Uhm....Bahamas is now requiring vaccinations for all passengers over 12..

[AquaDame]

UGH...we are supposed to leave in less then a month...hello another change in the life of COVID!!! Just a random thought...do you think Disney would move to skip ports and just do a closed loop cruise like they do in the UK?

I think there is a fine if they don't stop somewhere... its not totally out of the question, but on an ongoing basis I think it would be hard to swallow.

 

[kathi]

UGH...we are supposed to leave in less then a month...hello another change in the life of COVID!!! Just a random thought...do you think Disney would move to skip ports and just do a closed loop cruise like they do in the UK?

A foreign registered passenger vessel leaving from a US port has to call on a foreign port (cruise lines got an exception this year for Alaska, but that's the only exception so far).

 

[jrapps]

I may be in the minority but I have a cruise booked for December 2022 hoping this (Covid) would all be behind us by then. If the vaccine is required, we’ll be cancelling. That’s the price I’m willing to pay. And I know others will be thankful not to have my family on the ship.

As of now, this rule goes thru Nov 1 2021.

That said, who knows what the world will look like by the end of 2022!

 

[jrapps]

So who wants to take bets on how long until we hear something form Disney...we are 15 days away from 9/3!

This is seriously too much drama for a vacation...yet for some reason I love it! keeps me on my toes for sure!

 

[gkrykewy]

This is great news that makes me much more confident about 2022 cruises.

 

[Birdie dog]

This is great news that makes me much more confident about 2022 cruises.

I had every intention of cancelling DCL and trying NCL due to the vaccine issue. I'm glad to know one way or the other, it may not be an issue anymore.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I would love for a tell-all book to come out from a high level disney exec about the past 18 months and the decisioning meetings that have taken place

I would definitely buy that book

 

[n2mm]

So who wants to take bets on how long until we hear something form Disney...we are 15 days away from 9/3!

This is seriously too much drama for a vacation...yet for some reason I love it! keeps me on my toes for sure!

the waiting and jumping hoops really keeps us on our toes. I won’t even pack yet. I leave in 11 days. I know we might be the last ship out. But I’m not ready to put my guard down. I have a DVC resort reservation that I need to modify but I keep waiting for the bottom to fall out. I was willing to know I’ll have DVC points going into holding, but it’s my backup plan.

 

[jrapps]

I wonder if they will say vaccines required, but instead of offering the 125%, they give people the option of cancelling, or moving out to any 3 or 4-day sailing date between now and end of year to give people enough time to get vaccinated.

They have shows with the Fantasy sailings they don't want to keep giving people 125% credits.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I think there is a fine if they don't stop somewhere... its not totally out of the question, but on an ongoing basis I think it would be hard to swallow.

If they do it repeatedly, it becomes a lot more than a fine. You get a fine when you have to skip for weather. Doing it repeatedly because you know your planned ports won't take you is a whole different issue from a regulation and enforcement front.

 

[jrapps]

If they do it repeatedly, it becomes a lot more than a fine. You get a fine when you have to skip for weather. Doing it repeatedly because you know your planned ports won't take you is a whole different issue from a regulation and enforcement front.

If given the choice between violating a Federal Law or a State Law that has already received a preliminary injunction against it, I do not foresee them choosing to violate Federal Law.

 

[kathi]

If given the choice between violating a Federal Law or a State Law that has already received a preliminary injunction against it, I do not foresee them choosing to violate Federal Law.

I agree, but they would have to get word out immediately and start making changes...or do they just cancel because it's too hard and they can't seem to get their act together on much of anything lately?

 

[jrapps]

I agree, but they would have to get word out immediately and start making changes...or do they just cancel because it's too hard and they can't seem to get their act together on much of anything lately?

I guess that depends on how many people are impacted. If they already know there is a high percentage of 12+ vaccinated (or not) then they have the data to make a decision.

Cancelling the cruise impacts everyone. Sailing but only cancelling the families that are not vaccinated impacts some yet unknown percentage of everyone.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

UGH...we are supposed to leave in less then a month...hello another change in the life of COVID!!! Just a random thought...do you think Disney would move to skip ports and just do a closed loop cruise like they do in the UK?

A "closed loop" cruise is a cruise that departs and returns to the same port for debarkation and has stops in foreign ports. A "cruise to nowhere" is a cruise that departs and returns to the same port for debarkation with no stops in any other port. Ships have been unable to do a cruise to nowhere out of a US port for a number of years now.

It has to do with crew visas. Visas for crew on a "regular" cruise that stops in foreign ports are cheaper and easier to obtain than a visa for crew on a ship with no foreign ports. It's a CBP issue. A cruise to nowhere, since it never stops in a foreign port, it's deemed "employment within the US" and requires visas that are more costly (for cruise lines) and more involved paperwork for them to be issued. Most cruise lines opted to stop doing cruises to nowhere because of this.

 

[sethschroeder]

At this point, anyone unvaccinated cannot be full vaccinated by 9/3

Incorrect JJ would allow them to be fully vaccinated in two weeks time since it's a single does.

 

[kathi]

Incorrect JJ would allow them to be fully vaccinated in two weeks time since it's a single does.

I think J&J is only for 18 and older. So some passengers could be fully vaccinated, but not children.

 

[sethschroeder]

Nvm didn't see context

 

[mevelandry]

Not gonna lie, I wasn't super happy that our MSC cruise was not going to request 12+ to be fully vaxxed... But I guess they will now!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Nvm didn't see context

So, there are two pieces:

1. PVSA. PVSA is a little flex on if you do it repeatedly on a closed loop cruise.

2. CBP are not at all flexy. The Supreme Court upheld CBP's position in 2014 that crew members on a foreign flag vessel doing cruises to nowhere require a US work visa, and that the D-1 visa is insufficient. In other words, crewmembers are not in compliance with their D-1 visa status when they operate "cruises to nowhere."

Basically every foreign national working on a cruise ship sailing from a US port has a D-1: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/other-visa-categories/crewmember-visa.html

Under the terms of status violation, DCL could be denied the right to obtain D-1 visas for crew, as the likely finding would be that the status violation is not be the fault of the D-1 visa holder, but of DCL. Especially if the crew member came in before the itinerary changes.

The only way for a line to run a cruise to nowhere is to hire an entirely American crew for each ship doing a "cruise to nowhere" voyage. At which point PVSA penalties kick in, but not immigration issues.

 

[Dug720]

At this point, anyone unvaccinated cannot be full vaccinated by 9/3, so it could cause sufficient cancel to bring them below viable sailing.

They could get J&J by tomorrow and be fully vaxxed.