different country.

And that if I'm at WDW for a week prior to my cruise, I would still need to get the pre-test regardless if I'm a fully vaccinated Canadian.

 

[Starwind]

Thanks for posting! It's good to see some clarification.

From reading this, it appears that my question to the CM was not addressed. I guess I can assume "arriving from outside US" still means non-US citizens/residents and not literally "arriving" since some US citizens could be living in a different country.

And that if I'm at WDW for a week prior to my cruise, I would still need to get the pre-test regardless if I'm a fully vaccinated Canadian.

This definition they still need to address.

I would expect from the wording that I, as a US citizen (also Canadian) who lives in Canada, if I were to go to the US to take a DCL cruise that I would be subject to their rules for "arriving from outside the US".

But since other posters have been given other answers DCL should clarify that ... [they really need a FAQ...]

 

[dvcdisney]

This definition they still need to address.

I would expect from the wording that I, as a US citizen (also Canadian) who lives in Canada, if I were to go to the US to take a DCL cruise that I would be subject to their rules for "arriving from outside the US".

But since other posters have been given other answers DCL should clarify that ... [they really need a FAQ...]

I definitely agree. I guess it's good to see some updates.

I do believe you would be expected to follow the rules for those "arriving from outside the US". But from my conversation with the CM, you wouldn't have to since you're a citizen.

DCL is probably confused as to why this is not very clear to some of us. And in their minds, there's no ambiguity.

 

[Starwind]

I definitely agree. I guess it's good to see some updates.

I do believe you would be expected to follow the rules for those "arriving from outside the US". But from my conversation with the CM, you wouldn't have to since you're a citizen.

DCL is probably confused as to why this is not very clear to some of us. And in their minds, there's no ambiguity.

Yep, and this is where it gets a little crazy and why they need to clarify it...

I am a US/ Canadian citizen, vaccinated mixed dose: AZ and Pfizer. No cruise line will recognize that for leaving a US port. 'Cept Disney might just because I am a US citizen ? er... and because they have no FAQ so we don't actually know which vaccines or vaccine combos they accept ;-)

My sister, who lives with me here in Canada, is only a Canadian, but she got two doses of Pfizer. But by DCL logic she would be considered unvaccinated...

Hopefully someone in their management will clue in that there is an issue there...

Fortunately, we don't sail until next summer and that leaves many months for the many changes that will happen between now and then to happen. But it does have me paying attention to things like whether I may need to get a third dose, and whether DCL will adopt the 42-day rule for mixed doses that at least one other line has [so then do I need to get 4 doses?].

So many spinning balls.

 

[isabellea]

Canadians should check with their provincial ministry of health. In QC, they announced it will be possible for those with AZ/mRNA vaccines (45yo + here) to get a third those identical to their second dose if required for travel. Priority will be given to essential travel. I have two Pfizer doses but DH has AZ/Pfizer. We are not planning a cruise before Oct 2022 so I’m hopeful guidelines will be updated by then.

 

[Starwind]

Canadians should check with their provincial ministry of health. In QC, they announced it will be possible for those with AZ/mRNA vaccines (45yo + here) to get a third those identical to their second dose if required for travel. Priority will be given to essential travel. I have two Pfizer doses but DH has AZ/Pfizer. We are not planning a cruise before Oct 2022 so I’m hopeful guidelines will be updated by then.

Currently QC is the only province allowing a third dose, but we are watching carefully to see if that changes. And are hopefully that internationally governments will get it sorted among themselves and come to an international understanding of what is considered acceptable. Canada is not alone in having done mixed dosing.

Our cruise is summer 2022 so we have some time for them to sort it, but we will want to know before PIF, and it complicates things like air tickets [which we would normally buy 11 months out as soon as they become available]. We have our pre/post hotels booked, but they reservation is fully cancelable and no deposit.

SW

 

[MontyColby]

I hope that the short Bahama cruises will help DCL work out all the kinks regarding Covid and the longer cruises can soon begin again.

 

[dvcdisney]

Currently QC is the only province allowing a third dose, but we are watching carefully to see if that changes. And are hopefully that internationally governments will get it sorted among themselves and come to an international understanding of what is considered acceptable. Canada is not alone in having done mixed dosing.

Our cruise is summer 2022 so we have some time for them to sort it, but we will want to know before PIF, and it complicates things like air tickets [which we would normally buy 11 months out as soon as they become available]. We have our pre/post hotels booked, but they reservation is fully cancelable and no deposit.

SW

With regards to the mixed doses, it's possible that a booster may become an option next year and it may solve that issue for you before your cruise next summer.

 

[DopeyDame]

I'm confused on the Castaway Cay double dip. Is this for the first few cruises only? I'm booked on the Sept 13th Dream sailing and the DCL site still shows Nassau as a destination port. I've gotten nothing from DCL saying two stops at Castaway.

We're not going until January, but I would be thrilled if our 4 night became a double dip. Wishful thinking, probably

 

[Dug720]

We're not going until January, but I would be thrilled if our 4 night became a double dip. Wishful thinking, probably

Yeah, once they have 4 ships - and at least one with 2 different cruise stops - the scheduling becomes impossible.

 

[atricks]

May or may not affect your cruise (Disney Fantasy), but the US Virgin Islands are now requiring everyone on board a cruise ship to be vaccinated (>=12 years old) otherwise the ship cannot dock. The Aug 8th Allure of the Seas cruise from royal out of Port Canaveral is the first one affected, I think. They are offering full refunds to anyone that booked who wasn't vaccinated, and will not let you board if you are not vaccinated (and eligible to be).

 

[icc2515]

May or may not affect your cruise (Disney Fantasy), but the US Virgin Islands are now requiring everyone on board a cruise ship to be vaccinated (>=12 years old) otherwise the ship cannot dock. The Aug 8th Allure of the Seas cruise from royal out of Port Canaveral is the first one affected, I think. They are offering full refunds to anyone that booked who wasn't vaccinated, and will not let you board if you are not vaccinated (and eligible to be).

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Thank you very much for the information. This is a very unfortunate piece of info. I already assumed the the BVI would and has implemented restrictions (everybody 16 and older has to be fully vaccinated and 95% of crew not in quarantine fully vaccinated plus testing restrictions to go ashore). I at least figured that our Jan trip with BVI and USVI would be able to stop in the USVI. Of course there is a long time until this cruise, and things can change a lot in just a few days.

I wonder if Disney will change their vaccination rules for different cruise destinations or if this would be just too confusing to passengers.

 

[orum]

May or may not affect your cruise (Disney Fantasy), but the US Virgin Islands are now requiring everyone on board a cruise ship to be vaccinated (>=12 years old) otherwise the ship cannot dock. The Aug 8th Allure of the Seas cruise from royal out of Port Canaveral is the first one affected, I think. They are offering full refunds to anyone that booked who wasn't vaccinated, and will not let you board if you are not vaccinated (and eligible to be).

View attachment 594108

I will be interested to see how Disney threads the needle on this one. Thank you for sharing.

I can't figure out how they will reconcile the current requirements of both Florida and USVI. I am on a cruise that will be impacted by this and I am hoping we can still sail the USVI this summer/fall.

 

[lovedisneycruise]

I will be interested to see how Disney threads the needle on this one. Thank you for sharing.

I can't figure out how they will reconcile the current requirements of both Florida and USVI. I am on a cruise that will be impacted by this and I am hoping we can still sail the USVI this summer/fall.

I have expected this to become an issue with many ports, which would put Florida’s law at odds with them. I also just read earlier that the CDC added the US Virgin Islands to their Covid travel risk list too.

 

[laceltris3]

I think that by far my biggest issue with the resumption of cruising has been the Florida law.

But a close second is just how poorly Disney (certainly at least DCL and ABD) has dealt with it, mainly in their delays and lack of information and policies that were universally less favorable to customers than those of direct competitors. This whole experience has left a bad taste in my mouth. We have sailed at the holidays for many years, but I will lay odds I will have no information about whether they will require vaccination for ports outside of FL before PIF.

And to be honest, Disney continues to make poor choices in defending their Covid-related missteps. I mean, they basically defended themselves on Black Widow by saying that ScarJo loves Covid

 

[jujubiee4]

May or may not affect your cruise (Disney Fantasy), but the US Virgin Islands are now requiring everyone on board a cruise ship to be vaccinated (>=12 years old) otherwise the ship cannot dock. The Aug 8th Allure of the Seas cruise from royal out of Port Canaveral is the first one affected, I think. They are offering full refunds to anyone that booked who wasn't vaccinated, and will not let you board if you are not vaccinated (and eligible to be).

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I won't be surprised if more and more ports/countries/islands do this. I am sure they will all continue to
weigh risks vs protecting their own citizens. Once things settle down I'm sure protocols will change.

 

[jrapps]

Is Disney sending out luggage tags for the Aug/Sept Dream sailings? I hadn't seen a note about that yet.

 

[AquaDame]

This is a good reminder to me to NOT book nonrefunable anything for our cruise in March if I can help it..! Not sure what DCL will choose to do (or not choose for months while they wait to see what changes).

 

[n2mm]

Is Disney sending out luggage tags for the Aug/Sept Dream sailings? I hadn't seen a note about that yet.

everything I’ve read said no, we won’t get any. Not enough time. Porters will tag your luggage. As for the dcl transfer people, I’ve not seen anything. Those folks are thinking they have to get their luggage and take it to the bus themselves unless they get more info.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

This is a good reminder to me to NOT book nonrefunable anything for our cruise in March if I can help it..! Not sure what DCL will choose to do (or not choose for months while they wait to see what changes).

I’m with you there. We’re booked b2b on the two Hawaii cruises in April/May, so flying into and out of Vancouver. This is the first time we’ve booked fully refundable fares for international travel paying the premium compared to the non-refundable options. Our Vancouver hotel stay for two nights prior to the cruise is refundable up until 48 hours in advance of check in, one night charge to cancel thereafter.