Cunard ‘ruins Christmas’ with new double-jab rule for children

FAMILIES are set to miss out on cruises, as Cunard says all passengers must have two Covid jabs to travel.

The British cruise line’s new policy means that children and teenagers from the UK are effectively banned from travelling since they are only eligible for one dose of the vaccine.

It comes as travel rules are set to change today to allow travel between the UK and dozens of long-haul destinations such as Mexico and South Africa.

Forty-seven countries will be removed from the red list at 4am, meaning arrivals from those locations will no longer need to spend 11 nights in a quarantine hotel.

Meanwhile, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has lifted its advice against non-essential travel to a further 42 countries and territories due to the pandemic.

Cunard’s policy previously stated that all adults over the age of 18 need to be fully vaccinated, while children aged five to 17 who were not fully vaccinated could travel with a negative PCR result. Children aged under five were allowed to travel as long as their parent or guardian was fully vaccinated.

But a fortnight ago, this policy was changed. Now under-18s can only travel if they are fully vaccinated with two doses.

This means that children from other countries, such as the US and Germany, where both shots of the vaccine are licensed for children, would be eligible to travel if they have taken both jabs.

Meanwhile, in Britain healthy children

aged 12 to 17 are only eligible to have one dose of the vaccine. So even if they have had one jab, they would still not be eligible to board a Cunard liner.

One family told of their anger after they were forced to cancel their £20,000 holiday with Cunard because they could no longer take their grandchildren.

Josephine Johnston, 67, and her husband Ray, 70, from Kent, were set to travel with five relatives to the Canary Islands for two weeks.

Their trip on the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship, which had already been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, was switched to December 23.

But the couple cannot now go with their two daughters, son-in-law and granddaughter and grandson because he is 14 years old.

“I feel very angry about this, not just for me but all the other families as well,” Mrs Johnston said. “It’s awful, they have ruined Christmas. We cannot book any other holidays at this short notice.

“[Children] have had enough to deal with during the pandemic, they should not be made to feel guilty.”

A spokesman for Cunard said: “Our health protocols are designed to adapt as needed to the changing public health situation related to Covid-19.”