UnCruise Adventures will mandate that adults be fully vaccinated to sail with the line this summer in Alaska.
"Our decision to move to fully vaccinated cruises will help our guests and crew experience Alaska in the safest way possible," said Dan Blanchard, CEO of UnCruise, in a statement. "My prime concern is the safety of my crew, who work on our vessels for weeks or months at a time. Vaccinations, combined with testing, take us to an entirely new level of safety compared to testing alone. I would be neglectful in my duties, as the owner of UnCruise Adventures, to not require vaccinations onboard our vessels."
Blanchard also said that the move enables the company to safely call on the Alaska towns of Ketchikan and Sitka.
All passengers will also have to show a negative pre-cruise molecular test within four days of boarding the vessel. Children 17 and under will be tested but are not required to be vaccinated. Uncruise said that the number of minors on its ships is capped at "a low percentage of people onboard."
The moves mirror the vaccine mandate that Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises recently set on the cruises they are launching in the Caribbean.
UnCruise is among a handful of U.S.-flagged small-ship cruise operators that will be able to operate this summer in Alaska whether or not the Canadian cruise ban kills the big-ship Alaska season.