From the end of February 2022, the shipping companies Aida Cruises and Tui Cruises will only allow passengers who can prove a booster vaccination against Covid-19 on board. At Aida, shore excursions will only be possible in so-called bubbles, i.e. closed groups, for the time being until the end of next month.

Just a few days ago, the competitor Hapag-Lloyd announced that from mid-February 2022 only people who have a booster vaccination can prove that they are allowed to participate in cruises. This seems to have started a trend, because Aida and Tui will follow suit.

"Back in December, we decided to standardize the mandatory vaccination protection from February 23: This will then be required for all ships in our fleet from the age of 12 and applies to all guests and crew members. Now we are going one step further: Also from February 23rd, all guests of the Mein Schiff fleet who are over 18 years old and whose basic immunization was more than three months before the end of the cruise will also need a booster vaccination. The booster vaccination should be administered no later than one week before departure," says an official statement from Tui Cruises.

The shipping company Aida explains: "In view of the current developments in relation to the worldwide spread of the Omicron variant, we have decided to take additional precautionary measures on board and on shore leave in order to reduce the risk of infection and the spread of the virus as much as possible".