A cruise line for people over 50 years old will require all passengers have the COVID-19 vaccine before boarding

• Saga, a UK cruise company, will require passengers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine 14 days prior to boarding.
• Passengers will also be screened for the virus upon boarding the cruise.
• Saga is the first UK cruise operator to require passengers get a vaccination for the coronavirus, the Guardian reported.

UK-based tour operator Saga will require that all cruise passengers receive the COVID-19 vaccine two weeks prior to boarding, a spokesperson said Thursday in a statement.

With the vaccine rollout progressing, Saga said it wants to give passengers ample time to receive the two-dose immunization. Its "Spirit of Adventure" inaugural voyage will begin May 4, and the "Spirit of Discovery" will depart June 2.

"Our customers want the reassurance of the vaccine and to know others traveling with them will be vaccinated too," a company spokesperson said.

Saga is the first UK cruise operator to require passengers get a vaccination for the coronavirus, the Guardian reported.

Saga, whose cruises cater to people ages 50 and over, has already implemented other safety measures in light of the pandemic. The company will require passengers to take a coronavirus test before boarding, and it will limit its maximum capacity to 800 guests. It has also created a dedicated isolation area on board and doubled its medical team. The company has increased its crew-to-passenger ratio to increase cleaning and has improved fresh air flow in the cabins.

Following the successful vaccine trials last year, Saga said it experienced a surge in travel interest on its website, and the lockdowns "ignited people's sense of adventure."

Read more: COVID-19 has created a once-in-a-lifetime crisis for Carnival and Royal Caribbean, but after surviving hijackings and shipwrecks, the industry looks unsinkable

The Guardian reported that rival cruise line P&O has not implemented the same vaccine requirement. A P&O spokesman told Insider that, "The new vaccines represent an important breakthrough for people throughout the world, but they also are expected be an important boost for cruising and the larger travel and hospitality industry in the days ahead."

Cruise travel came to a halt last spring when ships started experiencing mass COVID-19 breakouts as the pandemic began. Over the summer, some European cruise lines, Norway's Hurtigruten, Germany's AIDA, and Paul Gauguin in the South Pacific, returned to service but began experiencing outbreaks among passengers and staff members. Now, many cruise lines have been pushing back their return-to-service dates until the spring or summer of this year.