Unvaccinated cruise ship passengers, 12 years and older, will not be allowed to disembark while in Cayman, even if they have a medical exemption, according to Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan.
Bryan made the announcement while speaking as a guest on the Compass and Rooster 101’s ‘Beyond The Headlines’ talk show on Friday, 4 March.
“[The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association] may have medical exemptions for persons to get off in other jurisdictions, for persons who can’t be vaccinated, that is not something we are going to accept,” said Bryan.
He added, “Anybody who comes off, they are going to have to be vaccinated, unless they are below 12.”
The vaccination requirement is a part of a new set of COVID-19 regulations which are expected to be brought to Cabinet for approval next week, some two weeks before the lift on the ban of cruise tourism on 21 March.
Bryan said a press conference will be held next week, at which time the new regulations will be announced in full.
When the ban is lifted, a phased return of cruise tourism is expected to begin. So far an initial itinerary shows 21 ships are expected to call on Cayman’s port within the first month of the reopening.
The full roster of ships has a combined passenger capacity of 74,208 passengers. However, Bryan said industry trends show that fewer than 80% of that amount is expected to arrive in Cayman.
During the show, Bryan said the Cayman’s financial position has allowed the government to re-evaluate Cayman’s cruise tourism product, which will see an expected drop in the total number of cruise tourists in Cayman.
“We are actually the last country in the Caribbean to open cruise [tourism], and that tells you the attitude and the appetite of Cayman in respect to the risk and reward ratio,” Bryan said.
When questioned about the parity in regulations for stayover versus cruise tourists, Bryan gave no further details, expect to say that a final draft of the regulations which showed “similarities” was expected to be completed by Monday, 7 March.
Listen: Kenneth Bryan on ‘Beyond The Headlines’
Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan joined Elizabeth Charles, James Whittaker and Andrel Harris on Rooster FM on Friday, 4 March. Listen here:
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Is the Caymanian government still believing that the ‘vaccines’ stop the spread? Might want to review the official reports/studies from so many other countries showing there is little evidence for this discrimination. COVID will be brought in off the cruise ships from ‘vaccinated’ travelers.
So without lft tests before disembarking we will have no idea how many covid positives will be landing. Also no requirement this be their first port of call. So much for Bryan’s initial redlines in the meeting with the FCCA.
If vaccinated, disembarking cruise ship passengers are not going to be required to have a negative Covid test (lateral flow test) prior to setting foot in Cayman, then it seems to reason that arriving vaccinated stayover tourists should be afforded the same relief of not having to be tested the day prior to arrival.
So how can cruise lines allow to have unvaccinated people over 12 years of age on board in the first place? Airlines don’t!
This is just crazy that Cayman isnt over all this crap yet! Flu season is over, heat kills this flu! Move along with a normal island like everyone is! Get over yourselves! I havent had the shot, never will, and i havent had it because my immune system is working just fine! There are alot of other islands everyone will be going to spending our money, feeling welcome, and making new friends on other islands that are NORMAL! Keep your island. Enjoy your dwindling economy!!
I would love to click on your comment in agreement but cayman compass is too afraid to allow others to agree. They are cowards in their ways of allowing a simple thumbs up or thumbs down. So funny how they are scared of a simple button in their system.
With that attitude, it sounds like you will be doing us all a favour by not visiting our island.
I am a frequent visitor and have no problem complying with all safety precautions.
Oh no, we won’t get to experience your entitled attitude and your measly spending, what a shame.
Why can the cruisers tromp around Cayman without a test and without registering on the portal but air travelers have to go through the hassle? What is going on? It’s totally dumb.
My family and many friends who had Cayman as our “go to place” will not be back and are now using South Florida as a place of free travel with no restrictions. The percentages of vaccinated Americans is false. At best 50% are vaccinated but many more like our entire group of family and friends had covid and recovered fully, now with natural immunity.
We were also ready to bid on a nice 3 bedroom condo in the very month Cayman was closed. This has shown us and probably many others the risk of foreign ownership as our property rights and travel ability would have been destroyed for the past two years.
I hope the Cayman government sees the long term damage as dollars are going to go elsewhere.
Love Cayman but….
I hope the return of ships officially marks the end of the tyranny of Covid. Masks need to become optional. The mandate needs to be terminated. There will be few, if any, Ship passengers wearing masks when they land.
Let’s stop the testing and all the other restrictionw. It is time for us all to get on with our lives. It’s an odd one that cruise ship passengers will (as things stand) be treated differently from air passengers. Probably a clever legal argument hiding there somewhere.