As of September 5, Royal Caribbean International and sister line Celebrity Cruises will ease vaccination requirements on sailings from certain destinations.

For cruises departing U.S. ports in California, Louisiana and Texas or from ports in Europe, COVID-19 vaccination will no longer be required on Royal Caribbean ships.

Royal Caribbean still "strongly recommends" that guests be fully vaccinated. Those who are not will need to bring a negative test result taken within three days of boarding.

For its part, Celebrity said that for sailings departing on or after September 5 from Los Angeles and Europe (excluding Iceland-departing sailings), pax will not require vaccination. On most sailings, Celebrity will still require a negative COVID-19 test result as a condition for boarding.

Days ago, the three Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) brands – NCL, Regent and Oceania -- announced they would end testing for vaccinated travellers and allow unvaccinated ones to cruise from most destinations with a negative beginning September 3.

Unvaccinated cruisers may require additional testing to go ashore in certain destinations. Royal Caribbean says some ports it visits require that passengers be up-to-date with their vaccination status. Those who do not meet those requirements may require additional testing onboard in order to go ashore.