‘People are happier’: Travelers react to no masks on planes, but what about cruises? | Washington Examiner

2022-04-21 07:41:15 By : Ms. bella Wang

W ith the lifting of the federal travel mask mandate, an uptick in travel across all industries is expected.

A federal judge in Florida overturned the extended federal travel face mask mandate for planes and U.S. public transportation Monday.

“People just really have that pent-up desire to resume life as normal, or as normal as it can be,” Ragina Ali, AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesperson, told the Washington Examiner.

“There are people, up to now, who were refusing to travel because they had to mask on the planes,” Milica Obradovic, Sunrise Travel owner and agent based in Los Angeles, said. “They will be very loud and proud about [not having to wear a mask] in the beginning, but after a while, the dust will settle.”

But where does that leave sailing on cruise ships?

“Guests are not required to wear masks, but everyone aboard the cruise must have a negative COVID test and proof of vaccination,” Obradovic said.

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Most cruise lines dropped their mask mandates soon after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its sailing order at the end of February. Except in limited circumstances, passengers do not have to wear masks when 95% of all passengers over age 5 are fully vaccinated.

Obradovic explained that because most cruise lines and ships are registered in Caribbean islands, the federal travel face mask mandate did not govern them unless they docked at a U.S. port. However, “because most of the people on these cruises are American travelers, cruises are still following CDC directives.”

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While people have begun traveling more often over the past several months, Laura Tyree, a travel consultant with Travel Lovers in Lynchburg, Virginia, told the Washington Examiner that she expects the lifting of the federal travel mask mandate to cause even more people to travel now.

“I would imagine that not having to wear masks on planes is going to increase our volume substantially but we are already at capacity for what we can book,” she said. “I think they booked and just didn’t like it, and now they’re booking and people are happier.”

Here is a list of face mask policies while sailing, according to individual cruise lines:

Carnival recommends that guests wear face masks, while crew members will be required to continue wearing them.

Disney requires guests under age 5 to wear face masks while in select locations onboard. Face masks are optional in most other indoor locations.

MSC Cruises will not require fully vaccinated guests to wear face masks onboard in public areas as of April 23.

Norwegian does not require that guests wear face masks on board when sailing from a U.S. port. Requirements may vary depending on mandates held by other embarking or disembarking countries. Crew members are required to wear face masks.

Princess dropped its mask requirement March 1.

Royal Caribbean expects unvaccinated guests to wear masks. Children over the age of 2 must wear face masks while participating in youth programs. Guests sailing from Singapore must wear a face mask at all times.

Virgin does not currently require masks to be worn onboard while sailing.

Viking may require face masks depending on the ship's COVID-19 status.

All cruise lines are likely to require masks in terminals while embarking or disembarking.