8 Cruise Lines Drop Their Face Mask Requirements

As the COVID-19 pandemic slows down, eight cruise lines have just dropped their mask policies as of yesterday, February 28, and today, March 1, 2022.

We previously reported in our guide to cruise lines mask policies article that a large number of brands would be dropping all mask requirements onboard their ships as of today.

These brands are Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Princess Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, and Seabourn. If you know a bit about which brands belong to which company, you’ll recognize that these are all cruise lines under the Carnival Corporation and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings umbrellas.

As well, Sir Richard Branson’s new cruise line Virgin Voyages also dropped its masking policy as of yesterday, February 28.

Keep in mind that even though face masks are no longer required for ships from the above cruise lines, they still may be required in specific venues such as the theater or kids’ clubs. Check your cruise line’s website for more details.

Major cruise lines that continue to have a masking policy in place for indoor public areas of their ships include Azamara, Cunard, Disney Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, and Viking.

MORE: 8 Tips For Preparing to Cruise in 2022

As of last week, masks aren’t required for vaccinated guests on Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean. Masks continue to be required for unvaccinated guests in indoor public areas. On Royal Caribbean, they’re also required for all kids two and older (regardless of vaccination status) in the Adventure Ocean kids’ program.

In other health protocol-related news, last week Norwegian Cruise Line announced that as of today, it will be allowing unvaccinated kids under 12 to sail on its ships. Just a few weeks prior, the line had opened its ships up to unvaccinated kids under 5. Currently, booster shots are not required for any passengers.

Around the same time, Celebrity Cruises went the opposite direction, lowering the age at which passengers must be vaccinated to sail on its ships. Effective April 15, all guests five and older must be vaccinated to sail on Celebrity from the United States. Celebrity is not requiring booster shots for any passengers at this time.