Separate announcements have been made by Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, and Norwegian Cruise Line this week of their plans to remove mask mandates for passengers and staff traveling on board. These plans will come into action within the coming weeks.
Royal Caribbean announced their plans to remove the requirement of indoor masks for passengers who are fully vaccinated as of Friday. The announcement comes after Carnival Cruise Line’s introduced their new policy, which eliminates the need for face masks at most venues, going into effect on March 1st.
Oceania Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises have also made an announcement that they have joined the volunteer COVID-19 cruise line program and they will be removing facemask requirements for passengers beginning March 1st.
Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Line’s announced their updated policies shortly after The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention released updated information for the volunteer opt-in COVID-19 program for cruise lines. According to the updated guidelines made by The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, cruise ships who opt into the program may lift mask mandates on board if 95% of their passengers and crew are fully vaccinated.
Both cruise lines plan to join the federal agency’s COVID-19 program.
In a Facebook post, last week the Royal Caribbean CEO and President Michael Bailey announced that 95% of its cruise ship crew and passengers over the age of 5 will be fully vaccinated in order to comply with the program and remove facemask mandates on board.
Carnival Cruise Line announced on Friday that it will also join the CDC program for cruise lines operating in the United States.