Govt waives travel visa for cruises out of Florida

As more cruise companies prepare to sail from US ports into The Bahamas this summer, the government has relaxed the travel visa requirement for passengers onboard cruise ships originating from outside of the country.

Minister of Tourism and Aviation Dionisio D’Aguilar said those cruise passengers who travel to The Bahamas for home port cruises, however, are still required to follow all travel health visa protocols. He added that even though those cruise passengers out of Florida are required to be fully vaccinated or present a negative RT-PCR test on the first day of embarkation, the government has liaised with the cruise companies and local health officials to develop protocols in the event there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 onboard a ship.

“With cruises that initiate out of Florida, the government has loosened its restrictions somewhat by saying all of those passengers that embark in Florida will not require a health visa on the condition that the cruise company guarantees that if any of the cruise passengers get symptoms or feel unwell, they are disembarked. Obviously we’ve had many, many hours of discussions on our health protocols and how that process will work. We’ve anticipated that there will probably be some positive cases and how that will work through. So that has taken many, many hours of discussion but protocols have been established,” he told reporters on Saturday during a ceremony to celebrate the inaugural sailing of Crystal Cruises’ Serenity cruise ship from Nassau’s cruise port.

“So the cruise companies must guarantee that anyone who presents symptoms or tests positive is immediately disembarked and returned to the United States by medical evacuation. All of the guests are either fully vaccinated or they receive a PCR test on the date of embarkation that obviously has a negative result. So with those protocols in place, guaranteeing to medically evacuate them out of the country and to follow the protocols to disembark them from the ship, the guarantee that everybody is vaccinated or anybody of the age of ten has received a negative PCR test on the date of embarkation, the government said okay, you don’t need to do the health visa.”

Royal Caribbean International’s Freedom of the Seas set sail this week from Florida to Royal Caribbean’s private island CoCo Cay and the Nassau’s cruise port, making it the first cruise line to sail from US ports to The Bahamas since the industry was closed because of COVID-19 pandemic.

MSC Cruises recently announced the relaunch of its sailings to its private island in The Bahamas aboard MSC Divina, beginning September 16.

The government has said home porting will bring approximately 30,000 cruise visitors to The Bahamas this year, while the resumption of cruises in general are expected to increase visitor arrivals. It is estimated that approximately 400,000 tourists have visited The Bahamas so far this year and tourism stakeholders said forward bookings show encouraging numbers for the rest of the year.

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/govt-waives-travel-visa-for-cruises-out-of-florida/