Cruise Travel During Covid
I sailed on one of the first fully vaccinated cruises and here’s what I learned about cruise travel during Covid, including what to expect and how handle all the details. Including one big surprise.
After surviving 2020, we all expected a carefree 2021 summer with the freedom to move about the cabin as well as the globe. Amid rising Covid vaccinations, the travel industry saw a mad rush for making travel plans, booking plane tickets, hotel rooms or cruises.
Although we’re enjoying more travel freedom in 2021, Covid never sleeps and – surprise! – no one counted on a raging Delta variant to upend our travel as well.
What Cruise Travel Looks Like Today During Covid
What does cruising during Covid look like today, especially as the Delta variant rages around the globe?
Both mind-boggling and heavenly, booking and enjoying your cruise today challenges you with endless paperwork, safety protocols, Covid travel restrictions and tests. But the rewards are great.
As the cruise industry’s response to Covid constantly changes, be aware of what to expect. After sailing on a fully vaccinated cruise this summer to the Southern Caribbean, here’s what I learned.
Safety on Cruises During Covid and the Delta Variant
After receiving my second vaccination, visions of vacationing danced in my imagination as I figured out where to go.
Plus, as a professional travel writer, I watched my steady work assignments go poof in the stormy clouds of pandemic economics. No longer housebound and feeling comfortable to travel, I pondered the perfect, safe getaway.
But where to go? And safely?
Celebrity Cruises Offers the First Fully Vaccinated Cruises
Then I saw Celebrity Cruises’ announcement about starting 2021’s first all-vaccinated cruises, departing from the southern Caribbean port of Saint Martin.
These weeklong sailings observing all Covid safety protocols and only allowed all-vaccinated crew and passengers aboard.
Celebrity Cruises offered a Southern Caribbean itinerary including the islands of Barbados, Aruba and Curacao, all permitting the Summit to land while meeting their Covid restrictions.
This was great news since sailing out of Florida felt risky due to ever-changing rules and allowing non-vaccinated passengers aboard.
With Celebrity Cruises, I’d only have to fly from the US straight down to Saint Martin to board my ship.
Yet, how safe is the Summit?
Find Out If Your Cruise Ship is Safe
First, before booking, go to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)’s website to check if your ship’s health and safety protocols meets CDC standards for protecting passengers and crew from Covid.
This frequently updated table rates ships green, orange, yellow, red or gray, using data collected over the previous 7-day period and from CDC investigation findings.
With the Summit rated green, I felt comfortable to book an all-vaccinated cruise for July, 2021.
But more hurdles awaited.
Plan to Juggle Many Details and Cruise Travel Restrictions
The cruise industry has the strictest vaccine and testing practices in the entire travel industry.
Yet policies run the gamut. Some cruise lines only offer fully vaccinated cruises, others just require frequent testing and still others require a daily test.
All subject to change.
Before your cruise, you’ll negotiate a minefield of cruise travel restrictions and testing policies. Prepare to track endless details, fill out the correct forms, calculate Covid testing windows and arrange for tests.
Before departing, make sure you have the proper requirements. Here’s an exhaustive list of what I brought with me:
- QR codes
- Covid testing required by Celebrity Cruises
- Covid testing required by Saint Martin
- An authorization for pre-approval for entry into Saint Martin
- Vaccination cards
- Online forms
- Passports
- Cruise docs & tickets
- Airline boarding passes
- Original copies of above
- Digital copies of above
It’s the Wild West out there when planning cruise travel today. Be prepared.
Expect Things to Change and Fast
You have a real danger of showing up at the dock and getting denied boarding if you missed meeting a Covid requirement.
Stay on top of every detail while booking, traveling and cruising. Study every email. Follow cruise line and airline policies.
And hop on the phone with your cruise line, airline, and travel agency if you have questions or need a verbal confirmation about a confusing requirement.
Expect Snafus During Covid Travel
Expect mistakes.
Before our departure, Celebrity Cruises sent me emails about a cruise cancellation. After a long hold time, I finally confirmed with customer service that we were still a go.
Airline schedules are in upheaval as well. Ominous American Airlines emails offered me ever-growing amount of cash for changing my overbooked flights to St Martin.
Over the summer, American had attracted bad publicity for cancelling flights left and right after furloughing crews during the pandemic.
Alarmingly, on the day before our departure, I couldn’t check in on American’s app. A real worry. After hanging on hold again, I verbally confirmed our flights to Saint Martin and avoided my heart attack.
We Take Off Properly Prepared for Our Celebrity Cruise
Finally, we caught a red-eye flight to Miami to connect to Saint Martin on our first real vacation in two years. For a week of gourmet dining, live music, Caribbean sun and overall frippery, we came armed with negative Covid tests, authorizations, and pre-approvals.
Coming Onboard Celebrity Cruises’ Summit Cruise Ship
“Madame, would you like a refreshing towel?” asked a crew member as we boarded the Summit in Phillipsburg, Saint Martin.
We’re here, I thought, but should we have come?
After the shipboard security’s x-ray scan of our carry-ons, a final once-over of our docs and snapshots of our faces, a blue plastic RFID bracelet was placed on our wrists – for contact tracing. Wear them aboard ship at all times, we were informed, but not in the pool or ocean.
More on that later.
Expect Lots of Gratitude Aboard a Fully Vaccinated Cruise
Once outside security, we were surprised by an unmasked phalanx of ship officers and crew greeting us and clapping with unbridled joy.
They shouted, “Welcome aboard! We’re so glad you’re here.”
And I’d hear “Welcome aboard” almost a hundred times during the next 24 hours, always happy, never insincere. Every waiter, buffet server, officer, maître d’, cleaner or entertainer unironically welcomed us. Many took the effort to learn our names to greet (and thank) us personally.
It all felt overwhelming, the gratitude.
I met many crew members overjoyed about returning to work. Jedson from Brazil, an Oceanview Café waiter, told me, “When I got my letter saying that I’ve been assigned, I just couldn’t believe it. I was so happy.”
In the Cosmopolitan Restaurant, Mary, a Restaurant Hostess from the Philippines, had shed tears as she watched the first passengers embark on the Summit’s first all-vaccinated sailing earlier that July.
On our first evening, a thank you gift arrived in our stateroom from the ship captain, Matt Karandreas, and his crew, accompanied by bottles of wine and champagne.
How thoughtful.
Thus began a nightly parade of thank you notes and treats at our door, tiny, perfect pastries from the pastry staff, a charcuterie plate from the restaurant crew, chocolate truffles from the service staff and so on.
Every night, another gift. It felt overwhelming.
Stop, stop, I thought. All this gratitude.
Expect Outstanding Service Aboard Cruises Today
Our first morning at sea.
We opened our stateroom’s glass doors onto a veranda, allowing the salty-freshness of sea air and wave music to waft inside as we enjoyed coffee and the freshest croissant this side of Paris.
It was tough getting here, I thought, yet worth it.
Then it got better.
Thus began the most luxurious vacation I’ve ever experienced. A huge surprise while traveling during Covid.
We got constant smiles and greetings from crew members as well as offers to assist in any way. Doors were opened for us and greeters welcomed us to pools and events, eateries and bars, spas and shows.
The gym, spa and salon were open and uncrowded.
All over the ship, from dusk to dawn, cleaners constantly worked, wiping every touchable surface, elevator buttons, chair arms, even the walls.
Never saw one fingerprint anywhere.
Dining Aboard is Still Excellent with Some Changes
In spite of cruising during Covid, nothing lacked in service or food quality.
In ship’s main restaurant, The Cosmopolitan, we dined on snowy white tablecloths and received unobtrusive service. The quality of service and food excelled with only a fourth of the dining room occupied at mealtimes. We sat at socially distanced tables for two and were handed menus. Families or large groups traveling together shared large round tables.
But slight changes are afoot. In the ship’s buffet, the Oceanview Café, a friendly greeter welcomes you and then directs you to the hand-washing station in the entry. Service has changed as well. At every food station, snappy servers will place your choices on a clean plate for you, offering it with a hygienic, gloved hand.
Gone Are The Crowds and Long Lines On Cruises Today
The Summit usually hosts around 2,200 passengers; during our week on the high seas, we sailed with only 500.
Who was aboard this all-vaccinated cruise? Passengers of all ages, from kids to seniors, families, couples, and groups of friends, came aboard the Summit, ready to put the pandemic behind.
Aboard our fully vaccinated cruise, we enjoyed an atmosphere of a private yacht, no lines, no crowds, no long waits, and excellent service.
I found empty lounges holding folded pool towels at the adult-only thalassotherapy spa pool. We got immediate seating at bars and restaurants and in (socially distanced) front row theatre seats. On uncrowded shore excursions, we saw short lines, if any.
One night, as a full moon glowed on the waves, we had the top deck’s outdoor movie theatre all to ourselves while watching “Pirates of the Caribbean.” Well, us and our waiter.
Expect Itinerary Changes Before and During Your Cruise
At the Martini Bar over celebratory drinks, we heard our fellow passengers’ tales of traveling during Covid.
One North Carolina couple couldn’t fly to Saint Martin after their false positive Covid tests. After re-testing negative, they flew, at their expense, to our first port-of-call in Barbados to board the Summit.
One California couple was sailing on the second of two back-to-back Summit cruises after previously cancelled Celebrity cruises.
However, their first cruise’s itinerary had some hiccups. After a hasty shutdown, a call at Saint Kitts was cancelled. The next port call, Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, was revoked by yet another. Leisurely days at sea replaced both.
On shore excursions, expect some islands to require masks during the entire excursion or only inside tour vehicles. Barbados only allowed visitors on excursions booked with the cruise line. While snorkeling there, we could swim in the waves but were banned from a nearby beach. Yet, we walked all over Willemstad in Curacao.
And all subject to change.
Covid Cases Seem to Be Rare On Cruises Today
“This is your Captain speaking.”
Captain Matt Karandreas, Celebrity’s youngest ship captain, made daily afternoon announcements and presented a talk in the ship theatre.
During his talk, he reported that the Summit’s two previous cruises were found Covid-free before arriving back in Saint Martin.
Thus, the line felt it was safe enough to allow crew members to work without masks on his ship going forward on our cruise.
“We’re operating at 40% total capacity,” he said. “We have only 499 passengers on board and next week we will have less.”
“We don’t make money. We want to prove that we can do (all-vaccinated cruises) and be safe. So we’re pioneers,” added Captain Karandreas.
The day of reckoning arrived. Two days before returning to Saint Martin, all passengers got tested, courtesy of Celebrity Cruises.
The next day, during his afternoon announcement, the captain reported two positive cases for Covid.
“It is two people occupying the same stateroom” he said. “We have contact-traced others who may’ve been exposed for quarantining but they have tested negative.”
This dovetails with a statement by Michael Bayley, CEO of Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises’ parent company. He recently said that one or two passengers a week test positive for Covid on their vessels.
Remember those contact tracing bracelets issued to us when we came aboard? Well, by the cruise’s end, I saw very few passengers sporting them. Or crew members either.
I’m unsure if this contact tracing method was efficient. And I’m not sure if a fully vaccinated cruise is a guarantee against infection. But I do believe positive Covid cases will be a rarity onboard the fully vaccinated cruises.
What I Learned – Bottom Line
In the future, I believe that the cruise industry will only offer sailings with all-vaccinated crews and passengers aboard, while observing current Covid safety protocols.
Plan on handling extra hassles, time constraints and itinerary changes as destinations open or close up and cruise line and government policies change.
And plan on hand washing. Lots of hand washing.
If you choose to cruise now, know that it’s worth your trouble. A big surprise for me, you’ll find high levels of luxury and service awaiting you amid the lack of crowds aboard.
And, once the pandemic loosens its grip on travel, those rewards will fast disappear.
