First, I know I have some new subscribers, so hello all and thank you for subscribing!! Welcome to my travel blog where I give all the ins and outs of my travel experiences. Check out old blog posts here.
But let's get into it! I know, I know.. a lot of people have negative things to say about cruising during a pandemic (“floating Petrie dish, etc”). But I’ll be honest with y’all, this is definitely one of the absolute safest ways to travel right now. And let me tell y’all why..
Everyone is vaccinated!!* All of the crew members are fully vaccinated, tested every week, and required to wear masks at all times when with guests. As for passengers, everyone over the age of 12 on my cruise is fully vaccinated. On other Carnival cruises, they did give up to 5% of passengers over 12 a medical exemption; but on my cruise specifically no exemptions were given because the Bahamas made a rule where no cruise ships would be able to dock if everyone on the ship wasn’t vaccinated. Now of course, for passengers under 12, there can’t be a vaccine requirement because the vaccine isn’t yet approved for kids that age. (P.S. As CDC guidance changes, the requirement to be vaccinated may change as well. But as of writing this on my first cruise back 10/21, these were the most up-to-date requirements.)
Everyone also had a negative test recently. Vaccinated guests had to have a negative test within 48 hours of travel, and unvaccinated guests had to have a negative PCR test within 72 hours of cruising AND an additional rapid test the day of cruise. And while we all know by now that negative tests/vaccines aren’t the end all be all when it comes to having covid, it still gives an ENORMOUS piece of comfort knowing that everyone on this ship has tested negative within 2 days of the cruise.
The cruise is not at maximum capacity. Right now, my ship is operating at under 70% capacity. This means the ship can realistically hold a bunch more people than are actually on it. This is great because that gives more room for people to spread out, AND shorter lines for everything lol!
Everywhere I turn, things are being wiped down. All high touch items (railings, door handles, elevator buttons, lounge chairs, etc) are constantly being sanitized. Even the golf putters/gold balls from our mini-golf game were wiped down before we used them. Plus, they offer wipes around the ship to wipe things down an additional time for safety. (see below)
You do have to wear your mask when you inside, but when in outdoor exposed areas the masks were not required.
Overall, I felt very safe on the cruise and was so happy to be back cruising! P.S. I am writing this while on a 4-Day Bahamas cruise on the Carnival Elation ship.
And look at this adorable towel animal, he's begging you to come visit him on a cruise!!
If you want help booking your next cruise (or any kind of vacation for that matter), feel free to shoot me an email at tgsotravel@gmail.com!
And be on the lookout for more blog posts, as I will be dropping a few over the month of November! Let me know if you have any questions about my cruise experience or any general travel blog suggestions!
Ciao for now,
DejaTheExplorer✨