Carnival Cruise Line is navigating Florida's vaccine passport law by adjusting its stance on allowing unvaccinated guests on sailings, but is now requiring they both pay $150 for covid-19 testing and pay for travel insurance.
"We know that this puts an expense on the cruise that you probably didn't account for when you booked the cruise, but we have to keep everybody safe," said Carnival brand ambassador John Heald.
The move comes after the line made its first sailings from the U.S. in more than 16 months, sailing with only vaccinated passengers from Miami on Carnival Horizon and from Galveston, Texas, on Carnival Vista over the Fourth of July weekend.
A Florida law that went into effect July 1 would fine companies $5,000 per instance if they require proof of vaccination. The ban of so-called vaccine passports prompted lines such as Celebrity Cruises, which originally announced they would not allow unvaccinated passengers, to adjust their policies.
Florida's law, though, has made it difficult for cruise lines to sail with what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention require for a ship to get its conditional sailing certificate without first performing a simulated sailing. If a ship states it is sailing with at least 98% crew and 95% passengers vaccinated, it can skip the test sailing. That was how Carnival chose to get back to business with its initial sailings, but that move was also met with customer dissatisfaction since it meant no children were allowed on board initially.
The updated policy creates an opportunity for those without the vaccine to sail, and likely with the added cost, keep the ship's numbers within the CDC's parameters.
The policies are similar to what Royal Caribbean has in place for its Florida cruises, although Carnival is putting the onus of the cost of testing on customers for everyone in their party, including those under age 12. No one 11 and under can get a vaccine in the U.S. Carnival is also implementing the testing policy for ships outside Florida.