P&O, Princess and Carnival reintroduce mask mandates on Aussie ships

The Diamond Princess as it arrives in Sydney Harbour to kick off Australia's cruise season.
Photo by DAMIAN SHAW.com

Carnival Corporation has reintroduced vaccine and mask mandates on its Australian ships as COVID case numbers climb across the nation.

The cruise company, which encompasses P&O Australia, Princess Cruises and Carnival Crusie Line, updated its COVID-19 guest protocols on Friday “out of an abundance of caution”.

Guests are now required to wear a mask in public indoor spaces (unless eating or drinking or in your stateroom), outdoors where physical distancing cannot be maintained, during embarkation and debarkation, when on buses or water shuttles, and while indoors on any shore excursion.

“In line with government protocols, until further notice, we will operate vaccinated cruises with our enhanced protocols,” the company said.

“All our operations will follow these guidelines so we can maintain the confidence of the destinations we visit and deliver on our itineraries and guest experience.”

The news comes a week after Majestic Princess docked in Sydney Harbour with more than 800 cases of COVID on board, prompting NSW Health to set the ship alert level at tier three, the highest possible warning.

The tightened measures also require 100 per cent of crew and 95 per cent of passengers to be fully vaccinated, with the final 5 per cent required to have a medical exemption.

All guests over two years old are also required to take a RAT test within 24 hours of boarding or a PCR test within 48 hours.

COVID case numbers have more than doubled in NSW, Queensland and Victoria over the past fortnight with NSW reintroducing mask mandates in hospitals and healthcare settings and QLD recommending masks across a spate of public settings.

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