An upcoming Disney cruise might sail without children as its vaccine mandate doesn't allow exemptions

• Disney Cruise Line's 14-night cruise aboard the Disney Wonder in November may have to sail child-free.
• All guests aboard the San Diego to Texas sailing must be vaccinated, no matter the age.
• Children 11-years-old or younger aren't currently eligible for the vaccine.

Disney has always maintained a family-friendly reputation, but an upcoming 14-night Disney cruise may have to sail child-free amid the cruise line's updated COVID-19 vaccine protocols.

On November 5, the Disney Wonder will embark on a 14-night sailing from San Diego, California to Galveston, Texas. The 2,713-passenger ship will pass through the Panama Canal and will stop in destinations like Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, and Cozumel, Mexico, and Cartagena, Colombia.

Everyone aboard the ship must be vaccinated against COVID-19, no matter the age, according to the cruise line. And guests will still be required to undergo a COVID-19 test upon boarding the cruise.

But at this time, the FDA has yet to greenlight the COVID-19 vaccine for children under 12-years-old. If vaccine eligibility doesn't change before the November trip, the Wonder will have to sail child-free, Gene Sloan first reported for The Points Guy.

Would-be sailors interested in sailing aboard the Wonder but want to bring unvaccinated children must opt for the ship's three to four-night sailings from San Diego to Mexico instead. This series, which will begin in October, will be operating with a less rigid vaccine mandate.

Like all other Disney Cruise Line sailings, all guests 12-years-old or older aboard the shorter Wonder cruises are required to be fully vaccinated, and will have to take a COVID-19 test upon boarding the cruise. Children younger than this minimum age don't have to be vaccinated but will have to take a PCR test before the trip, and again upon embarkation.

Disney Cruise Line did not immediately respond to Insider for comment.