Disney Cruise Line passengers are cancelling maiden voyages, as the family-focussed line continues to enforce vaccination requirements.
Since the Eastern seaboard protocols of mandated cruise ship vaccinations were repealed last month, the majority of cruise lines have removed their Covid protocols. Disney Cruises, however, remains a notable exception.
Disney’s Customer Service states the vaccination rules will be in place at least until November 16, before being reassessed. Disney Wonder arrives in Australia in October.
The delay has meant confused families have been cancelling their cruises at the last minute as they remain unsure over who will and won’t be allowed on the ship.
Cruiser Jessica Yap said she cancelled on the day her full payment was due.
“I just cancelled my Disney Cruise. Absolutely gutted about it!” she posted.
“I know Disney will eventually update their policies, but it wasn’t something I could afford to wait around and see. Fingers crossed they get their act together.
“They won’t extend my paid-in-full date due to the uncertainty of the situation and not knowing how long it may take for policies to be updated. I was told I could pay in full, but with no guarantee of a full refund if vaccination requirements remain.”
Another cruiser called Cruise Passenger and said their group was forced to cancel one of their cabins due to vaccination rules, despite not being warned when booking their cruise.
Full vaccination still required
Disney Cruise Line is still requiring full vaccination for all passengers 12 and over who wish to sail in the upcoming inaugural Australian season. The policy remains on Disney’s website and was confirmed to Cruise Passenger via a Disney Cruise Line customer service representative.
Given Disney is a family cruise line, it would have a significant number of unvaccinated teenage passengers older than 12 booked for a cruise onboard Disney Wonder. But they will be unable to cruise Disney in the season ahead.
At this week’s Cruise 360 cruise industry conference in Brisbane, one industry figure told Cruise Passenger that they spoke to a Disney representatives who said they were expecting confirmation of a policy update in the coming days.
But that is no comfort to families with unvaccinated passengers over 12 years who, under current rules, will not be permitted to board Disney Wonder.
Families begin cancelling Disney cruises
While Disney holds out on updating their policy, that delay has led to some guests cancelling their cruises. With final payments looming, some passengers have decided they can’t hold out any longer.
Posts regarding vaccination rules in Disney Facebook Groups are quickly garnering hundreds of comments, as cruisers remain confused. The Disney Cruise Australia season begins in October, just over a month away.
Cruise Passenger has also contacted leading travel agents, who are also unsure of how the rules will play out.
This doesn’t make sense. As of 30 August 2023 Disney will accept unvaccinated passengers from the USA but not Australia. They just missed out on my business as well. I did not continue with my booking departing in October
There is nothing ‘wrong’ with people who choose not to have their children vaccinated for COVID. My children are adults now, but if they were still children I would not have them vaccinated as I would consider that to be the ‘safer’ option. I don’t believe there has been enough time to truly determine the safety of the vaccine. I was mandated to have the vaccine to continue working as a registered nurse and I now believe I should have refused, as did other registered nurses. We had a friend that had no known health issues and after receiving a COVID vaccine, she sadly passed away due to blood clots forming. After losing our friend I have refused to have any booster COVID vaccines. During a shift at work this year I asked a security officer why I hadn’t seen him, he explained that after receiving a COVID vaccination he lost his eyesight for 12 months. I talked about what he had told me with an Ophthalmologist and they confirmed they have been treating people post COVID vaccination with a condition called Optic Neuritis. There are many research articles online that you can access pertaining to these cases. These are by no means, the only medical conditions that have been caused by having a COVID vaccination but if you are interested you can easily research more on the internet. Lastly, regardless of people being fully vaccinated, they are still able to transmit the virus. Again, there are many research articles on the internet that confirm this. One of these articles, published by the medical journal, ‘The Lancet’ can be found here,
I think it’s time we should stop judging people for making a decision that they believe is keeping them and their families safe, whether that may be choosing to have a COVID vaccination or choosing not to.
what is wrong with you Diana If you bothered to look into it you would find you are safer with unvaccinated people around you. Analyse the science, read the data. Hope Disney goes broke
What is wrong with those who are cancelling? It is much safer for me and my family to be surrounded by fully vaccinated people.
Disney is a woke basket case. Their diversion from what Walt Disney had built, is appalling. They are trying to impose their disgusting values on young children.
I would never travel with them.
I will not watch or buy, any of their woke garbage.
It is no longer suitable for young children.
Like many other business that have chosen this path, they have been losing billions and will continue to do so! And they deserve it!