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Kids Sail Free with 95% Vaccination Requirement...


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Please refer to Matt's blog post regarding the kids sail free promo starting tomorrow for sailings starting June 1st.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/03/23/royal-caribbean-bringing-back-kids-sail-free-deal

I had the feeling that as long as Royal is participating in the voluntary CDC sailing guidelines, they wouldn't offer a kids sail free promotion.  So, seeing this sale come up for cruises starting on June 1st has me thinking.  Is Royal banking on having sufficient ages 5-12 vaccine percentages in order to be above the 95% passenger vaccination requirement?  Or is Royal intending on dropping out come June 1st? Or is there planned changes to the CDC program before that date?

The protocols were recently extended for sailings through May 31st and the sale applies for sailings starting June 1st.  It could just be a coincidence those dates line up like that, but I think there's something more happening behind the curtain.  I don't expect them to eliminate vaccine requirements, but it seems like they may drop out of this CDC program.

Thoughts?

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54 minutes ago, gatorskin76 said:

Since 5 and under don't count against the 95%, not sure how that would be a factor at all.

That's correct, as of today.  However. they specifically don't include them as they are not vaccine eligible (quote from their footnotes below). If Moderna gets EUA, then kids 5 and under are now eligible which might lead them to changing their rules for the ratio count. Note the first words of the footnote.

"[5] At this time, children under the age of 5 years (i.e., children who are not eligible for COVID-19 vaccines) will not be counted when determining the percentage of passengers on board who are fully vaccinated or up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines."

from https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/management/technical-instructions-for-cruise-ships.html

Obviously this is is speculation, but I don't think it's unsubstantiated. 

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12 minutes ago, AspiringCruisePlanner said:

That's correct, as of today.  However. they specifically don't include them as they are not vaccine eligible (quote from their footnotes below). If Moderna gets EUA, then kids 5 and under are now eligible which might lead them to changing their rules for the ratio count. Note the first words of the footnote.

"[5] At this time, children under the age of 5 years (i.e., children who are not eligible for COVID-19 vaccines) will not be counted when determining the percentage of passengers on board who are fully vaccinated or up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines."

from https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/management/technical-instructions-for-cruise-ships.html

Obviously this is is speculation, but I don't think it's unsubstantiated. 

So what is your speculation then, that they are going to leave the voluntary program?  If your speculation on 5 and under being included is correct, that wouldn't help RCI with hitting the 95% figure as I would imagine children under 5 will be vaccinated at a much lower rate than the other age groups, especially at this stage of the virus.  So unless you are speculating that they drop from the CDC program, I am not sure how that would change their calculus with offering kids sail free.

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31 minutes ago, gatorskin76 said:

So what is your speculation then, that they are going to leave the voluntary program?

I feel like they would be obliged to do so, especially if the age eligibility limit is removed by the CDC. I think they are finding it hard enough to maintain a >95% rate right now. When you factor in kids sail free, Summer sailings, and possibly the CDC eliminating age limit vaccine eligibility they are going to struggle.

I'm not arguing that they won't do the sale. I'm sure it will happen. I'm just saying that unless something changes with their involvement in the CDC program or a change in the program itself (in Royal's favor), they likely wouldn't meet the criteria on many of their sailings.

I don't like to have to explain a meme, but the concept was: Royal sees news about Moderna seeking EUA for under 6, decides to say screw it, offers a kids sail free promo, and says "imma head out" to the CDC program.

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1 hour ago, AspiringCruisePlanner said:

I feel like they would be obliged to do so, especially if the age eligibility limit is removed by the CDC. I think they are finding it hard enough to maintain a >95% rate right now. When you factor in kids sail free, Summer sailings, and possibly the CDC eliminating age limit vaccine eligibility they are going to struggle.

I'm not arguing that they won't do the sale. I'm sure it will happen. I'm just saying that unless something changes with their involvement in the CDC program or a change in the program itself (in Royal's favor), they likely wouldn't meet the criteria on many of their sailings.

I don't like to have to explain a meme, but the concept was: Royal sees news about Moderna seeking EUA for under 6, decides to say screw it, offers a kids sail free promo, and says "imma head out" to the CDC program.

Yeah, it makes sense now, sorry you had to explain it.  Here is to hoping you are correct as I have a June 25th cruise booked with an unvaccinated 13 year old.

interesting that Moderna is going for under 5 when I didn’t think they were even yet approved for 5-11.

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10 hours ago, gatorskin76 said:

Yeah, it makes sense now, sorry you had to explain it.  Here is to hoping you are correct as I have a June 25th cruise booked with an unvaccinated 13 year old.

Glad that it's cleared up.  I'm hoping for you that things change so you can go on your cruise.

10 hours ago, gatorskin76 said:

interesting that Moderna is going for under 5 when I didn’t think they were even yet approved for 5-11.

I guess I forgot about that fact. Interesting indeed.  Honestly, it'll be a tough sell to the CDC when conducting a risk-benefit analysis for that age group and the current viral climate.

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12 hours ago, AspiringCruisePlanner said:

That's correct, as of today.  However. they specifically don't include them as they are not vaccine eligible (quote from their footnotes below). If Moderna gets EUA, then kids 5 and under are now eligible which might lead them to changing their rules for the ratio count. Note the first words of the footnote.

"[5] At this time, children under the age of 5 years (i.e., children who are not eligible for COVID-19 vaccines) will not be counted when determining the percentage of passengers on board who are fully vaccinated or up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines."

from https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/management/technical-instructions-for-cruise-ships.html

Obviously this is is speculation, but I don't think it's unsubstantiated. 

I spoke with the RCCL access department and they have not received updated protocols regarding not including children under 5 years yet. As of now, everyone on the ship is counted. Just an FYI

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Quote

[6] “Fully vaccinated” is defined in CDC’s Technical Instructions for Implementing Presidential Proclamation Advancing Safe Resumption of Global Travel During the COVID-19 Pandemic and CDC’s associated Order. While CDC’s COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships operates as a voluntary program and not pursuant to an order, CDC is incorporating this definition as a program component for consistency.

[7] Up to date with COVID-19 vaccines means a person has received all recommended COVID-19 vaccines, including any booster dose(s) when eligible. For more information: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html. For CDC’s COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships, the following criteria should be used when evaluating if a traveler is up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines:

“Up to date” status: If an eligible traveler has not received a booster dose but is within 6 months after completing their primary series of an mRNA vaccine, or within 3 months after a J&J/Janssen single dose, then they can be considered up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines. If it has been more than 6 months since a traveler completed their primary series of an mRNA vaccine, or more than 3 months since a traveler’s single dose J&J/Janssen vaccine, the traveler is not considered up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines.

Did this change? I thought RC wasn't requiring boosters to sail?

 

 

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27 minutes ago, smilechav said:

I spoke with the RCCL access department and they have not received updated protocols regarding not including children under 5 years yet. As of now, everyone on the ship is counted. Just an FYI

Also interesting, considering the CDC updated their page with that guideline on Feb 18th.  You called just to ask that question? 

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20 hours ago, AspiringCruisePlanner said:

Also interesting, considering the CDC updated their page with that guideline on Feb 18th.  You called just to ask that question? 

Yes, on account of being denied medical exemption due to already reaching the 5% capacity. If that had changed I would try to rebook considering I’m missing my close friends wedding with their denial. 

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4 hours ago, smilechav said:

Yes, on account of being denied medical exemption due to already reaching the 5% capacity. If that had changed I would try to rebook considering I’m missing my close friends wedding with their denial. 

Did they tell you whether you'd be able to apply for exemtion on future sailings? Also, did you get a full refund or FCC? I know this was for a friend's wedding and you might not have plans to cruise otherwise in the near future. I'm just curious what they laid out for you.

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On 3/25/2022 at 10:46 AM, AspiringCruisePlanner said:

Did they tell you whether you'd be able to apply for exemtion on future sailings? Also, did you get a full refund or FCC? I know this was for a friend's wedding and you might not have plans to cruise otherwise in the near future. I'm just curious what they laid out for you.

Yes, I can apply for exemption on future cruises. They provide a contact number on the denial email and I was eligible for a full refund, even though my ticket was non-refundable. I haven’t received my refund yet, but I was advised it would take about a month and it’s only been 3 weeks. Overall, it was a simple process. I don’t really have plans to cruise in the future because the headache of being in limbo is not worth it for me. Unless something changes, I won’t be going on a cruise and that’s okay.
 

I can update when I receive the refund because I’ve heard a lot of people are struggling with getting theirs timely. 

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