I’m currently onboard the Carnival Miracle on her first post-covid sailing from Seattle to Alaska. And perhaps only those unlucky enough to have witnessed me Moonwalking and Electric Sliding and Carlton Banks-ing and Humpty Dancing and Dougie-ing and Cha Cha Sliding and Voguing and Gangnam-ing and Harlem Shaking and Running Man-ing and Roger Rabbit-ing (my signature move) from my apartment in downtown Seattle over to Pier 91 for embarkation will understand how excited I am.
But I was also curious to see how cruising on Carnival would look after Covid. What would change? What would stay the same? And would I feel the same way about cruising (i.e. love it more than warm apple fritters, my family, baby animals, well, anything)?
I’ll keep you in suspense about that last question. But now that I’m several days into my cruise, let me update you on twenty-five things that have changed on Carnival now that cruising has resumed after the Covid pandemic and one important thing that hasn’t changed. Please keep in mind that all of these may not be standard across every ship and that things are constantly in flux with the cruising industry right now. But this should give you a pretty good idea of what you can expect for your upcoming Carnival cruise if you’re lucky enough to have one scheduled (or maybe help you to decide to schedule one if you haven’t already or if you should chancel one you have scheduled).
It’s important to note that not all of these changes directly resulted from Covid. Many of them were in the works already and have nothing to do with the pandemic. But some do – either driven by health and safety requirements or by Carnival’s current financial reality. I’ve organized them into four categories: changes prior to embarkation, changes during embarkation and debarkation, changes onboard, and changes at port. As always, feel free to ask questions in the comments, suggest things I may have missed, or offer corrections and opinions. We’re all navigating these new waters together!
While my cruise from Seattle is operating 100% vaccinated, there are Carnival cruises departing from many other cities that are allowing a very small number (5% or less) of unvaccinated passengers onboard (mainly children under 12 who are not yet eligible for the vaccine). In order to sail unvaccinated, an exemption form must be submitted and approved and you must meet certain additional requirements. Information on limitations for unvaccinated guests and the exemption form can be found here.
Carnival is also currently not allowing those who rely on oxygen or those on dialysis to sail.
Several new health assessments and screenings must be completed prior to boarding. I received instructions for completing the first one, verifying my vaccine status, about 20 days prior to my sailing date. Here’s what it looked like:
And here were the choices under the drop-down menu:
Then 72 hours before my cruise, I received an e-mail requesting I fill out another online health assessment form. Here’s what it looked like:
While this will vary from ship to ship and the exact occupancy for your sailing won’t be known until a few days prior to departure, some Carnival ships are operating at a reduced capacity and some others are less crowded because kids under 12 aren’t currently sailing. While I’m thrilled to be enjoying a slightly less crowded ship, I worry about what people on the cruise boards are going to complain about if “chair hogs” are no longer an issue due to an abundance of available loungers.
Unvaccinated cruisers over 12 sailing from Florida or Texas are required to purchase travel insurance. Here are the specific requirements (per the Have Fun. Be Safe. Covid-19 Guest Protocols):
As always, I strongly encourage everyone to purchase travel insurance, especially during these uncertain times. However, I do NOT recommend anyone purchase their insurance through Carnival. While it may seem convenient, Carnival insurance is overpriced and doesn’t cover as much as plans you can purchase on your own. Instead, go through a site like *travelinsurance.com to compare plans and prices and get the best rate for exactly what you want. It only takes a few minutes and you’ll be VERY relieved you purchased it in the event you ever need it.
14 days prior to sailing, you’ll have access to online check-in. During this process you’ll need to select a time to arrive at the your departure port. Be sure to log in ASAP if you want an earlier time (I actually stayed up until midnight EST to snag 10:30am). You’ll also be assigned a boarding zone which will appear at the top of your boarding pass. Boarding zones ARE enforced.
Here are the check-in procedures as per the Have Fun. Be Safe. Covid-19 Guest Protocols:
Vaccinated guests will be required to present proof of vaccination during the check-in process at the terminal.
Here’s what’s accepted as proof of vaccination (per Carnival’s Have Fun. Be Safe. Covid-19 Guest Protocols):
All passengers, regardless of vaccination status, must remain fully masked (with a mask securely covering their mouth and nose) while inside the cruise terminal and while boarding or debarking the ship.
For sailings taking place after August 14, every guest, including vaccinated guests, must show a negative test taken within the past 3 days at check-in.
Here are the tests accepted for FULLY VACCINATED guests (pulled from John Heald’s Facebook page):
An antigen test
A rapid antigen test
A PCR test
If you have medical insurance, in most cases the cost of the test should be covered. As of now, Carnival will NOT be covering the cost or providing testing for vaccinated guests.
Vaccinated guests will present their negative test result (either a paper copy or electronically) at check-in.
Here are the testing requirements for UNVACCINATED GUESTS (per the Have Fun. Be Safe. Covid-19 Guest Protocols):
In the past, a customs card had to be filled out by all passengers, even those with nothing to declare. Now that card only has be be filled out by anyone who exceeds the duty free limit.
Carnival is now also using your passport photo as your ship photo and for facial recognition which speeds up the check-in process.
Crew will be masked at all times (except for performers on stage) and guests will be required to mask in certain crowded locations except when actively eating or drinking (the indoor masking requirement for guests was announced just after I returned from my cruise aboard the Miracle).
Places mask wearing is NOT REQUIRED include (this information comes directly from John Heald’s Facebook page): open decks including the open areas of the Lido deck, in the pools, in the gym, in the spa, in restaurants and bars while eating or drinking, and in your cabin.
Remember the days of packing onto a scorching ship deck with 4,000 other people, half of whom are already 6 drinks into their vacation and trying desperately to keep your toddler or your husband from throwing a fit while you wait and wait and wait for those piercing horn beeps that indicate you’re almost done with the muster drill (safety briefing)? Well those days are gone!
Under the new muster drill protocols, sometime between boarding and sail away, you will independently make your way to your muster station and check in with a crew member who will instruct you in how to properly put on your life vest.
Then you will watch a safety video in your stateroom. Easy-peasy! Unless you find a weird joy in shared trauma, then you’ll miss the old way.
A few cautions. First, if you don’t complete the safety procedures, you’re ship card will be deactivated until you do. You’ll still be able to access your stateroom, but won’t be able to charge anything to your card. Second, make sure each person in your party checks in with the crew member and has their card scanned or name marked off the list. Anyone who doesn’t check in individually will NOT be considered cleared and their card will be deactivated. You don’t want to miss your traditional sail away drink because your card was declined!
You may notice enhanced cleaning and sanitation protocols onboard the ship, in terminals, and in port.
If you like to disconnect from technology during a cruise, you’ll be disappointed with the new HUB app. It’s used for everything onboard from making dining reservations (which are now required if you have “your time” dinner and for breakfast, brunch, and lunch in the main dining rooms) to seeing the daily schedule of events. You can also use it (for an extra charge) to chat with others in your cruising party and to have food delivered to you anywhere on the ship.
As an additional safety precaution (to limit contact between guests and room stewards), staterooms will only be serviced once per day (instead of in the morning and evening as was the case before). Your cabin steward will ask you your preference on the first day. You can always ask for extra towels, ice, and other items outside of the cleaning window you select and a crew member will drop them off for you. And you WILL receive a towel animal regardless of which time you choose.
Fun Times, Carnival’s daily schedule and newsletter, will no longer be delivered to cabins each day. Instead, the schedule will be available on the HUB app. For those who want a simple, printed schedule, one will be available each day to pick up from the Guest Services desk. It looks like this:
This will come as a big disappointment to some men who count on this contest as their only real shot at winning a “ship-on-a-stick.” But it may come as a huge relief to their wives and mothers who will no longer have to pretend not to know them.
While nothing as dramatic as we first feared, like the elimination of the buffet or the equivalent of the “bacon police” for every item you used to serve yourself, you will notice a few changes when it comes to dining and drinking. First off, you will use a QR code to view menus on your phone.
Paper menus will still be available for anyone with a strict “no phones at the dinner table!” rule, but you will no longer see menus lying around bars and restaurants.
Dinner menus in the Main Dining Room (MDR) have been scaled back. You’ll note that the “Port of Call” section is gone, there are no individually listed sides, and there’s a smaller dessert selection. However, most popular favorites remain. You can see all the new menus here.
There is a new procedure for receiving bread at dinner in the MDR (Main Dining Room). Instead of a basket of bread being placed on the table or someone walking around with a basket of bread asking what you’d like, you will order bread from the menu. You will also have the option of three different rotating condiments for your bread. Not to despair my fellow carb lovers, you can order as many pieces as you want.
Carnival is now charging $3 for popcorn at Dive-In Movies. This is indirectly related to Covid as it was added as a way to make some additional revenue following the significant financial hit Carnival suffered as a result of the pandemic.
Members of the VIFP loyalty program will no longer receive benefits such as water and a free drink coupon in their stateroom.
However, a credit will be automatically loaded onto your ship card and you can pick up your water and free drink directly from a bar (or the dining room) during the designated time, without any paper coupon. Your pin is picked up from the Pixels desk. Here’s what the 2021 pin looks like for Gold members:
Platinum and Diamond guest may also notice some additional changes, most temporary (hopefully). John Heald announced via his Facebook page that the Platinum gift will continue to be the luggage tag because Carnival has a backlog of them. You will also probably not receive a ship specific pin at this time.
And the following changes (copied directly from Carnival’s website):
** For sailings through August 2021 – Given our focus on meeting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) requirements and implementation of new health and safety protocols, we will need to adjust how we deliver some of the VIFP priority benefits, as follows:
PRIORITY CHECK-IN & BOARDING – Platinum and Diamond guests will now be given 48 hours advance access to select their preferred Arrival Appointment while completing their Online Check-In. A boarding zone will be assigned based on guest’s Arrival Appointment.
WATER SHUTTLE PRIORITY – Priority water shuttle debark will be provided subject to local guidance at the destinations we visit, which may change without prior notice.
CASINO – We are currently unable to host casino tournaments on board and guests will be given US $25 in Casino FunPlay®.
DEBARK – We will do our best to offer priority debarkation, however, this may not be possible if we have unusually high numbers of Platinum and Diamond guests on board.
Since currently all children under 12 on Carnival ships will be unvaccinated, Camp Ocean will not be available.
In addition, any unvaccinated youth over 12 will not be permitted to participate in supervised Circle “C” and CLUB O2 youth programs.
Unvaccinated passengers will not be permitted to leave the ship at port unless they are booked on a “bubble tour” purchased through Carnival. Here’s additional information about these tours from Carnival:
Passengers will be asked to wear a mask on most Carnival excursions (and most privately booked excursions too) and will be expected to follow local masking guidelines while exploring around on their own in each port of call.
Because significantly fewer ships are sailing, ports will be far less crowded that they were pre-Covid. This is a real benefit to cruising right now! On my recent cruise to Alaska, my ship was the only one docked in two of our three ports.
For those of you wondering if cruising on Carnival is even worth it any more with all the changes, restrictions, and extra requirements, I’m here to tell you that it is (at least that was my conclusion after my first post-Covid cruise on the Miracle last week. I’d do it again in a heartbeat – in fact I came right home and booked my next cruise for Sept.). Because the things I love most about cruising on Carnival haven’t changed:
The sound of water, the smell of the sea, and the sunsets…
The friendly crew…
Relaxing over a drink while listening to amazing live music…
The cakes…
The ships…
And the amazing ports…
And with that…
Class Dismissed.
Be sure to check out my complete review of my recent sailing on the Carnival Miracle to Alaska. It’s divided into four parts that can be viewed here:
You can also view all the new 2021 Carnival dinner menus here. Be sure to also follow Prof. Cruise on social media:
*I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase insurance or other products through my links. All commissions go to support the work of this site. Thank you!
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