Will Disney require a vaccine to cruise?

Until a vaccine is widely available, I don't see a cruiseline requiring it. They want to get back to business sooner rather than later. Individual countries may require it, in which case a cruise line may decide to adjust an itinerary if they don't believe most passengers will have access to it yet.
 
Will the rest of society require a vaccine? Restaurants, gyms, even Walmarts? The staff will probably be required, customers should evaluate their own risks and act accordingly. Daily temperature checks and then quarantine anyone with symptoms, should be enough.
 
It actually wouldn't be "Disney" (or a cruise line) that would require it, it would, more likely, be the countries being visited that would require it. I know of no cruise line specific vaccine requirements. There are vaccine requirements for specific cruises, but they are imposed by countries. And the cruise lines only monitor (at embarkation) whether the people have the vaccine in order to take those cruises.


I plan on being vaccinated, if a vaccine becomes available, regardless if I cruise or not.
There's always a first.
 


But what if say a country requires cruise ship passengers to have a vaccine in order for cruise ship passengers to get off the ship? Disney may only require the the pre boarding negative test but then when you get to a port, the local authorities require tourists to show proof of vaccine? What would folks do then? Theres going to be some hard choices for cruise passengers in the future, which may see Silver, Gold and Platinum Castaway Members deciding cruising is not the experience it once was.

If for example that happens with a ship originating in the United States (would totally understand) then folks simply don't get off the ship in that specific port. As it is, it's my understanding that ships already sailing will only offer escorted excursions and any deviation from the excursion group results in immediate ban from ship and must find alternate transportation back home (see Carnival Aria case this week).

The good news for Disney ships sailing out of Florida is they can have more days at Sea and visit their private Island in Caribbean, so there is a viable work around. Having said that, more sea days also means more time with restless littles that want activities so there lays the conundrum (while social distancing with limited staff).

Another option would be for all the cruise ships to get together and leverage each others private islands in the Caribbean (this would be amazing!) and create more shore options with limited exposure.
 
If for example that happens with a ship originating in the United States (would totally understand) then folks simply don't get off the ship in that specific port. As it is, it's my understanding that ships already sailing will only offer escorted excursions and any deviation from the excursion group results in immediate ban from ship and must find alternate transportation back home (see Carnival Aria case this week).

The good news for Disney ships sailing out of Florida is they can have more days at Sea and visit their private Island in Caribbean, so there is a viable work around. Having said that, more sea days also means more time with restless littles that want activities so there lays the conundrum (while social distancing with limited staff).

Another option would be for all the cruise ships to get together and leverage each others private islands in the Caribbean (this would be amazing!) and create more shore options with limited exposure.

While Castaway Cay is Disneys private island, it is only leased from The Bahamas. So any vaccine rule that the Bahamian Government implement would apply to Castaway Cay.
 
There's always a first.

Until a vaccine is widely available, I don't see a cruiseline requiring it. They want to get back to business sooner rather than later. Individual countries may require it, in which case a cruise line may decide to adjust an itinerary if they don't believe most passengers will have access to it yet.

Agree.

I also don't see Caribbean islands, that depend almost solely on cruise ship revenue, to play hard ball with Disney (or cruise industry in general) over requiring a vaccine. Another consideration is that Disney has to pay fee's to dock at every port so perhaps they are in no hurry to spend that money. It's more likely that Disney would choose not to dock at certain Caribbean ports and/OR would only visit private island - perhaps even overnight stay and offer more island fun a 2nd day. What a Dream that would be!
 


Will the rest of society require a vaccine? Restaurants, gyms, even Walmarts? The staff will probably be required, customers should evaluate their own risks and act accordingly. Daily temperature checks and then quarantine anyone with symptoms, should be enough.

Gyms and stores where it’s feasible to require masks probably not.


Indoor stadiums, indoor eating, and movie theaters where people eat and drink and are in close proximity to each other without being able to wear masks the whole time? More likely. At least initially until we can get the virus under control via herd immunity.
I’d guess 2 years.
 
The staff will probably be required, customers should evaluate their own risks and act accordingly.
And therein lies the problem. Masks are not designed to protect the wearer. They are to aid in protecting the people the wearer comes in contact with.

So, staff in WalMart would be required to wear them to protect their customers. But customers would not be required to wear them, thereby putting the staff at risk?
 
While Castaway Cay is Disneys private island, it is only leased from The Bahamas. So any vaccine rule that the Bahamian Government implement would apply to Castaway Cay.

hmmm, i believe Disney has a lot more latitude in this department. Similar to how this has been tested during hurricanes and national emergency declarations. i don't believe the same emergency orders (restrictions) would apply to Castaway Cay, unless of course they want to go toe to toe with Disney.
Could happen to try squeeze money from Disney in the form of "expedite" fee's to govt officials, but i don't see Disney too motivated to go this route.
Let's see what happens. At this point, not much could surprise me in 2020.
 
Until a vaccine is widely available, I don't see a cruiseline requiring it. They want to get back to business sooner rather than later. Individual countries may require it, in which case a cruise line may decide to adjust an itinerary if they don't believe most passengers will have access to it yet.
I agree. And a couple of other things:
1) There has to be a vaccine and it has to be widely available.
2) All the priority people (medical personal, first responders, those with health issues would have priority. The most recent projections are that IF a vaccine is approved this year, it will be through 2021 just to vaccinate those on the priority list. I can't see those wanting the vaccine for recreational reasons getting the vaccine until 2022. And again that projection is based on a vaccine being approved THIS year and we are running out of time. And with the hiccups that have hit some of the more advanced trials, this year may be optimistic.
I think you are right, the cruise industry is not want going to want to wait.
 
Will the rest of society require a vaccine? Restaurants, gyms, even Walmarts? The staff will probably be required, customers should evaluate their own risks and act accordingly. Daily temperature checks and then quarantine anyone with symptoms, should be enough.
You're missing the point. It isn't your choice to take the risk. It is the risk you pose to others by not getting the vaccine that likely will be the deciding factor..
 
And therein lies the problem. Masks are not designed to protect the wearer. They are to aid in protecting the people the wearer comes in contact with.

So, staff in WalMart would be required to wear them to protect their customers. But customers would not be required to wear them, thereby putting the staff at risk?
Which is why it bothers me when some ppl go somewhere and don't wear their mask correctly. Work for me was straining because I've had to keep telling ppl to wear their mask and they just wouldn't follow through with the rule. They don't know how selfish they are being, or maybe they do and are just that selfish. It's simple to just stay home and save your money, if you know you're not gonna wear your mask at all times (other than eating and drinking obviously)
 
hmmm, i believe Disney has a lot more latitude in this department. Similar to how this has been tested during hurricanes and national emergency declarations. i don't believe the same emergency orders (restrictions) would apply to Castaway Cay, unless of course they want to go toe to toe with Disney.
Could happen to try squeeze money from Disney in the form of "expedite" fee's to govt officials, but i don't see Disney too motivated to go this route.
Let's see what happens. At this point, not much could surprise me in 2020.
Not sure about that. For a number of years guests on DCL could just get on and off the ship without showing any sort of ID (like in other ports). But a few years back, the Bahamas erected an actual gate that guests must go through and show ID/ship's card to access/reboard the ship.

The Bahamas is still the law there.
 
Over and above the fact a vaccine eventually will become available, most countries are positioning their manufacturing to ramp up and produce a pretty significant amount of it, and with technology as it is today replication will take time but not a seriously long time, the primary issue is distribution and then administering of the vaccine to the population. It's been mentioned that even with a vaccine the majority of the people will still be carriers and can infect others post vaccine, I don't see that being the case. Still for Disney Cruise Line to resume sailing to all the countries and ports they do post vaccine, I don't see any restrictions or "proof" of vaccination being required if there has been a widespread and comprehensive vaccination program in these countries, because once their population is inoculated, it shouldn't matter if the tourists visiting have been vaccinated or not, because the people in that country should be protected. NOW I know a lot of this isn't going to apply if there isn't a vaccine available when and if the cruise lines resume operations, and are traveling to those countries. This topic actually covers separate time frames and they should be addressed in kind, Pre Vaccine and Post Vaccine.
 
You're missing the point. It isn't your choice to take the risk. It is the risk you pose to others by not getting the vaccine that likely will be the deciding factor..

So now the argument is that vaccines are required to protect others and not just the person getting the vaccine? When will it end? At least people can't be easily shamed for not getting a vaccine, unlike mask wearing. At some point personal responsibility should win out.
 
So now the argument is that vaccines are required to protect others and not just the person getting the vaccine? When will it end? At least people can't be easily shamed for not getting a vaccine, unlike mask wearing. At some point personal responsibility should win out.
No, not now. That has always been half the issue. I agree, personal responsibility should win out, don't risk other people's health if you can avoid it.
 
I’ll get vaccinated, cruise line requirement or not. I wouldn’t leave it up to the itinerary / destination on whether one was required or not. Cruise lines should make it mandatory which will remove all doubt and better protect their crews as well. Rapid testing should also be used but in addition to vaccines, not in lieu of.
 
It would be most helpful for the entire crew to have the vaccine. A crew member has more contact with hundreds of passengers, making it more likely to be passed to passengers then fellow crew members in the short term.

I think Disney would not “require” the shot because of the currently unknown side effects. But Disney would offer the shot free (after signing a risk release form) for its crew. I also see Disney not immediately employing those who choose not to have the shot the first few months of sailing for SO many reasons.

Now as to the paying public. Ugh, not everyone wants the shot, religiously excepts science interference, believes in the science, or is healthy enough to get the shot. There’s talk about the vaccine working for 3 months, some longer, maybe a year. BUT... mutated strands of Covid have appear throughout this year just as the flu does every year. Both are constantly changing, requiring frequent tweaking of vaccines. But on the bright side there seem to be positive results coming from treatment of the virus recently. Those might even, let’s hope at some point, be available on the ship.

Will the risk be low enough to offer a mask free cruise? Maybe not for senior citizens or the immune compromised. Maybe theaters can be full again, but with masks. That really wouldn’t bother me because the person behind me in New York while I watched the Donna Summer musical had dragon breath!

So sadly, sailing with a Covid-19 free bubble cannot ever happen. But they are going to reduce problems to manageable lower levels hopefully soon. I’m hearing about an announcement from my daughters school coming out in mid November. So I remain positive science has a good chance of taking care of this. My daughter is pre-PA, working in research, and she’s been hearing things. :thumbsup2

I intentionally did not address ports here. Just my Disney ship views.
 
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I’ll get vaccinated, cruise line requirement or not. I wouldn’t leave it up to the itinerary / destination on whether one was required or not. Cruise lines should make it mandatory which will remove all doubt and better protect their crews as well. Rapid testing should also be used but in addition to vaccines, not in lieu of.
Certainly cruise lines (or other employers) can require vaccinations of their employees. Especially if they are public facing ones. But I don't think they can require it of the public coming to those places.

As I said, a cruise line can stop someone from boarding if they haven't had a specific vaccination IF one of the countries they are porting at requires it, not because the cruise line is requiring it of their passengers.
 

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