Disney Cruise Line requiring all passengers 12 and older to be fully vaccinated for Bahamian cruises
If you’re planning to take your family on a Disney Cruise in the near future, listen up: The Bahamas will soon require that all cruise ship passengers ages 12 and older are fully vaccinated in order for a ship to be allowed entry into port — including private islands like Disney Castaway Cay.
Per an update shared by Disney, from Sept. 3 until Nov. 1, 2021, all guests ages 12 and older on upcoming sailings to The Bahamas must be fully vaccinated in order to board their cruise ship, with approved vaccines including Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson. A person being considered “fully vaccinated” follows these CDC guidelines:
- Guests who have received both doses of Moderna, Pfizer or AstraZeneca are considered fully vaccinated 14 days after the second dose has been administered.
- Guests who have received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson are considered fully vaccinated after 14 days.
- Guests with both one dose of Moderna and one dose of Pfizer are considered fully vaccinated after 14 days of the second dose.
- Guests who have received only one dose of a vector vaccine (i.e. AstraZeneca) and one single dose of a mRNA vaccine (i.e. Pfizer, Moderna) are not considered fully vaccinated.
Guests must share proof of vaccination by uploading their vaccination card to the Safe Passage by Inspire website, no later than 24 hours before they’re due to set sail. Those who choose not to provide proof of their vaccination status to meet the requirements of The Bahamas will not be allowed to board their cruise ship.
Cruise passengers under the age of 12 will still have to provide proof of a negative lab-based COVID-19 PCR test taken between 5 days and 24 hours prior to their sail date, uploaded to Safe Passage by Inspire. They will also be required to take a second COVID-19 PCR test administered by Inspire Diagnostics at the cruise terminal prior to boarding.
Guests sailing to The Bahamas (which includes Disney Castaway Cay) with departures from Sept. 3 through Nov. 1, 2021 can choose to modify their sail date or cancel without any Disney-imposed fees by contacting their travel agent prior to Sept. 3.
However, keep in mind that cancellation fees from third-party suppliers, including airlines and travel insurance, are not refundable. Refunds will be processed back to the original form of payment, and standard cancelation policies and terms apply for any modification or cancelation requests on or after Sept. 4, 2021.
A similar vaccination requirement was announced for U.K. cruise passengers back in April of this year.
For more information, visit DisneyCruise.com.
