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

[_auroraborealis_]

Why is the mandate only through November? Are they hoping Covid won't be a thing by then? (Coming from someone who in March 2020 said " Oh i'm sure it'll only be a few weeks!"

Look at how quick everything has changed on DCL. The Bahamas can update or amend regularly.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Where I’m not understanding though is vaccinated does not equal immunity. This doesn’t protect Bahamian residents. Boy do I wish it did mean immunity, this could’ve been ERADICATED a LONG time ago.

As of last winter, The Bahamas had a total of 66-90 ventilators in their health care system, depending on the source you check. World Bank says they have 3 hospital beds per 1k people (and that's not ICU, just beds). So broad vaccination would have a significant impact on their healthcare system's ability to react.

Especially, dare I say it, during hurricane season. The Bahamas knows what just happened in Haiti and have had it happen more than once to them.

 

[Marrila]

I do not expect to see anything meaningful from Disney today. They will stick their head in the sand and ignore this until next week.

It is annoying that they won't at least send out an email along the lines of "we are aware of the recent changes by the Bahamas and are evaluating upcoming itineraries, we plan to reach out soon with more info". They are going to get so many people showing up for cruises on and after 9/3 who aren't aware of the new rules.

Unless Disney is content to hand out even more free cruises to people, they need to get their stuff in gear!

I hope Disney says something today. Waiting until next week isn't a very nice way to treat their guests.

 

[DCLDVC1]

with the way DCL communicates, I expect we should hear something from them on this about Sept. 2. LOL

2021 or 2022?

 

[n2mm]

I do not expect to see anything meaningful from Disney today. They will stick their head in the sand and ignore this until next week.

It is annoying that they won't at least send out an email along the lines of "we are aware of the recent changes by the Bahamas and are evaluating upcoming itineraries, we plan to reach out soon with more info". They are going to get so many people showing up for cruises on and after 9/3 who aren't aware of the new rules.

Unless Disney is content to hand out even more free cruises to people, they need to get their stuff in gear!

so sad, but true. Lately I feel like all I do is wait for dcl to make a decision. I think I’m good to go, August 30th, but we really never know. I saw Royal start date is September 1, so that makes me nervous. As long as the ship isn’t canceled, I’ll be on it. I think we should all get a welcome drink of the day once on board. So much work lately.

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

Why hasn't DCL made an announcement yet???? Royal Caribbean was quick to announce yesterday.

 

[DCLMP]

so sad, but true. Lately I feel like all I do is wait for dcl to make a decision. I think I’m good to go, August 30th, but we really never know. I saw Royal start date is September 1, so that makes me nervous. As long as the ship isn’t canceled, I’ll be on it. I think we should all get a welcome drink of the day once on board. So much work lately.

I just booked this cruise an hour ago over the phone. I think we're good to go. Royal is probably starting Sept 1 because those cruises will be in the Bahamas after Sept 3. Ours ends on Sept 3.

 

[jrapps]

Why hasn't DCL made an announcement yet???? Royal Caribbean was quick to announce yesterday.

Sadly, there are a lot of reasons

1 - They are still trying to decide if they sail at all, cancel the whole ship, or find some way around either the Bahamas rule or FL law

2- They have decided to sail, but are not sure what compensation to give the unvaccinated families that have to cancel

3 - They know what they are doing and just need to update their website, get Safe Passage to update all their protocols and websites, get emails drafted...

4 - They are still sleeping and haven't even seen the news yet from the Bahamas!

 

[Marrila]

I just booked this cruise an hour ago over the phone. I think we're good to go. Royal is probably starting Sept 1 because those cruises will be in the Bahamas after Sept 3. Ours ends on Sept 3.

Like most of us these days, it might be a good idea keep an eye on the breaking news.
Hoping your plan works out for you.

 

[DCLMP]

Like most of us these days, it might be a good idea keep an eye on the breaking news.
Hoping your plan works out for you.

If it doesn't it doesn't. At this point, I'm not sure why it wouldn't. They'll most likely do what the other cruise lines are doing and require vaccines from Sept 3 until at least Oct 31. It wouldn't make sense for them to require them any earlier than that and I can't see them cancelling cruises again.

 

[epcotrulz]

Sadly, there are a lot of reasons

1 - They are still trying to decide if they sail at all, cancel the whole ship, or find some way around either the Bahamas rule or FL law

2- They have decided to sail, but are not sure what compensation to give the unvaccinated families that have to cancel

3 - They know what they are doing and just need to update their website, get Safe Passage to update all their protocols and websites, get emails drafted...

4 - They are still sleeping and haven't even seen the news yet from the Bahamas!

I say 2 & 3 ….

 

[jrapps]

 

[n2mm]

I say 2 & 3 ….

lots of reasons, but remember they also working on all those sept converted cruises. They are suppose to be done and relist those cruises on the website in 6 days, aug 26th. If the 9/11 is Vgt, I may be interested. I check out of my room at wdw that day and might be interested in cruising again. The Fantasy is always my first choice.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Sadly, there are a lot of reasons

1 - They are still trying to decide if they sail at all, cancel the whole ship, or find some way around either the Bahamas rule or FL law

2- They have decided to sail, but are not sure what compensation to give the unvaccinated families that have to cancel

3 - They know what they are doing and just need to update their website, get Safe Passage to update all their protocols and websites, get emails drafted...

4 - They are still sleeping and haven't even seen the news yet from the Bahamas!

I'd add a couple other options:

5 - Their lawyers are on the phone cussing out the Bahamanian officials that originally agreed to the negotiated deals which allowed DCL to announce a restart with cruises only going to CC.

6 - All the DCL higher ups have given up trying to navigate this mess and they are huddled in a dark bar somewhere, drinking heavily.

 

[jrapps]

I'd add a couple other options:

5 - Their lawyers are on the phone cussing out the Bahamanian officials that originally agreed to the negotiated deals which allowed DCL to announce a restart with cruises only going to CC.

6 - All the DCL higher ups have given up trying to navigate this mess and they are huddled in a dark bar somewhere, drinking heavily.

#6 has some truth to it. LOL

In all seriousness, I am still in the "no way they cancel" camp. I just checked over in the Facebook group for the 9/3 sailing, and the overwhelming majority of people there are all posting thigs like "we are all vaccinated", "won't affect us". In fact, the only people who seem to be impacted are those that have children very close to their 12th birthday and the timing to get fully vaccinated just doesn't work.

I wonder if they are still trying to figure out from SafePassage data how many people would be impacted. I could totally believe they are stuck in analysis paralysis.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I think DCL can cuss out Bahamian officials all they want, but The Bahamas really hold the cards here. While the leasehold on CC is a long one, and none of this is contract termination territory, DCL has both CC as a key destination, and Lighthouse Point is well underway. DCL could potentially back out of the latter, but not really the former.

 

[Xadrian]

I would guess Disney will either cancel all of the cruises until the mandate is lifted or they will bend to the regulations and sail fully vaccinated.

I believe they sail under a Bahamian flag, but I have no information how that might effect them, if at all.

If they do sail fully vaccinated, would it mean they would be able to return to a regular itinerary? Based on what I have seen. I believe the reason they were just going to Castaway Cay was to get around vaccination status at the other ports. However, I might be incorrect.

One way or the other, I wish they had better communication with their guests. Sitting in limbo waiting for Disney to make a decision with sailings just on or over the horizon does a disservice to those waiting to choose if they want to sail or not.

 

[TestingH2O]

I think DCL can cuss out Bahamian officials all they want, but The Bahamas really hold the cards here. While the leasehold on CC is a long one, and none of this is contract termination territory, DCL has both CC as a key destination, and Lighthouse Point is well underway. DCL could potentially back out of the latter, but not really the former.

All of this AND the Bahamas allows them to flag their ships there. I mean, if they really got out of hand, I guess the government could retract their license.

 

[Marrila]

MSC and Royal were wise to be quick with a response.
There is no real upside for DCL if they decide to delay making a decision and getting the word out to their guests until next week.
It's not like they have dozens of options.

 

[Freeman867]

Retract