Royal Caribbean ‘Evaluating’ Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccines for Children

Royal Caribbean International isn’t ready to make any decisions when it comes to requiring COVID-19 vaccines for its youngest passengers after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for emergency use in children ages 5 to 11 in late October.

“At this time, we have not made any decisions on the vaccine requirements for children 5 to 11. We are still in a wait-and-see. We are evaluating it…But should we make a change to our protocols and require this, we will give you plenty of notice so that families can get their children vaccinated,” Royal Caribbean senior vice president of sales, trade support and service Vicki Freed said during her weekly Coffee Talk webinar with travel advisors on Wednesday.

Royal Caribbean currently requires all passengers age 12 and older to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and allows children ages 5 to 11 to board with proof of a negative COVID-19 test result.

Meanwhile, Disney Cruise Line and Celebrity Cruises will begin requiring vaccines for all guests age 5 and over next year. Disney’s new requirement will go into effect on sailings departing on or after January 13, 2022, while Celebrity’s mandate will take effect on February 1, 2022.

Last month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that children 5 to 11 years old be vaccinated against COVID-19 with the Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric vaccine.