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Most Major Cruise Lines Accepting Mixed Vaccines: Good News For Canadians

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As the world goes back to normal and cruise ships return to the oceans, we’re finally beginning to understand the vaccine requirements from cruise ships. 

Canadian travelers were worried about mixed vaccines and how that would affect their ability to travel going forward. Many Canadians received mixed vaccine doses, and some countries aren’t accepting mixed vaccine doses yet. 

The CDC’s position on mixed vaccines was unclear until recent weeks. The CDC now recognizes some mixed vaccine doses as fully vaccinated. 

But thankfully, most cruise ships accept mixed vaccines, and we have the complete list of entry requirements here.

Royal Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean Cruises currently accepts guests with mixed vaccine doses as fully vaccinated.

However, Royal Caribbean Cruises states, “We understand some guests may have been vaccinated with doses from two different vaccine manufacturers.

“Whether these are accepted depends on where you are sailing from and the mix of manufacturers. In addition, mixed vaccines may not be accepted at all ports of call.”

Royal Caribbean Cruises are following the CDC's guidelines.

Cruises departing from ports inside the U.S.

  • Mixed mRNA Vaccines – For sailings departing the U.S, the CDC recognizes a mixed series of mRNA vaccines as fully vaccines. For example, 1 shot of Pfizer with 1 shot of Moderna. However, the doses must be administered 28 days apart. Royal Caribbean cruises will consider guests fully vaccinated 14 days after the final dose. 
  • Mixed mRNA with AstraZeneca Vaccine – Royal Caribbean cruises will not consider guests fully vaccinated if their two shots consist of only 1 mRNA dose with 1 AstraZeneca dose. Royal Caribbean states they’re going to “continue to encourage the CDC and other U.S. government officials to re-evaluate this policy.”

Cruises departing from ports outside of the U.S. 

Royal Caribbean cruises will accept mixed doses of Pfizer and Moderna, or AstraZeneca with Moderna or Pfizer if they’re departing from outside of the United States.

The doses must be separated by at least 4 weeks and not more than 12 weeks for combinations of AstraZeneca with Pfizer or Moderna. 

Royal Caribbean accepts straight doses of vaccines approved by the World Health Organization and the U.S. FDA. The company considers guests fully vaccinated 14 days after the final dose of vaccines. 

For example, Royal Caribbean accepts 1 shot of Johnson & Johnson, 2 shots of Pfizer, 2 of Moderna, and 2 of AstraZeneca. 

Carnival Cruises 

Carnival Cruises, which own Princess, Seabourn, Holland, and Costa, currently accept guests with mixed vaccine doses as fully vaccinated.

However, Carnival Cruises currently accepts mixing mRNA vaccines only, such as Pfizer and Moderna. However, Carnival Cruises doesn’t accept guests as fully vaccinated with any other vaccine combination.

They state, “Canadian or other international guests who received a combination of AstraZeneca and Pfizer are considered unvaccinated by the CDC.”

Guests considered unvaccinated by Carnival Cruises will need to follow the applicable vaccination exemption requirements.

These include a 72-hour negative PCR test at check-in, an additional antigen test at embarkation, and another test within 24 hours of debarkation on all cruises exceeding 4 days in length. 

Norwegian Cruise Lines 

Norweigan Cruise Lines currently accepts guests with mixed vaccine doses as fully vaccinated.

However, the cruise accepts a mixed protocol of AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, or Moderna combinations with a minimum interval of 28 days.

The cruise accepts straight doses of all vaccines approved by the FDA, EMA, and the World Health Organization. 

They also state guests who’ve received a Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine before another COVID-19 vaccine are still considered fully vaccinated by the company two weeks after the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Read More:

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This article originally appeared on TravelOffPath.com

Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.