Unvaccinated guests sailing on Adventure of the Seas will no longer be able to book shore excursions on their own beginning with the next sailing.
Guests booked on Adventure of the Seas received an email indicating unvaccinated passengers, including parents traveling with unvaccinated children, are required to participate in shore excursions offered by local tour operators approved by Royal Caribbean.
If your traveling party is fully vaccinated, there is no change in the shore excursion policy.
In an abundance of caution, when visiting ports other than Perfect Day at CocoCay, parties that include unvaccinated guests, including parents traveling with unvaccinated children, are required to participate in shore excursions offered by local tour operators approved by Royal Caribbean. These tours meet our health and safety requirements for unvaccinated guests.
Entirely vaccinated traveling parties may visit the port freely. All guests are subject to restrictions and requirements as defined by local authorities in the ports we visit. Additional details will be provided onboard.
Royal Caribbean will offer a discount for guests under 16 to help offset the change.
The cruise line says the decision was made "to protect you and the communities we visit."
The change comes one day after two unvaccinated children on Adventure of the Seas tested positive for Covid-19 and had to be quarantined and brought home.
Celebrity Cruises made a similar change this week for their Celebrity Edge sailings that begin this weekend as well from the United States.
Guests traveling on #CelebrityEdge June 26 that excursions will be required to disembark in Mexico. This is a change from what was done on Adventure of the seas this week.
— CruiseHabit (@CruiseHabit) June 24, 2021
A bit disappointing, but we understand everyone must remain flexible for a bit. Happy to be #cruising! pic.twitter.com/llfaRjuk9k
Policy changes are nothing new for cruise lines as they resume operations. One constant in the months leading up to cruises restarting has been policy adjustments, reversals, and additions.
Read more: Top 8 things you should know about going on a cruise in 2021
When Adventure of the Seas' sailings from The Bahamas were announced, shore excursions were initially limited to just cruise line tours.
Then, the company changed policies prior to the first sailing to allow guests to go on any tour, regardless of vaccination status.
