On Cruises That Allow Them, the Unvaccinated Are Second-Class Citizens

As Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas sails from Miami to the Bahamas, those who have been vaccinated, identified with special wristbands, receive full access to the ship, while the unvaccinated will not be allowed to walk into the sushi bar, casino, or spa. Freedom of the Seas is the first ship to sail from the U.S. without a vaccination requirement. “The cruise experience benefits from being impromptu,” says Jukka Laitamaki, a tourism marketing expert and professor at the NYU School of Professional Studies Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality. “It is the cruise lines’ worst nightmare to have to have separate areas for the vaccinated and unvaccinated.”

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