Bahamas extends COVID vaccination mandate policy for cruise ship passengers till 2022

Bahamas: The Bahamian Government has announced the extension of the COVID vaccination mandate policy for cruise ships, which will be in effect from November 1 till 2022. 

The Tourism, Investments, and Aviation Minister – Chester Cooper, stated, “We are taking action to extend that until 2022. We would be looking at it closely moving forward. We are actively in conversations with our various cruise partners.” 

“As you know, we welcomed ‘Virgin Voyages cruises’ last week, a new ship to our shores, but we believe vaccination is the right approach to attract tourists to our shores in a balanced and responsible way.” 

The individuals visiting the Caribbean island via cruise ships and are fully vaccinated require to present a negative RT-PCR test, which must not be older than five days prior to their travel. 

The Minister further noted that majority of the cruise passengers who visited the Bahamas were already fully vaccinated with required number of doses, which is beneficial for the safety of individuals and the island. 

“We note that mostly in the – US market, vaccinations are in the high 60 to low 70 per cent. We know that our ‘cruise passengers’ who come to the Bahamas because of this rule are ‘vaccinated’. It’s good for the Bahamas, it’s good for the tourism industry and as we extend this rule, we believe it will assist us even further growing the tourism business in a balanced way”, he added.  

While, the unvaccinated travellers(above the age group of 12 years) need to show a negative RT-PCR test (not older than five days before their arrival to the Bahamas). 

At this time, the islands’ Government would only accept vaccines by Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca, or mixes of these. Guests will also need to opt-in to the Bahamas Travel Health Visa COVID-19 health insurance that covers them for the duration of their stay in The Bahamas. The cost of insurance is included in – ‘the Bahamas Travel Health Visa application fee’.