Nearly two months after Royal Caribbean Group told its crew members they would need to get vaccinated to be able to work onboard, two of its cruise brands – Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises – are furthering the message via emails and newsletters sent to staff.

In The Royal Way Newsletter, which Royal Caribbean sent out to its employees on March 26, the cruise line included a section on healthy return to service updates.

In it, Royal Caribbean called upon the crew to get vaccinated.

“We should do our part in ending the pandemic and keeping ourselves, our loved ones and everyone around us safe. We urge you to get vaccinated if you are eligible and a vaccine is available to you,” the cruise line wrote.

Royal Caribbean added that regardless of which vaccine is received by a crew member, they will need to make sure that their vaccination certificate includes their complete first name, date of birth, the name of the vaccine administered and the lot number, the number of doses administered with the date of each injection given, and the name of the organization, hospital, or clinic that provided the vaccine.

A similar message was put forward in Celebrity Cruises’ Crew’s News newsletter.

The crew’s vaccination records need to be uploaded to Royal Caribbean’s C-TRAC platform – Career Tracking Resource & Advancement Compass. C-TRAC is used both by Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises.

The cruise lines emphasized the need to receive both vaccines before crew members can travel (unless it’s a single-shot vaccine). Further updates will be sent in future newsletters and emails, they added.

“Herd immunity protects the most vulnerable members of our population. If enough people are vaccinated against dangerous diseases, those who are susceptible and cannot get vaccinated are protected because the germ will not be able to ‘find’ those susceptible individuals,” Celebrity Cruises wrote in its newsletter.

Celebrity Cruises also hinted that it would be vaccinating crew free of charge.

“We will also cover the cost of vaccinations administered onboard our ships and any delivered on-land through agreements with local governments. We will not cover the cost if you are vaccinated on your own outside of these opportunities,” the cruise line wrote.

Additionally, in its efforts to educate staff on the importance of vaccines, Royal Caribbean Group publishes weekly 15-minute videos that “discuss the latest vaccine information and answer employee questions.”