Charleston-based operator Carnival Sunshine is dropping a requirement that vaccinated passengers test negative for COVID-19 before boarding.
The new policy for cruises of five days or less takes effect Sept. 6, according to an announcement this week.
Unvaccinated passengers will still have to provide a negative result within three days of departure, but, unlike now, the cruise line will begin accepting self-administered tests from the same date.
“These changes are consistent with what local destinations have advised will be acceptable to arriving cruise guests, and Carnival will continue to work closely with local destinations to protect the health of guests, crew and the communities the ship visits. of navigation,” the company said. .
He provided guidance on the new protocol.
“On voyages where destinations accept self-testing, guests can provide a photo of their negative test at home or present the actual negative test themselves upon boarding,” the cruise line said on its website. “Guests should write their name and the date of the test on a piece of paper, place the negative test on the paper and take a picture of this on a mobile device.”
It also advised that passengers “be prepared to show the image if requested. Guests may choose, instead, to take a viral test or be supervised by a trained person with written evidence of the result.”
In addition, unvaccinated passengers will no longer need to purchase travel insurance as of September 6, unless required by a specific port, such as Bermuda.
Carnival Cruise Line began relaxing its COVID-19 boarding protocols on shorter voyages from US ports earlier this month. At the time, it said the Sunshine was exempted to meet local government health restrictions in the Bahamas, where the locally-based ship sails most of its voyages.
John Heald, the company’s brand ambassador, who answers passenger questions on his Facebook page, said he and a colleague fielded more than 200 questions and comments about the new testing policy, including the barbaric coincidentally, on August 24.
“Please allow me to respectfully say to all of you who are concerned that every step is in the direction of living life as normal unless a government regulation requires it,” Heald wrote. “And without you all, we wouldn’t have been able to get here. The bookings are so strong and we’re so grateful. Please share this with someone because I think it’s important that they know we’re almost anchored in the port of normality.”
The 3,002-passenger Sunshine, which sails primarily in the Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean, resumed sailings from Charleston on Jan. 13 after a nearly two-year layoff related to the pandemic.
Carnival has stationed one of its ships at the end of Market Street on the peninsula since 2010.
The cruise line will leave Charleston in late 2024 to make way for the redevelopment of its home at Union Pier Terminal. The State Ports Authority plans to maintain the existing passenger building to handle visiting cruise ships.
CONTACT John McDermott at 843-937-5572 or follow him on Twitter at @byjohnmcdermott
